ecotrace
New Kit
Hello everyone. My name is Denise, and I live in Chelmsford (Essex).
I first came to the forum in April 2009 when we already had a bonded pair, Bramble and Clover (neutered brother and sister) and we had plenty of room as they were housed in a lovely playhouse with a large run and thought it would be a good idea to take on another pair. We adopted Cookie and Treacle through Rabbit Rehome (from Sarah Jane), and even though we had a bit of help to try to bond them (from Hetty - hi Hetty if you get to read this!) unfortunately the bond broke down after a few weeks, there was much biting and fur flying and poor Bramble always seemed to come off worse (and he is the least aggressive rabbit you could ever meet). To avoid serious injury we had to separate them, but with one pair living at one end of the garden and the other pair at the other end! Our garden is not huge, so it is a big commitment of space to give two lots of rabbits ample room, not to mention a doubling of the work! However, everything had nicely settled down, back to a non-violent existence.
Sadly, during the summer Cookie (who we think was quite old) passed peacefully away in his sleep. Treacle has become a lot less active since Cookie died, and is even putting on weight. We are worried about her living alone, as we understand she was always with other rabbits. I'm not sure about taking on another rabbit for her to live with as it was never the intention to have two set ups, especially at this time of the year when it gets dark so early and we wondered whether it would be possible to try reintroducing her to Bramble and Clover.
I read everything I could about bonding rabbits, both on this forum and elsewhere and thought the best plan would be to bring them into the house to do it so that we could keep a round the clock watch on them and it was totally neutral terrority. We initially started by letting them see each other but keeping B&C separate, letting them sniff each other through the wire mesh and although there was a little bit of aggression it didn't seem too bad. We eventually, after several weeks thought we could start the real face to face introductions. I got a large dog crate set up in the living room and we had them all in together over a long weekend (Friday to Sunday). It was not very successful, Bramble and Clover are both very calm and quite shy usually, and pretty much behaved as they normally do but Treacle was very territorial, peeing and pooping everywhere, and attacking as soon as either of the others approached. B&C often moved towards her in a submissive way, heads lowered, sniffing etc, but Treacle wouldn't hesitate and just struck out or started to bite. We separated them every time, but it seemed at the end of the three days that it was total stalemate, B&C spent the whole time sitting in the litter tray, looking terrified, and Treacle seemed to have claimed the whole of the rest of the territory. Every one was injured (only minor nips thank goodness), including us!
We tried a second weekend last week - this was slightly less violent, but still pretty scary (at least we didn't get bitten this time!). We used a water spray every time Treacle attacked, and there were long periods without attacks but I feel we have gone wrong somewhere as I could not risk leaving them alone for a second for fear of fighting.
We wanted to persevere and bring them together again this weekend, as the cold weather will be with us soon and Treacle must be so lonely by herself, especially at night. Can anyone say if we are wasting our time, or advise how we can foster a calmer atmosphere, or any other tips or advice on what we should do? I would like to keep Treacle, but I feel its wrong for her to live alone but equally I feel frightened for Bramble and Clover as Treacle just attacks without warning.
Help! Thanks - any comments gratefully received.
I first came to the forum in April 2009 when we already had a bonded pair, Bramble and Clover (neutered brother and sister) and we had plenty of room as they were housed in a lovely playhouse with a large run and thought it would be a good idea to take on another pair. We adopted Cookie and Treacle through Rabbit Rehome (from Sarah Jane), and even though we had a bit of help to try to bond them (from Hetty - hi Hetty if you get to read this!) unfortunately the bond broke down after a few weeks, there was much biting and fur flying and poor Bramble always seemed to come off worse (and he is the least aggressive rabbit you could ever meet). To avoid serious injury we had to separate them, but with one pair living at one end of the garden and the other pair at the other end! Our garden is not huge, so it is a big commitment of space to give two lots of rabbits ample room, not to mention a doubling of the work! However, everything had nicely settled down, back to a non-violent existence.
Sadly, during the summer Cookie (who we think was quite old) passed peacefully away in his sleep. Treacle has become a lot less active since Cookie died, and is even putting on weight. We are worried about her living alone, as we understand she was always with other rabbits. I'm not sure about taking on another rabbit for her to live with as it was never the intention to have two set ups, especially at this time of the year when it gets dark so early and we wondered whether it would be possible to try reintroducing her to Bramble and Clover.
I read everything I could about bonding rabbits, both on this forum and elsewhere and thought the best plan would be to bring them into the house to do it so that we could keep a round the clock watch on them and it was totally neutral terrority. We initially started by letting them see each other but keeping B&C separate, letting them sniff each other through the wire mesh and although there was a little bit of aggression it didn't seem too bad. We eventually, after several weeks thought we could start the real face to face introductions. I got a large dog crate set up in the living room and we had them all in together over a long weekend (Friday to Sunday). It was not very successful, Bramble and Clover are both very calm and quite shy usually, and pretty much behaved as they normally do but Treacle was very territorial, peeing and pooping everywhere, and attacking as soon as either of the others approached. B&C often moved towards her in a submissive way, heads lowered, sniffing etc, but Treacle wouldn't hesitate and just struck out or started to bite. We separated them every time, but it seemed at the end of the three days that it was total stalemate, B&C spent the whole time sitting in the litter tray, looking terrified, and Treacle seemed to have claimed the whole of the rest of the territory. Every one was injured (only minor nips thank goodness), including us!
We tried a second weekend last week - this was slightly less violent, but still pretty scary (at least we didn't get bitten this time!). We used a water spray every time Treacle attacked, and there were long periods without attacks but I feel we have gone wrong somewhere as I could not risk leaving them alone for a second for fear of fighting.
We wanted to persevere and bring them together again this weekend, as the cold weather will be with us soon and Treacle must be so lonely by herself, especially at night. Can anyone say if we are wasting our time, or advise how we can foster a calmer atmosphere, or any other tips or advice on what we should do? I would like to keep Treacle, but I feel its wrong for her to live alone but equally I feel frightened for Bramble and Clover as Treacle just attacks without warning.
Help! Thanks - any comments gratefully received.
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