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Bonding Mel and Tilly - um..?!

Yes I expect so. They both seem to be a bit hostile to each other - he will nose her and then run off when she looks like she might retaliate. He seems scared of her whereas she seems irritated by him - that may be due to her being more confident due to her larger size. She lay across both litter trays and food bowls and appeared to be purposely blocking him so I have moved 1x tray and bowl to the opposite corner.

Previously this happened and she just relaxed enough not to bother chasing him - I'm hoping that will happen again.

The problem is I don't think either of them will accept being submissive. It's exactly as I feared before I got Tilly, I should have listened to my head not heart, arghh. He is a bossy but loving little boy - he would boss around previous companion sometimes, but gave almost as many grooms as he got. I think he just got tired of presenting for grooming to Tilly and her ignoring him!

Is the answer lots of me grooming them both?
 
Also we have to remember Tilly was at the Rescue quite a while so that could be affecting her attitude. To you she seems very chilled out but rabbit body language is not always what is seems. Mel is possibly getting different vibes off her.
 
Well, they're still together, and mixing slightly more eg. eating veg togther. I pet them together too. Mel sometimes cautiously sniffs at Tilly and Tilly backs off, although Mel looks like he's nervours too.
One question - I noticed the litter trays really smelled and needed changing quicker when I first put them togther. When they seemed to be getting on better I changed it to one big litter tray between them (they both fit in it). This did not need cleaning as quickly or smell. Now I'm back to two trays due to the issues, they stink quickly again!
So I'm wondering if it's something to do with the litter trays, or if rabbit wee actually smells more toxic when they are being territorial?
 
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Well, Mel is back to grooming Tilly! However he is also demanding grooming back and getting a bit annoyed that she won't. He's also lounging around a lot, like her, suggesting a mild insult/he wants to be in charge! (he doesn't normally flop on hs side so much). I'm not sure whether to try banana on his head or if that would confuse things...
 
Melon_Pip said:
Well, they're still together, and mixing slightly more eg. eating veg togther. I pet them together too. Mel sometimes cautiously sniffs at Tilly and Tilly backs off, although Mel looks like he's nervours too.
One question - I noticed the litter trays really smelled and needed changing quicker when I first put them togther. When they seemed to be getting on better I changed it to one big litter tray between them (they both fit in it). This did not need cleaning as quickly or smell. Now I'm back to two trays due to the issues, they stink quickly again!
So I'm wondering if it's something to do with the litter trays, or if rabbit wee actually smells more toxic when they are being territorial?
Click to expand...

My rabbits' litter trays don't smell - what are using in them?
 
I use a wood pellet litter with a layer of sawdust (chunky pieces not total dust) over to make it softer (plus Tilly had sawdust litter at the rescue so I wanted her to recognise the litter tray).
It's gone back to normal now, so perhaps it was something to do with territory marking - hmm.
Typical bunnies of course prefer the further away litter tray that is much more awkward to get to and clean, rather than the one in easy reach! :roll:
 
Just came back to say - I have a bonded pair! :)
They went to the (awesome) bunny sitter over Christmas too, and are even more bonded since... ie. territorial pooping outside litter tray has stopped completely, and they are now sharing litter tray, bowl etc instead of having two.

Tilly has even groomed Mel once or twice that I've seen... I can't work out who's dominant tbh, Tilly is with regards to grooming, but Mel's the one who explores new things/spaces and goes back to fetch Tilly. Mel has been hilarious the way he sneakily tried to get Tilly to groom him. She'd sit up to sniff something and he'd dive under her so when she sat back down he was right under her chin. Or she'd be grooming herself and he'd try to sneakily manouvre his head in. Haha!

She's a lot calmer too, and less vocal now she knows she has a proper home and lots of cuddles. She did her first proper binky today - being huge she can jump really high!
 
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