Bonding services in the North East?

[drewdles]

Hello, I’m new to the forum and am looking for some advice on bonding my two bunnies. I rehomed Drew (neutered male) from the RSPCA in October. He’s a free-roam house bunny. I then got Blue (neutered female) two weeks ago.
I set a pen up for Blue in Drew’s free-roam area and let them get sight and smell of each other before meeting in-person. Their first two ‘dates’ in a neutral area went well; I mean no fighting, they were eating next to each other, sat together. Blue mounted Drew, then Drew mounted Blue but with no scrapping. Neither seemed bothered and carried on hopping about and eating after.
On bunny-date number 3, again Blue mounted Drew and he didn’t seem to mind. She persistently requested grooming, which Drew did a tiny little bit. A couple of minutes later, Drew then mounted Blue and she was not happy! She shook him off and it turned into a full on, circling scrap which I immediately broke up and separated them for 10-15 minutes. I did then put them next to each other just to end the bonding session on a positive with lots of strokes. They didn’t fight again, but looked really unhappy, even with the strokes Now every time Drew goes past her pen he flicks his back legs up as if annoyed. And she’s doing the same in his direction
I don’t know what to do. There’s so much conflicting info. online, some say if there’s been one fight they will never bond. Some say separate them for a few weeks, others a couple of months?!
I’m scared they’re going to either get hurt in another fight, or end up really unhappy.
I think I’d rather a bonding service do the bond for me. I’m willing to travel far!

 

[Omi]

I'm afraid I don't know of any bonding services you could use. Information on bonding rabbits is very often conflicting I agree. This is because there really isn't just one way of proceeding. People generally will advise a method which they have used, which has been successful and will post about their experiences. But whilst there are a few overarching principles, most bonds tend to be different.

Sometimes rabbit rescues will undertake bonding for a donation and so it might be worth contacting some in your area.

 

[drewdles]

Thank you. I asked advice from the RSPCA branch where we rehomed our first bun from. We’re going to give it another shot based on their advice after a short break. Really hoping it works out this time

 

[RinnyRin]

I’m by no means an expert but

Did you put both bunnies in an area they have never been before for bonding? I know this may be difficult with one being a free roam. Perhaps the bathroom could be an option? Rabbits are incredibly territorial and dislike a random rabbit just appearing on their “land.”

A lot of people recommend popping both rabbits in a neutral territory/space that is quite small (like a dog crate) area. Then, unless something catastrophic happens, keep them in that space and not separate them. I think the play date idea is confusing for rabbits as they start to establish a hierarchy and then you separate them. When you put them back together again, they have to restart from scratch with each time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk