Bonding

[olivia.lear]

Hi, I owned 2 lop ear rabbits for 3 and a half years since they were babies - both neutered one female one Male and of course the female was the dominant one, she sadly passed away which broke my heart. So we have made a big decision to try my little boy Louie on bonding with my friends rabbit who is 8 months old - completely different breed of rabbit. If the bonding is unsuccessful I can give her back to my friend. She is such a sweetie, they have a luxury shed, carpet, heater (spoilt). So she is currently in a cage in the shed and Louie is free to wander as he usually does so they get to see eachover. It's been 2 days - and everytime I let them have 5 minutes together to just sniff eachover be keeps trying to hump her which is terrifying her. Please can I get advice? What to look out for? I know the humping is down to dominance also this female isnt spayed as of yet, but my male is.

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[Liz47]

Welcome to the forum I'm sorry you lost your girl.

Humping is normal during bonding, as is chasing and fur pulling usually. Even though your male is neutered he may still be affected by the female being unspayed and this may cause more humping than is 'normal'. My experience of bonding has always been it's best to do it in a neutral area where neither rabbit has been before, if this isn't possible clean the area with vinegar diluted in water to remove scents. Start off with a small space and gradually increase this once behaviours such as humping have calmed down and positive behaviours such as grooming and eating together are happening. I find rather than stopping and starting it's best to leave the rabbits together as much as possible, providing the female isn't so stressed and they're both comfortable eating etc. When bonding I've set aside a week or so off work for bonding so I can watch the rabbits closely during this time and sleep nearby too so I can monitor, although if you're bonding outside this would be difficult! I think you need to leave them together for longer periods though, if the humping persists try and gently move your male off her and encourage them with a big pile of their fav foods as a distraction?

 

[tonibun]

Hi. It is normal for the female to keep running away from the male for about 2 or 3 days, then she will not feel so scared of him. It is usually best when once they are put together, if there is no fighting, then to keep them together, as long as you can keep a careful eye on them for the first 24 hours. It shouldn't make too much difference the female not being spayed, unless she is very hormonal, but they are more settled once neutered. From what you have said it sounds like everything is going normally and they have a lovely home in which to be happy in.

 

[olivia.lear]

They are basically living together but where she is he cant get to her, this morning they were kind of ignoring eachover - which I read was a good sign, as shes new we took her out in the afternoon to see the garden have some grass and a wander with her harness on (as we know she will be a pain to catch) and he came out and started it again, I was going to give it at least a week of them living together before i let them out again together, i dont really have a option for a neutral area but I had him out the garden and she was let to roam the shed and she was wiping her chin on everything - guessing rubbing her scent around? If they get along I'm going to get her spayed, if not she will be going back to my friend as I cant put my boy through any more stress... hopefully so far so good but I haven't got a clue on signs to look out for

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[olivia.lear]

Thank you for the lovely comment and great advice - I'm a stressed mama trying to get my spoilt boy a roommate again, the female is so chilled and friendly but shes a complete different breed and quite alot bigger my friend said shes 8 months, not sure when they stop growing [emoji85][emoji1787]

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[tonibun]

She looks lovely and more or less fully grown. The humping will calm down in a day or so, the boys have to do it, if they can catch the girls as they tend to run away all the time, then the boy gets fed up with not being able to catch them. Boys are not as territorial as girls so they don't mind having a new rabbit join them.

 

[olivia.lear]

She looks lovely and more or less fully grown. The humping will calm down in a day or so, the boys have to do it, if they can catch the girls as they tend to run away all the time, then the boy gets fed up with not being able to catch them. Boys are not as territorial as girls so they don't mind having a new rabbit join them.

I just don't want her to fight back as she will probably kill him as hes so small, forgot to mention hes a mini lop.... the photo is of my girl that sadly passed - black and hes the coloured, she used to hump him all the time, so I see it as he wants to be the dominant one now??

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[olivia.lear]

UPDATE!!
I've returned the rabbit as they seemed to be fighting, and I think my boy will be happier without the stress as he was constantly stomping his feet around her...

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[tonibun]

UPDATE!!
I've returned the rabbit as they seemed to be fighting, and I think my boy will be happier without the stress as he was constantly stomping his feet around her...

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I am sorry but this has upset me as you didn't give that rabbit a fair chance. Your rabbit would probably do the same thing whichever rabbit you bring home. .

 

[olivia.lear]

I am sorry but this has upset me as you didn't give that rabbit a fair chance. Your rabbit would probably do the same thing whichever rabbit you bring home. .

Yes but he wasnt happy with her around, and they had a massive fight earlier on today so I think it's for the best

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[olivia.lear]

Also he seems happy on his own, he has lots of attention daily and plenty of runs and a garden just for him!

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[tulsi]

Sorry it hasnt worked out for them. Did you manage to bond in a neutral area?

Rabbits value companionship of other rabbits as highly as they value food so hopefully you can find him a companion.

 

[olivia.lear]

Sorry it hasnt worked out for them. Did you manage to bond in a neutral area?

Rabbits value companionship of other rabbits as highly as they value food so hopefully you can find him a companion.

Yes today we tried in a fenced off neutral area and they were both fighting for as it seemed dominance, none got hurt but I think that was a wake up call. My other rabbit passed away at least a month ago and hes been doing really well so I'm not that worried, we checked on him just now let him in the garden and hes started doing his little cute bunny happy jumps again. So I believe he is going to be the only one now.

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