Bunny Blind Dating

[fluffybunny82]

Hi, :wave:I have a 6month old neutered mini rex buck (Ronald Patrick) who lives in my lounge and is very chilled out. He happily plays out of the cage with my elderly guinea pig and gives him no bother at all, they have free rein of all rooms. He even lies down with my parents golden retriever when he stays. :lol:
I acquired a lionhead doe (Evangeline Belle) at the weekend who is approx 13weeks. She too is very friendly. On first introductions on Sunday night, they got along well, even eating next to each other, and Ron only tried to mate with her a couple of times which she seemed ok with and just flattened herself to the floor or ran off. I am keeping them separate at the moment, I thought on Monday she might have snuffles so had been letting them out separately, but shes fine and when I let them out together last night there was lots of chasing each other in circles and even a bit of fur flying . I jumped in straight away and seperated them, then held and stroked them next to each other on the sofa and they seemed fine, until they were back on the floor. They hop in different directions fine but if they end up in the same place they argue :shock: I have successfully paired up all my other rescues... chinchillas, rats and guinea pigs buy using the technique I'm using with the bunnies.... unfortunately I don't have a territory neutral area as Ron has full rein of all rooms. Any ideas?? :?
Thanks in advance
Jeni xxx :bunny:


Update: After initially jumping at each other through the bars, when one is in and one is penned in, now they just touch noses.... small but happy improvement

 

[Elena]

I would wait until she is also spayed. Also it is best to put them together and not split. By spliting them you run the risk of confusing them

 

[nessar]

As Shuette says wait until she is spayed first, as unspayed females can be very territorial. Then perhaps it would be a good idea to see if a rescue will bond them for you? Many will do this for a donation to help them rescue rabbits. Whilst they are away being bonded you then can neutralise the room, all furniture and all of their stuff with white vinegar, and then when they get back neither should see it as their territory. Then if all goes well with the bonding all you need to do is keep them in a confined area and slowly expand it till they have all the space they used to.

 

[fluffybunny82]

Thank you both not sure what I'd do without this forum at the moment!!

 

[nessar]

Thank you both not sure what I'd do without this forum at the moment!!

thats okay have a look through the bonding posts to get an idea of the process, of course you want to avoid doing it in your home because of the lack of neutral territory but at least you'll know what to do or not do when they get back home and get an idea for how it all works

 

[KarenM]

There's some good advice from Janice on this thread re. bonding that may help. :wave:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=262676