I have two buns, a lionhead mix and a rex. I had the lionhead first and she has always been kind of shy, never aggressive to me. Her name is Lily and she lived the first 8-10 weeks of her life as a feral bunny, but now, 8 or 9 months later, likes being petted and has always--I thought--been gentle and sweet, if a bit skittish. She has lived in a bunny room in my house where she can run around safely when I am home and has a cage for when I am at work. She was spayed at 6 or seven months (in early Oct).
Enter SD in november. SD was a 7 or 8 month old male, I was told, who was in immediate need of a home. I was specifically looking to adopt a male because I understood that male/female bonding is much easier than female/female bonding. However, when I took him to my vet, we discovered that "he" was a "she". The vet suggested I put the two together to see if they got along, prior to spaying/committing to SD, but I was hesitant to do so as everything I read said that with two females, there was little chance of bonding unless both were spayed--and I did not want to scupper any chances by a bad beginning. (My worry at this point was actually about whether SD would attack Lily; I thought Lily would just be scared of SD-and indeed, I put their two cages near each other in a neutral space at one point in early December, before SD was spayed, and Lily just hid--so I moved the rabbits apart again). I wrote to the US House Rabbit Society at this time, and again more recently, to see if they knew of an experienced bonder in Korea by any chance (there is no HR chapter here), but they never responded. Finally, I spayed SD in December because I really wanted to bond these girls and also did not want to continue to maintain two separate rabbit spaces. Meanwhile, of course, I have also become quite fond of SD! So do not want to rehome either rabbit, really. So, I bit the bullet and got SD spayed to give bonding the best possible shot.
Four week later, I moved SD's cage into the room where Lily's cage was. This was a mistake and I knew it, but was somewhat stuck as there were workmen rewiring and painting and whatnot in the other rooms, so this was the one room big enough for both where no work was being done. I put the cages about 6 inches apart and created a partial wall/barrier (so each rabbit could get out of the line of sight of the other, if they wanted, and made sure each cage had a hidey box. But, I made sure there was a clear viewing space, too, so they could see each other while eating at a safe distance apart). Between the cages I put up a dog fence, basically diving the room in half, so that each bun could have her own safe run space as well.
SD pretty much ignored Lily, but to my surprise, each time Lily was let out into her run area, she would charge the dog fence and almost frantically try to get through to SD--pretty clearly with no kindess in her heart. At these times, if I got near Lily, she would whirl around and bite me! Even if I was not touching her, she was that agitated. (Lily has never done anything like that before.) SD was always in her cage at these times ( I alternate run/human interaction time), except for once--in that case, she extended her nose to the fence/to Lily, and Lily threw herself at the fence and even got part of head through. I think she got a bit of a bite in on SD's nose.
After two weeks of this "same room cohabitation" and the workmen now gone, I moved both rabbit cages into my guest room about 4 days ago, thinking a neutral space would be better. Now they have a clear view of each other at all times, but the cages are still about 5" apart. Lily's behavior is getting worse, not better. When I approach her cage now, she runs to the bars instead of running into her hidey box like she used to, and always seems agitated. When I put food in her cage, she is extremely agitated and now is beginning to look like she is thinking about biting me when I put my hand in there--totally new behavior. I think it is only a matter of time before her increased terrorial behavior leads to biting, frankly. Further, she eats her hay frantically now, or quickly moves it away from the part of the cage close to SD's cage.(Neither rabbit can get the other's food.) When I put food in SD's hayrack, Lily starts lunging at the cage bars--but after a minute or so, everyone just starts eating and it calms down. (SD continues to largely ignore Lily.) But the point is, Lily is getting worse, not better, with the increased exposure. I am truly afraid to let these buns in the same space because I think Lily is just going to launch into an attack--and I do not want SD to get hurt or terrorized. SD slipped out (neither bun gets runtime in this particular room as I do not have a way to divide this bigger space) when I was giving her fresh water the other day and scrambled through the space between the cages, and Lily literally flung herself at the bars trying to get at her--SD is just lucky an ear didn't end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So, I have a clearly unhappy/angry/hostile rabbit and a rather blase one, but the situation is not improving with extended exposure. And, I cannot seem to find a society or person experienced in bonding here. Are there changes I should make in my approach? I am completely inexperienced with this and it also makes me totally tense. How should I respond to Lily's increasing agitation? Should I separate them to diffferent rooms again, or leave them where they are but put up a wall so they cannot see each other? Or, should I just keep things as they are and see if things get better in a month or two or three? That is what I would be inclined to do, were it not for Lily's increasing anxiety/hostility (which must be stressful for SD, too). But as it is, I just don't know... The end goal is to bond these two rabbits--but is it even possible?
Sorry for this novel of a post. I know it is long one! Any advice would be most appreciated as I really do not know what to do next, or whether this is indeed a lost cause. I feel sorry for both bunnies--I was trying to make their individual situations better, but it seems to have had rather the opposite effect...
Enter SD in november. SD was a 7 or 8 month old male, I was told, who was in immediate need of a home. I was specifically looking to adopt a male because I understood that male/female bonding is much easier than female/female bonding. However, when I took him to my vet, we discovered that "he" was a "she". The vet suggested I put the two together to see if they got along, prior to spaying/committing to SD, but I was hesitant to do so as everything I read said that with two females, there was little chance of bonding unless both were spayed--and I did not want to scupper any chances by a bad beginning. (My worry at this point was actually about whether SD would attack Lily; I thought Lily would just be scared of SD-and indeed, I put their two cages near each other in a neutral space at one point in early December, before SD was spayed, and Lily just hid--so I moved the rabbits apart again). I wrote to the US House Rabbit Society at this time, and again more recently, to see if they knew of an experienced bonder in Korea by any chance (there is no HR chapter here), but they never responded. Finally, I spayed SD in December because I really wanted to bond these girls and also did not want to continue to maintain two separate rabbit spaces. Meanwhile, of course, I have also become quite fond of SD! So do not want to rehome either rabbit, really. So, I bit the bullet and got SD spayed to give bonding the best possible shot.
Four week later, I moved SD's cage into the room where Lily's cage was. This was a mistake and I knew it, but was somewhat stuck as there were workmen rewiring and painting and whatnot in the other rooms, so this was the one room big enough for both where no work was being done. I put the cages about 6 inches apart and created a partial wall/barrier (so each rabbit could get out of the line of sight of the other, if they wanted, and made sure each cage had a hidey box. But, I made sure there was a clear viewing space, too, so they could see each other while eating at a safe distance apart). Between the cages I put up a dog fence, basically diving the room in half, so that each bun could have her own safe run space as well.
SD pretty much ignored Lily, but to my surprise, each time Lily was let out into her run area, she would charge the dog fence and almost frantically try to get through to SD--pretty clearly with no kindess in her heart. At these times, if I got near Lily, she would whirl around and bite me! Even if I was not touching her, she was that agitated. (Lily has never done anything like that before.) SD was always in her cage at these times ( I alternate run/human interaction time), except for once--in that case, she extended her nose to the fence/to Lily, and Lily threw herself at the fence and even got part of head through. I think she got a bit of a bite in on SD's nose.
After two weeks of this "same room cohabitation" and the workmen now gone, I moved both rabbit cages into my guest room about 4 days ago, thinking a neutral space would be better. Now they have a clear view of each other at all times, but the cages are still about 5" apart. Lily's behavior is getting worse, not better. When I approach her cage now, she runs to the bars instead of running into her hidey box like she used to, and always seems agitated. When I put food in her cage, she is extremely agitated and now is beginning to look like she is thinking about biting me when I put my hand in there--totally new behavior. I think it is only a matter of time before her increased terrorial behavior leads to biting, frankly. Further, she eats her hay frantically now, or quickly moves it away from the part of the cage close to SD's cage.(Neither rabbit can get the other's food.) When I put food in SD's hayrack, Lily starts lunging at the cage bars--but after a minute or so, everyone just starts eating and it calms down. (SD continues to largely ignore Lily.) But the point is, Lily is getting worse, not better, with the increased exposure. I am truly afraid to let these buns in the same space because I think Lily is just going to launch into an attack--and I do not want SD to get hurt or terrorized. SD slipped out (neither bun gets runtime in this particular room as I do not have a way to divide this bigger space) when I was giving her fresh water the other day and scrambled through the space between the cages, and Lily literally flung herself at the bars trying to get at her--SD is just lucky an ear didn't end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So, I have a clearly unhappy/angry/hostile rabbit and a rather blase one, but the situation is not improving with extended exposure. And, I cannot seem to find a society or person experienced in bonding here. Are there changes I should make in my approach? I am completely inexperienced with this and it also makes me totally tense. How should I respond to Lily's increasing agitation? Should I separate them to diffferent rooms again, or leave them where they are but put up a wall so they cannot see each other? Or, should I just keep things as they are and see if things get better in a month or two or three? That is what I would be inclined to do, were it not for Lily's increasing anxiety/hostility (which must be stressful for SD, too). But as it is, I just don't know... The end goal is to bond these two rabbits--but is it even possible?
Sorry for this novel of a post. I know it is long one! Any advice would be most appreciated as I really do not know what to do next, or whether this is indeed a lost cause. I feel sorry for both bunnies--I was trying to make their individual situations better, but it seems to have had rather the opposite effect...
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