frantic help needed - broken bond??? UD: BIG step backward >:(

[Vegan_Bunny]

I don't think you should separate them between "dates", tbh. It means that they have to start all over again whenever they meet one another. I would just give them a week in a small enclosure with constant supervision. If you have work, then you can possibly separate them in the enclosure, so they can still see each other but can't nip, and aren't taken out of the same space. Moving them to different locations will be upsetting them and confusing them. They need to stay in pretty much the same neutral place all the time.

I wouldn't be bringing them indoors and putting them back outdoors every day either, this can cause respiratory infections and it is not good for bunnies. Either keep them indoors, or put them back out.

It might work this way...but I would expect them to fight as soon as you put all three together back in their own hutch. I find that if bunnies are pretty stressed with being put in a different, unfamiliar place everyday, they will get on with anybun you put them with. The problems start when they relax a little and then decide to sort out their hierarchy.

 

[liv862]

that makes sense, really its all been a bit haphazard so far cos i was sooo unprepared for this to be honest!!! but as of this afternoon (courtesy of the fantastic parsnipbun - thanks again!!! ) i have borrowed two puppy crates which are now side by side in the room with Maisy, so all three buns can see and smell one another but the boys cant touch. Maisy will be taking turns to stay with each bun, but hav left her out for the first nite tho so the boys get used to the cages without being jealous that the other one is with mummy :lol:

so yes, thats solved the moving about problem and the indoor-outdoor problem :thumb: altho tbh i am far too nervous at the mo to just put them straight in altogether and supervise cos the boys were doing sum VERY serious fighting, and frankly i cant believe we managed to escape any serious injury!!! will leave it maybe a week with things as they are and lots of dates then wen i feel i can trust them ill be doing that technique, i think itll be stage 2 tho :lol:

so this is the new setup: welcome to bunny prison - if you cant do the time dont do the crime!!!!!

xxx

 

[Vegan_Bunny]

That is absolutely perfect. :thumb: I think you now have a good chance of getting these three back together. I always say that routine is the best thing for a bun, it's even more important during a stressful situation like bonding/rebonding.

Being so close to each other all the time, will certainly help. Just make sure they aren't getting stressed about being near each other. In the pic, they look quite happy and curious, so hopefully you won't have a problem with that.

This is exactly the reason I recently bought a dog crate for my three. :thumb: They are seriously handy for lots of reasons, so definitely try and get one!

I got a 42" crate for £15 from a facebook selling page, so they are cheap to get too!

Sending bonding vibes!!

 

[liv862]

fab thanks for ur approval, its been a chaotic start but i hopefully now hav the right setup :thumb: put all three bowls of food together in their respective cages last nite, so all three were forced to eat together. looked almost like old times, cept for the bars inbetween each bun lol! :lol: fingers crossed we can get back there, they were the sweetest little family xxx

 

[tulsi]

I do hope it all works out for them x

 

[liv862]

just a quick update:

took the whole family to the vets today, Maisy's cast finally came off (AAAAAALLELUIA!!!!!!! :lol as her fracture has stabilised, and the vet had a thorough look at both boys and their battle wounds. Rolo had one wound i was worried about cos it had swollen nd i cud see sumthing in it, turns out it was a piece of skin turned inwards, so she removed the plug of skin under local anaesthetic and glued the skin back together while i held him. we really dodged a bullet there that wud hav turned into a nasty abscess otherwise!!! i wanted a general look over to make sure there were no underlying problems that mite hav started the fighting - which there def arent thankfully, and wen she checked their teeth said she wished she saw more bunnies with teeth as good, which i never get tired of hearing :lol:

well just hav to put the fighting down to the change in environment coupled with this being the boys first change in the season, which according to my vet is the worst springtime madness they ever get!!! she said she sees no reason for them not to rebond tho so im very pleased plus it was all cheaper than i expected so i am on top of the world today!!!!!

hope your day has been as good lol!!! xxx

 

[Gemmapookie]

I don't think you should separate them between "dates", tbh. It means that they have to start all over again whenever they meet one another. I would just give them a week in a small enclosure with constant supervision. If you have work, then you can possibly separate them in the enclosure, so they can still see each other but can't nip, and aren't taken out of the same space. Moving them to different locations will be upsetting them and confusing them. They need to stay in pretty much the same neutral place all the time.

I wouldn't be bringing them indoors and putting them back outdoors every day either, this can cause respiratory infections and it is not good for bunnies. Either keep them indoors, or put them back out.

It might work this way...but I would expect them to fight as soon as you put all three together back in their own hutch. I find that if bunnies are pretty stressed with being put in a different, unfamiliar place everyday, they will get on with anybun you put them with. The problems start when they relax a little and then decide to sort out their hierarchy.

The problem with this is that if separated within the same enclosure each bun may then get territorial over its 'side.'

I have personally found the dating method effective and less stressful for the rabbits (and the human!) than the constant stress of putting them together permenantly immediately. Both of the bonds a I did this way resulted in one bun moving eventually onto the others territory with no problems. Admittedly it does take longer though.

I think both methods can work well, you just have to listen to your buns find the right ones for them and you

 

[tulsi]

Glad the cast is off and that their teeth received complements!!!

Good luck with the bonding.

 

[liv862]

apologies for not posting for a couple of days, have been super busy between bunny stuff and getting ready for uni starting on monday. things had been going super well here for a few days, had been putting them together on the single bed in the spare room and had gotten to the point where i cud nip to the loo or for a glass of water without them moving, and we were having 2 hour long dates!!!

i was super pleased, so decided to step it up to the next level. two days ago i tried them in one of the puppy crates parsnipbun lent me, and stupidly i didnt clean it first cos i thought that cos id been switching them from one crate to another twice a day, neither one wud hav become territorial about the space. needless to say i was totally wrong, and there was sum serious fighting attempts. sat there with gardening gloves batting them away from one another the whole time, i hoped maybe theyd calm down after a while of not being able to fight but that also seems to hav been a stupid idea.
tried it again the next day, having them in their neutral space first then moving them into the crate while they were happy, and again total failure.

so basically now we hav taken a huge step backwards :evil: there are fight attempts at the first sight of one another and whenever Maisy moves about (i can only assume they are fighting over her cos most things she does seem to be a trigger). so, am back to sitting on the bed with them stroking and talking to them to get them to lie down and ignore each other. FML!!!! today hav tried playing my meditation music to them, seems to have helped actually even tho that sounds totally daft! :lol:

hav moved them bak into their old hutch set up with a partition down the middle, again am swapping them twice daily, and hav totally neutralised the crates for use in a week or so if/wen i trust them enuff to try again.

does it sound stupidly optimistic to keep trying, or shud i stick with it? my dad thinks i shud leave them separate for a few months till after spring nd try again, but thats just so depressing!!!! how/when do you know if its not going to work? im so reluctant to give up cos theyve been together for nearly a year now and they were happy so it SHOULD work!!!!

opinions please!!! and thank you in advance xxxx

 

[Vegan_Bunny]

If I'm honest, I think you need to send them off to be bonded by somebody with experience and completely neutral space. Your problem is that you are trying to bond them in familiar territory. I also don't think you should try this anymore, by yourself. They are going to end up seriously hurting each other and stressing each other out.

Do you have any people/rescues nearby that could bond them for you?

If it was me, this is what I would try. If this didn't work, I'd have to concede defeat.

 

[liv862]

yea im seriously tempted to do this, its become so stressful!!! no idea where id find sumone that wud do it for me, will put a post in the rabbit chat section nd see if anything comes of it. rite now im on the bed with them and they are being lovely, all cuddled up together having a snooze, i just wish theyd stay like that forever!!!! xxxx