Help! How do I bond my bunnies while no ones home?!

[Habibarose]

Hi!

So I have a 6 month Netherland dwarf female Lily, and a 4 month mini lop male, George. We had Lily first and she roams free in the house. She is a queen bee! We then brought George home a couple of months laterand started the bonding process, which was effective and they had bonded after a week.

We then took Lily to be spayed and she became very unwell and was hospitalised for about 6 days. The vet had advised not to bring George to visit, and on her return home we had to keep them separate due to her recovering from various surgeries.

Now she is fit and well we have tried to rebond them, which is working. They have had a couple of "dates" in the bathroom which is neutral, and they now share the rest of the house almost fight free now. However this has only been for a couple of days. At night we are worried they'll fight in their cage/around the house while we're sleeping so they are kept in their cage and in our room.

When they were originally bonded I had the luxury of holiday time but now I am at work I don't know what to do during the day with them, to make sure the bonding process isn't interrupted?!

Any advice would be very helpful!!

 

[tonibun]

You say they have been together for 2 days, is this without any fighting and chasing? If they seem peaceful together, eating together, etc then I think you should be safe to leave them. No-one really knows and fights can erupt between any bonded bunnies when the owners aren't there. Are you there over the weekend so you can really monitor them for the 2 daysd, this will give you a very good idea as to how they are.

Sorry to hear your bunny had a bad time after her spay, but pleased she has now recovered and hopefully they will have many happy years together.

 

[Tamsin]

It sounds like you are almost there. I'd wait for your day(s) off e.g. the weekend and leave them together full time, if you don't have any problems in the 24 hours or so then I'd declare them bonded and leave them together full time

If they have seperate cages/spaces still, I'd suggest neutralising them (good clean and rearrange) before poping them intogether.

 

[Babsie]

Is your buck ready to be neutered? Just thinking about his hormones affecting the re-bonding.