If you have lovingly bonded bunnies,how did they react to each other before bond?

[Lily Dohwa]

We are about to bond Roo and Dohwa together by the end of the month. They have been interacting with a cage between them for a month now as Dohwa gets neutering done and over with . Really no scuffles whatsover, Do fell pretty much in love with Roo at first sight, he became a little less interested after his neuter, but still very calm and sweet, flopping down even if Roo tries to steal his toys and hay from between the cage gaps. I’m glad that they have had this period of separation before bonding, not just so that Dohwa can heal after his neutering but also that Roo was able to get used to us and bond with us.

If you have bunnies who are now lovingly bonded and don’t fight often, how did they behave to each other pre-bond? Do you think that bunnies who are lovely to each other pre-bond with a cage in-between make for a higher probability of successful bonding? Just wanted to reference : ).

ALSO, would love to hear of any experiences people have of bonding a neutered male to an un-spayed female : ). Thank you very much.

 

[Orenoko]

I bonded a recently neutered boy with a spayed female in 2019. I had the female first and she absolutely HATED him when I first bought him home. He was super chill and just wanted to be friends, but I know females can be more territorial. Mine lived side by side for a month or so, what I will say is I probably introduced them a bit too soon as I thought they were getting on really well. In hindsight I probably would've left it another couple of weeks just to make sure the boy's hormones were completely settled. There was definitely some chasing and fur pulling to begin with but they did settle. I kept them in a relatively small space for a few days, and also slept in the same room just in case, but now they're inseparable!

 

[Omi]

We adopted Tui when she was just 3 months old. She was pre-pubertal and unspayed. She bonded very easily to our neutered Rex buck who was 7 years old. She was spayed when she was around 5 months and their bond was unaffected.

 

[joey&boo]

When my current two met my new bun (boy) was obviously in love with my 9 year old, all the right behaviours but he had to do them in very close proximity as his mate is both deaf & blind. She was much slower to trust so very grunty & a tad reactive, so we had to bond slower than normal.

I have had bunnies on opposite sides of a room divide pre-bonding. I think its a relatively good sign your 2 chill out together ; beyond & above that most boy / girl combos, when approached with thought as you have, will bond (honest). With the divide thing I could tell which bunnies (I had one on one side, 3 on the other, later a pair each side) would be easiest to bond. However even the bunnies that were difficult in the one space chilled out at the prison gates (as I used to call them). A lot of why bunnies don't get on is because they need to trust & I think thats easier for them when their physical safety isn't in jeopardy. Plus bear in mind chasing & humping are a normal part of bonding & they can't do that with bars between them.

I've had house buns since 1993 ish, during that time I've had love at first sight bunny bonds, textbook chasing humping etc, some were a bit fighty. Once bonded they all stayed that way, most were pretty obviously loved up. Even the more casual aloof relationships offer bunnies so much.

I wish you luck for their face to face bond . Let us know how it goes

 

[Graciee]

Fight to the death for one pair.. [emoji38]

Other pair, the boy was nipping her a lot but also grooming loads, and eventually calmed down, the girl was a Saint to put up with it all tbh [emoji38]

Both my pairs are very much in love tho

Ime how they behave with bars up doesn't matter much when they're finally put together!

I hope it goes well, let us know how it all goes

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[bunny momma]

My bonded pair are brother and sister. She was here a month before he was and he was bullied at pet shop until I rescued him. It took months living side by side before both were neutered and could be bonded, yet after a few days of chasing, humping they are a happy family.

Good luck with your bonding.