ok so they have had dinner together fine and are now snuggles up again so I it looks like I am going to have to neutralize Poppy's pen so they can both move in!
I'm going to white vinegar everything I can but what would people suggest for the rugs? would people suggest spraying them with vinegar and then leaving for a bit before wiping?
thank you
i have very limited bonding experience, but have just bonded my two bunnies. neville already lived here and susie came from a rescue about a month ago.
swinging between humping and harmony - i found the humping went on for a good week - eventually i just let them hump it out, within reason. and the next day it had stopped. looks like they just needed to go mental to work out who was boss. because they hadn't hurt one another, i let them just get on with it.
moving - mine were in a small pen 6x2ft for about two weeks, just to be sure they were ok. i then moved the pen into the room they were going to be living in and kept it small for a few days. i slowly extended their space. they now free range. i saw a little bit of humping and at one point, i had them back in the pen overnight. all is peaceful now.
neutralising - because in my case it was susie coming into neville's home, it seemed to work out well. they now have a selection of new and neville's stuff and it caused no upset. i used water and vinegar on litter trays and washed any soft furnishings. they actually had neville's wooden arch from day 1, and it caused no upset at all. with the rugs and carpet - because it's your female's territory, i would say keep them in the neutral, small space for at least another week - they need to be solidly friends before moving into a potentially charged environment. if they're not quite tight yet, this may upset their young bound. think small steps.
feeding - i found that placing them side by side and feeding both of them and stroking them helped them to understand what i expected of them at food time. i also did the stroking after breaking up humping, just to show them who was top rabbit!
it looks like it's going very well, so keep on with the small space. make changes slowly and keep them small. i worried a lot about them being confined to such a small space, but it was absolutely worth it :thumb: