New to bonding

[Calidi]

Hello!

I have a 4 year old free roam male rabbit called Frankie. We decided that it would be good to bond him so he wasn't alone so we recently adopted a 4 year old girl called Elsie.

I have never bonded rabbits before, I have done SO MUCH research into it and it all contradicts each other that I'm at a loss! Also, majority of it is all geared towards rabbits in enclosures which Frankie isn't.

We sprayed down and sterilised the room we were putting Elsie in and she is in a fenced enclosure so Frankie can't get it and Frankie is still free roam.

We have tried to initiate bonding with them but I've no idea if it's going well or not. We introduced them through a fence first so they could sniff each other, Frankie would run around the fence grunting and thumping and Elsie would move away from him. When we introduced them face to face, we did it in a small area and I supervised to male sure no one was hurt. Frankie is continously mounting Elsie but she is not reacting at all, she just lies there, doesn't move or make any noise. From what I've researched about rabbit behaviours she doesn't look stressed, is this normal?

Frankie keeps lowering his head next to her face to be groomed and when she doesn't do anything he thumps at her. We've tried putting Frankie in an enclosure next to her but he won't settle and he wouldn't eat or drink.

I'm really at a loss on what to do! I don't want to keep continuing with the bonding process if it's causing upset to my rabbits. We are fostering Elsie through a charity and if she doesn't bond with Frankie they take her back to their sanctuary but I don't want to do that unless it's necessary.

Any advice at all would be massively appreciated, I'm just so upset about the whole thing.

Thank you

 

[InspectorMorse]

I assume Elsie is at least 6-8 weeks post spay ?

The humping behaviour is completely normal. She is obviously being submissive to him, so I would leave them together and supervise them. The humping will eventually settle down. Elsie might chase him off eventually and as long as he runs away rather than persisting and initiating a more aggressive rebuff from Elsie that’s fine. Keep an eye on Elsie’s eating and poo output to make sure she isn’t getting too stressed which could lead to gut stasis.

Only separate them if they start to circle each other with their tails up and/or if a real fight occurs. A bit of chasing, nipping and fur pulling is normal in the early stages of bonding.

You will need to keep both of them in a confined area initially. Usually for at least a week.

 

[tonibun]

It sounds fairly normal to me also. This initial stage is very stressful (for the human) and it is good if you can get it done quickly. You are lucky to find a female the same age as Frankie so it is meant to be! It will be lovely when they bond! Have you got a spare room where they can be left to get to know one another?