piperknitsRN
Young Bun
I obtained Olive, a six month old Holland Lop, from a breeder this past July. She litter trained herself and hasn't been particularly destructive when free range in my house (she lives in a X pen in the kitchen). Self-assured and independent, but also good-natured, she has never been aggressive with me. I had her spayed quite young, about four months old.
Last week, I took her to the shelter to bunny date, and came home with a ? four month old New Zealand White bunny who I named Simon. At the shelter, they more or less did a bit of mild chasing, but no outright fighting. I made the mistake of putting them in Olive's X pen and hoping for the best; bad, bad move. Olive took instant umbrage to the idea, mounted poor Simon, which lead to a chase and fighting. I had to separate them. Then I tried again in the bathtub. They chased and fought again.
Not to be outdone by two bunnies, I quickly went to the next plan: stress bonding. I plopped them both in a laundry basket and carried it around the house, and then placed it on top of the laundry machine downstairs (and turned the dryer on). Then I let them out on the floor. They circled, chased and nipped for several days, but around mid week, they seemed to be ignoring each other more. Encouraged, I used the banana-on-the-forehead trick. Olive ate the banana from Simon's forehead, but didn't start any grooming for several days past that. In the meantime, I continued several-times-daily bonding sessions in neutral territory (the laundry room). Gradually, they began to calm down enough to tentatively sniff each other without too much fuss, and finally, Olive, with the help of Simon's poor banana-flavored forehead, started to groom him on the head, albeit a bit roughly at first.
Eventually, they got to the point where they were sitting near each other for brief periods of time without running off, and then even sharing a litterbox and eating hay together. When they got to this point (and Olive continued to groom Simon) I decided to go for broke and, even though it was only 6 days into bonding, thoroughly cleaned out her X pen, cleaned out the litterboxes and put both bunnies in the X pen, and watched. Miraculously, though Olive still chases Simon out of the litter boxes (there's two) from time to time, they are no longer nipping or fighting, and even spent the night in the X pen together without overt carping comment.
It is clear to me that Olive is the dominant bunny, but Simon has learned to acquiesce to her demands (such as "Move over, you great lump!"). He seems so gentle and kind, and she seems so bossy, cranky and domineering by comparison--and she's smaller in stature than he is! They've spent some time in the litter box together side-by-side with their noses touching this evening, as well as some floor time in the basement (I think Simon's well on his way to being litter trained, but I can't be sure yet, and I don't want him ruining the carpets upstairs). I get the feeling Olive didn't really need Simon for a friend (it seems more like a benevolent dictatorship) but I feel so much better having watched their relationship evolve from one of pure tension and chaos to tentative friendship.
I have to take Simon to the vet for a routine check up on Tuesday, and I'm a little afraid that, while I'm going to bring both of them, the stress of the trip will cause them to fight and set back their bonding success. On the other hand, I don't want to put their budding friendship on the line by not bringing him. Hopefully they are past fighting (I'm pretty sure they are, as Simon seems to submit to Her Highness's wishes at this point); they've come so far already.
More later as the drama unfolds.
Last week, I took her to the shelter to bunny date, and came home with a ? four month old New Zealand White bunny who I named Simon. At the shelter, they more or less did a bit of mild chasing, but no outright fighting. I made the mistake of putting them in Olive's X pen and hoping for the best; bad, bad move. Olive took instant umbrage to the idea, mounted poor Simon, which lead to a chase and fighting. I had to separate them. Then I tried again in the bathtub. They chased and fought again.
Not to be outdone by two bunnies, I quickly went to the next plan: stress bonding. I plopped them both in a laundry basket and carried it around the house, and then placed it on top of the laundry machine downstairs (and turned the dryer on). Then I let them out on the floor. They circled, chased and nipped for several days, but around mid week, they seemed to be ignoring each other more. Encouraged, I used the banana-on-the-forehead trick. Olive ate the banana from Simon's forehead, but didn't start any grooming for several days past that. In the meantime, I continued several-times-daily bonding sessions in neutral territory (the laundry room). Gradually, they began to calm down enough to tentatively sniff each other without too much fuss, and finally, Olive, with the help of Simon's poor banana-flavored forehead, started to groom him on the head, albeit a bit roughly at first.
Eventually, they got to the point where they were sitting near each other for brief periods of time without running off, and then even sharing a litterbox and eating hay together. When they got to this point (and Olive continued to groom Simon) I decided to go for broke and, even though it was only 6 days into bonding, thoroughly cleaned out her X pen, cleaned out the litterboxes and put both bunnies in the X pen, and watched. Miraculously, though Olive still chases Simon out of the litter boxes (there's two) from time to time, they are no longer nipping or fighting, and even spent the night in the X pen together without overt carping comment.
It is clear to me that Olive is the dominant bunny, but Simon has learned to acquiesce to her demands (such as "Move over, you great lump!"). He seems so gentle and kind, and she seems so bossy, cranky and domineering by comparison--and she's smaller in stature than he is! They've spent some time in the litter box together side-by-side with their noses touching this evening, as well as some floor time in the basement (I think Simon's well on his way to being litter trained, but I can't be sure yet, and I don't want him ruining the carpets upstairs). I get the feeling Olive didn't really need Simon for a friend (it seems more like a benevolent dictatorship) but I feel so much better having watched their relationship evolve from one of pure tension and chaos to tentative friendship.
I have to take Simon to the vet for a routine check up on Tuesday, and I'm a little afraid that, while I'm going to bring both of them, the stress of the trip will cause them to fight and set back their bonding success. On the other hand, I don't want to put their budding friendship on the line by not bringing him. Hopefully they are past fighting (I'm pretty sure they are, as Simon seems to submit to Her Highness's wishes at this point); they've come so far already.
More later as the drama unfolds.
Good luck with the bonding. I hope all carries on smoothly 
