Opinions on stress bonding

[MrsCoultas]

I don't know about stress bonding but I DO usually do a 'forced' bonding by placing all those to be bonded into a very small enclosure, increasing the space minimally over about a week. I think people are too quick to dismiss stress/forced bondings as unacceptable. Yes, it's not ideal BUT if you work full time then you don't have the benefit of days and days of being at home in which to supervise. Plus I always think "1 week of stress = a lifetime of having a friend/friends". I would be lovely to be able to spend weeks doing a fluffy bond where the rabbits have a whole room and can avoid each other unless they choose to be together but I never have that time. I envy people who can do that but sadly, most people can't so it's either lonely rabbit or forced bond. I'm afraid I'd go with the forced bond every time.

Another great point of view! I don't think it's something that I would ever completely dismiss, for me it will be a last resort though as I do have the time to do it. I think it is what works for you and your buns, thank you for sharing your experience

 

[cara]

I suppose my method is also a form of forced bonding, certainly we start with the most minimal space - litter tray size and gradually increasing as and when we think we can move on. We try to increase so slowly that the rabbits are not even aware they have the extra space. On this occasion. We took away the litter tray (so no boundary) and spread the hay over the space so the boundary was never visible.

I can see there are a quote a few different methods which people use

 

[MrsCoultas]

I really like knowing all of these different methods, I like reading stuff on websites but I often find that they don't have actual personal experience and different points of view.

I'm going to be moving my discussion for Poppy and Ragnar back to my other thread, but feel free to keep talking about stress bonding, I may need it!