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Would you give up?

If the problems persist you can try reducing their area again. Hopefully they will be able to work out their relationship and who is boss rabbit.
Richard

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tonibun said:
I think they just have some "sorting out" to do yet. Chasing by the male is perfectly normal and it usually lasts for up to 3 days. Also not allowing the female near the food is normal. As soon as he feels she knows her place then they will settle down; maybe you could tell him off a bit if he is not being nice to her and he may get the message and calm down a bit. Don't appear worried or upset as this might make him worse.
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Motty said:
If the problems persist you can try reducing their area again. Hopefully they will be able to work out their relationship and who is boss rabbit.
Richard

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Click to expand...


I agree with Tonibun and Motty. It does sometimes take a while for things to settle after a bit of an issue, it’s hard for them to learn to trust one another. Fingers crossed for you all.
 
Thankyou for the advice everyone, I'm keeping things as they are in the hopes he does calm down, if he doesn't in another day or so I will cut down their space again and see if that helps. It's been pretty much the same again today so I'm just keeping an eye to make sure Hazel gets to eat!
 
Think of buns as severe trust issue suffers. Takes them a while but once they work past the issues, its wonderful.

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A quick update, Shadow has still been chasing and trying to mount Hazel quite a lot but it has settled a bit. 2 days ago they were both sitting ontop of the hutch for about 2 hours, very near each other but not cuddled up. Then another time they were both sleeping on their beds next to each other. Theyhave had some cuddles but only with one of us stroking them as well, Shadow even cleaned hazels ears a little yesterday while we were cuddling. Also hazel did randomly go up to shadow start grooming him a couple of days ago but as soon as she stopped he tried to mount her. The chasing isn't as bad most of the time as he tends to hop after her a bit then give up. Tomorrow I have to take them to the vets for their mixi and rhd injection. I was thinking to put them in the same carry cage although it will be a bit of a squash so that it is a bit like the stress bond but I have to take them so could be good? Then I thought when I get them home to put them back in a reduced area and sort of start again. i'm not sure if that's necessary as they aren't as bad but they aren't cuddling up either. I will probably see how today goes.
 
Sammy&Patch said:
A quick update, Shadow has still been chasing and trying to mount Hazel quite a lot but it has settled a bit. 2 days ago they were both sitting ontop of the hutch for about 2 hours, very near each other but not cuddled up. Then another time they were both sleeping on their beds next to each other. Theyhave had some cuddles but only with one of us stroking them as well, Shadow even cleaned hazels ears a little yesterday while we were cuddling. Also hazel did randomly go up to shadow start grooming him a couple of days ago but as soon as she stopped he tried to mount her. The chasing isn't as bad most of the time as he tends to hop after her a bit then give up. Tomorrow I have to take them to the vets for their mixi and rhd injection. I was thinking to put them in the same carry cage although it will be a bit of a squash so that it is a bit like the stress bond but I have to take them so could be good? Then I thought when I get them home to put them back in a reduced area and sort of start again. i'm not sure if that's necessary as they aren't as bad but they aren't cuddling up either. I will probably see how today goes.
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Depending on how today goes, I think this is what I'd do.
 
Sammy&Patch said:
A quick update, Shadow has still been chasing and trying to mount Hazel quite a lot but it has settled a bit. 2 days ago they were both sitting ontop of the hutch for about 2 hours, very near each other but not cuddled up. Then another time they were both sleeping on their beds next to each other. Theyhave had some cuddles but only with one of us stroking them as well, Shadow even cleaned hazels ears a little yesterday while we were cuddling. Also hazel did randomly go up to shadow start grooming him a couple of days ago but as soon as she stopped he tried to mount her. The chasing isn't as bad most of the time as he tends to hop after her a bit then give up. Tomorrow I have to take them to the vets for their mixi and rhd injection. I was thinking to put them in the same carry cage although it will be a bit of a squash so that it is a bit like the stress bond but I have to take them so could be good? Then I thought when I get them home to put them back in a reduced area and sort of start again. i'm not sure if that's necessary as they aren't as bad but they aren't cuddling up either. I will probably see how today goes.
Click to expand...
I think it sounds like a good plan.
Not sure id reduce the space after vets, id consider keeping it as it is.

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The vet trip went well, they were scared going as expected and they cuddled up in the carrier. I reducedthe space a bit when we got back, mainly to block off the hutch again as they were tending to sit one on top of the hutch and one on the ground so spending a lot of time apart. They did some grooming and cuddling up/chatting when we got back. They both sat squashed on one of the cat beds, so cute! Today they have been sitting a bit together and a bit apart, a little grooming and some chasing/mounting still from shadow but not as bad. I'm going to leave it like this for a few days and see how it goes.
 
Poor Hazel, Shadow is being really mean again every time they are eating in particular he keeps chasing her away. Yeterday he was pestering her for most of the day. I think he is getting very frustrated. When we got him from rescue they said he was ready to leave, he was getting really frustrated being cooped up and being aggressive to staff. I'm wondering if the smaller space again is making him mean to Hazel. She was quite subdued yesterday and this morning. I thought of 2 options, 1 would be to extend it again to how far we had got it but still excluding the top of the hutch so Hazel will have more space to get away from him but they may still sleep near each other if they can't be on 2 levels. The other option would be to maybe extend a little bit but not too much but let them have an hour out of the enclosure to run around to wear themselves out a bit and that might calm shadow down, then lock them back in the enclosure again. I'm not sure if either of these is a good idea but I don't want hazel to have another day like yesterday, she already had 2 upsets over the last few months while trying to do the bonding where she ended up not eating, she is a very delicate bunny! I also feel sorry for shadow being cooped up but he bounces back more easily.
 
Sammy&Patch said:
Poor Hazel, Shadow is being really mean again every time they are eating in particular he keeps chasing her away. Yeterday he was pestering her for most of the day. I think he is getting very frustrated. When we got him from rescue they said he was ready to leave, he was getting really frustrated being cooped up and being aggressive to staff. I'm wondering if the smaller space again is making him mean to Hazel. She was quite subdued yesterday and this morning. I thought of 2 options, 1 would be to extend it again to how far we had got it but still excluding the top of the hutch so Hazel will have more space to get away from him but they may still sleep near each other if they can't be on 2 levels. The other option would be to maybe extend a little bit but not too much but let them have an hour out of the enclosure to run around to wear themselves out a bit and that might calm shadow down, then lock them back in the enclosure again. I'm not sure if either of these is a good idea but I don't want hazel to have another day like yesterday, she already had 2 upsets over the last few months while trying to do the bonding where she ended up not eating, she is a very delicate bunny! I also feel sorry for shadow being cooped up but he bounces back more easily.
Click to expand...

There are no universal bonding rules & as you know your bunnies best I don't think it hurts to switch things round if its not working. One of my bunnies who is normally super chilled & confident is an absolute nightmare in a small space so I can't bond her that way. You'll be keeping a really close eye on them with any changes so if you feel its right, personally I'd try it (one or the other of your options). Years ago Joey escaped a bonding pen & I've never in my life seen such a happy bunny, he did non stop amazing binkies for ages
 
Shadow is still pestering hazel but not as bad, they were both delighted to get out into the hallway and run off downstairs, shadow was like a nutter, hazel was more lady like but still happy to go off for an explore. They both usually love going for a little roam downstairs, they just haven't done it together before. Hazel seemed to want shadow to follow her a couple of times!!! Oh and shadow loved his usual jump on the bed too :)
 
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