Will they ever bond??

Please, please can someone please give me some advice...I originally posted a plea on 6th December (no replies ) but I'm desperate to know if my four spayed/neutered house bunnies will ever bond and how to do it ...I have two separate bonded pairs 9 yr old smudge (dwarf lop) and 2 1/2 yr old Coco (mini dwarf lop) and two 8mth old lion head dwarf lops Reuben and Boo (brother and sister) they are all in the living room, older pair free run, younger pair in 5ft double story hutch with attached run! Mad I know! But the problem is previously Reuben escaped and I found him and Coco fighting. Now whenever they meet at the pen gates they try and lunge and nip each other....can anyone suggest how I can or if it will ever be possible to bond the two pairs together so they can all live 'free range' and would I do them individually or as a group?? I'm in such a dilemma as I don't want my oldest bunny smudge to be hurt in any way as he is so docile, but Coco and Reuben are so fiesty


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No replies and many views isn't always people who are members, people who come across the thread from searching google or guests count as a view

If they're neutered then there is no reason why they can't bond. They might act like that between the bars because they're protecting their territory, so when they're put together in a smaller, neutral area they shouldn't feel like they have to fight to protect their area. My pair used to box, lunge etc when they were in their runs next to each other, but they only took a few days to bond and they've been inseparable ever since

If you have a look in the bonding section of the forum there are some sticky threads that might be helpful. There is also a website of someone on here called Flash's Place which is really good. Also tulsi bonded a quad after her 6 didn't work out.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...cs-page-2-post-19-update-now-a-quad-More-pics!

:wave: it's definitely possible to bond 2pairs into a quad, I bonded my 2 pairs a few months ago, I would say I definitely had it easy, it was my first bond :shock: all 4 of mine are very gentle buns I did a long blog style post here http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?402162-U-d-2-weeks-after-Bonding-a-quad
There were quite a few group bonds at the time, Vegan Bunny and Mackers both did trio bonds.
Mine are outside buns so I brought them inside which was neutral territory. In your case you'd need to bond them in a room where nobun has been, and if you wanted to bring them back to their original room it would need to be thoroughly neutralised first, mine went outside to a new neutral shed and run. The only thing is that if it doesn't work, worse case scenario you could land up with 4 single bunnies.

Thank you both for the info, so it could end up unbonding the two bonded pairs? and how would I neutralise the living room? As my older two have always lived there, especially Smudge who is coming up for 9, won't their smell be difficult to eradicate from all the furniture etc? The only neutral place I have is a bedroom, would that do? Sorry lots of questions it's just when I bonded the older two smudge was younger, only 6 and not so frail, I wouldn't want him to get into any scraps at his age.... Waaa! I don't know what to do for the best


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The bedroom would prob be best in a sectioned off area to start with. My buns when they were unbounded used to try and attack each other through the dividing but they are bonded and happy now :wave:

It's possible to damage existing bonds, but I don't know how common the risk is, I took the view that I would try it and see and I'd separate back into their original pairs if it looked at all problematic.

As for neutralising indoors, I'm not sure, people use 50/50 vinegar and water for neutralising but I'm not sure how people do indoor neutralising. Hopefully someone will answer that soon.

I think if you could use a small pen upstairs and expand the space gradually and keep them up there until the bond was established, like for weeks rather than days then when they come back down hopefully they will be firm friends :thumb:

I used water and vinegar in my bedroom when I bonded my quad (f/f pair and two brothers who had fallen out quite badly a few months previously).

I put them all in to a puppy pen with more litter trays than rabbits to help avoid fights.

I tried for all six at first but Mottle and Peaches were NOT HAPPY BUNNIES so I now have a pair and a quad.

Thank you everyone, I think this has given me more insight, I will pluck up the courage to try this and let you know....but may wait till after Christmas


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had first go at bonding

Zoobec said:

It's possible to damage existing bonds, but I don't know how common the risk is, I took the view that I would try it and see and I'd separate back into their original pairs if it looked at all problematic.

As for neutralising indoors, I'm not sure, people use 50/50 vinegar and water for neutralising but I'm not sure how people do indoor neutralising. Hopefully someone will answer that soon.

I think if you could use a small pen upstairs and expand the space gradually and keep them up there until the bond was established, like for weeks rather than days then when they come back down hopefully they will be firm friends :thumb:

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Well Christmas came and went and I couldn't put it off any longer and thought today I will put them into a neutral bedroom area and see how it goes....it went much better than I expected...Smudge the older frail bunny was chilled out and the two younger bunnies (Reuben and Boo) seemed fine with him, Reuben kept insisting on rubbing against Smudge and even ventured a tentative lick.
i was ready to pluck Smudge to safety because he is a gentle frail bunny but all seemed fine, Boo did get a little jealous and lunged but I deflected it with a smooth to both bunnies.

Now my problem is Coco the other half of Smudge, she is a very nervous doe and although she and the bonded youngsters hopped passed each other with no problems to begin with, after 5 minutes or so she lunged at Boo the young doe, I smoothed them both and they went separate ways, this happened again. Then she just sat next to me being smoothed, whilst Smudge, Boo and Reuben sniffed nose to nose no problems.

I only did this for 20 mins as I was worried they would stress and have now put them back in their respective areas. Question is did I do right, was this a positive first meeting and should I have left them together longer?

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janban said:

Well Christmas came and went and I couldn't put it off any longer and thought today I will put them into a neutral bedroom area and see how it goes....it went much better than I expected...Smudge the older frail bunny was chilled out and the two younger bunnies (Reuben and Boo) seemed fine with him, Reuben kept insisting on rubbing against Smudge and even ventured a tentative lick.
i was ready to pluck Smudge to safety because he is a gentle frail bunny but all seemed fine, Boo did get a little jealous and lunged but I deflected it with a smooth to both bunnies.

Now my problem is Coco the other half of Smudge, she is a very nervous doe and although she and the bonded youngsters hopped passed each other with no problems to begin with, after 5 minutes or so she lunged at Boo the young doe, I smoothed them both and they went separate ways, this happened again. Then she just sat next to me being smoothed, whilst Smudge, Boo and Reuben sniffed nose to nose no problems.

I only did this for 20 mins as I was worried they would stress and have now put them back in their respective areas. Question is did I do right, was this a positive first meeting and should I have left them together longer?

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I think I would be inclined to try to leave them together and not separate them, as each time they are having to start all over again, so long as there isn't actual fighting of course. I had a bit of chasing/fur pulling and Dandy mounted the 2 girls once but that was it. Each time they started chasing I put more food in to distract them, I used a lot of rosemary that weekend :lol: (I've since read that rosemary is good for calming them too) but as I say I've only ever done the one bond so I'm no expert at all I know some people do the dating method, but I decided to leave mine together and try to let them sort their places out in the group themselves.

I think it sounds like it was a good first meeting :thumb:

Personally I would have kept them together for as much time as I had available, especially as there was no actual fighting. It sounds like a promising start :wave: I would maybe try again when you have a full day or even a weekend, and try and stick it out. Good luck. And yes, neutralise with a vinegar solution - just spray it everywhere they can reach! The smell soon goes :lol:

Thank you both, I did wonder whether to leave them longer, but thought I didn't want to create bad feelings with them all so ended it on a happy note... plus I didn't have time to sit there for hours (unfortunately I'm a carer for my husband and have to go to see to him regularly and didn't want to leave them unattended) I think I'll do what you suggest and try to do the whole weekend

It's only because I worry Smudge, the elderly bunny may get injured if a fight broke out between Coco and the youngsters as he can't move quickly and falls over easily will let you know how the weekend goes :wave:

ripminnie said:

Personally I would have kept them together for as much time as I had available, especially as there was no actual fighting. It sounds like a promising start :wave: I would maybe try again when you have a full day or even a weekend, and try and stick it out. Good luck. And yes, neutralise with a vinegar solution - just spray it everywhere they can reach! The smell soon goes :lol:

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Well, I tried again at the weekend and gave it more time, Reuben the young boy tentatively approached Smudge my elderly boy and began licking his eyes and then started licking his back . But Boo (Reuben's sister) and Coco (Smudge's companion) had some lunges and flips and then had a tipsy turvy scrum, so I separated them as Reuben spooked and I was afraid Smudge was going to get knocked over don't know if my nerves can stand it...I'm just so afraid Smudge will get hurt, even though there doesn't seem any animosity to him because he is so gentle and chilled out....don't know if I should just try and bond the two does first (coco and boo) as they seem to be the troublemakers ? Or could that cause problems?


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