Bonding - is this going well or badly?

Hi everyone
I have a 6 1/2 years old female Lils who lost her partner some weeks ago, so the local animal rescue recommended a 2 1/2 years old male now named Percy to be bonded with her. I thought that the start was good as they either ignored each other or did some boxing but never locked in into a full fight and I've never had to separate them. There was some fur pulling as well but nothing really major; however, both rabbits (especially Percy) have been marking the room they're in a lot. All seemed to go quite well and they were able to partially eat from the same bowl or at least bowls put together, and especially Percy seems very relaxed. This went on for a week, but some days ago Lils became afraid of Percy and now runs away if he even moves to her direction (which of course makes him to chase after her). I have no idea what happened, but I suspect she tried to get to know him better and he probably wasn't ready but had a nip at her. This happened to some extent during the first week too but then it was mutual, and now she seems to panic even if he doesn't show any sign of agression. I put them in the bath the other night and into a box and finally into a part of the bathroom after that together and there was no fighting or nipping even after they calmed down, but once I let her go she just ran to the other room and now refuses to be in the same room with him. I want to try forcing them together again, but I don't know whether I've been reading all the signals wrong and might just make her even more afraid of him so that the bonding would fail altogether. Any advice - do you think they could get along or should I give up? The animal rescue are willing to give me another male to try bonding with, but I'd hate to send Percy back and it might end up being even a bigger failure, causing her even more stress.

:wave: Bumping.

Were you putting them in a neutral area where Poppy hadn't been before? You say she was running away from Percy, this is a good sign really, it's better than the male running away from the female! You must be in charge of the bonding so Poppy understands what you want her to do. There doesn't seem to be a problem with Percy so you must be firm with Poppy and see she behaves herself.

It isn't a good idea to keep changing locations as it confuses them so try again in one area and stick to that area and eventually Poppy will come round . Don't forget it is her territory (originally) so this might be getting in the way of her accepting Percy so try to put them somewhere she doesn't see as hers.

How long have you been bonding them? Good luck and don't give up unless she absolutely hates him.

The territory they were introduced in (almost two weeks ago) was originally the room of our other couple so it was full of unfamiliar bunny smells for both - but that might probably explain why they have both been marking the room so vigorously. The bathroom actually belonged to Lils but she's shown no signs of being territorial, on the contrary she ran out as soon as she could to get away from him.
By changing locations I was actually trying to confuse them somewhat as Percy was getting a tiny bit too confident in the room and she started to look more like a guest - do you think I should still just stick to this one room anyway? I'm just concerned that she'll get even more terrified of him (without any actual reason) if he shows too much confidence.
This is the first time it's taken so long, the previous five only took a day each and Lils's previous bonding was over within an hour without any nipping or fighting whatsoever (her being the submissive party) so I'm quite at a loss here trying to figure out which way it's going!

What do you mean by him becoming too confident? The male should be confident, the female more submissive. You can neutralise an area by using 50/50 white vinegar/water if you think it will help.

So it's normal that she is afraid of him and he's chasing her? We had a short chase earlier and she seemed really stressed about it.

That is absolutely normal! After 2/3 days she will then start to trust him more and by the end of the first week you should have 2 happily bonded bunnies. As long as there is no fighting the male will chase the female for a couple of days or so, he may not let her eat so make sure she gets some food, and by the 2nd or 3rd day they will be settling down with each other. This is the most common course my bonds have taken. If you are lucky, 2 rabbits like one another straightaway, there is no hierarchy to be sorted out it seems, but your male is showing Poppy he is the dominant one. She will seem a little afraid and stressed but it will soon be over, then as time goes by, she might become a bit bossy, but he will still be the dominant one.

But the chasing only started ten days into the bonding, she wasn't scared of him before that . He's also nipping at her head if she gets too close and she's lost quite a lot of hair on her forehead but I guess this is normal too? I'm sorry to ask so many stupid questions but I've never had this kind of trouble bonding two rabbits before, I didn't realise how lucky I've been!

Do you keep them together all the time or some of the time?

tonibun said:

What do you mean by him becoming too confident? The male should be confident, the female more submissive. You can neutralise an area by using 50/50 white vinegar/water if you think it will help.

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That's so untrue. Girls are notorious for being the more territorial and dominant out of the two.

It's normal for rabbit's to mark a lot during bonding, also for there to be humping and chasing.

I'd recommend you introduce them in just one place, rabbits often recheck who is boss when they get access to a new area so if you keep moving them around it will prolong things.

How much time are they spending together? Is it 10 days full time or just short periods together? I'd suggest you pick 48 hours when you've got free time, and pick a spot where you can watch them and they have a bit of space but not too much eg the bathroom floor (not in the tub). Then have them together for that time. I'd avoid bowls, just scatter food on the floor and see how they are reacting at the end of 48 hours.

I've definitely found it easier to introduce a new girl to the resident boy than vice versa, and also in this case I expected Lils to be the more agressive party.
The problem is that they have access to more than one room, Percy staying in their room and Lils spending time either in the bathroom or in their room. I could lock them in in their room but she gets so terrified trying to get out if he chases them that I simply don't have the heart to do that. I got them into a very small pen last night in another room last night and it went quite well, but every time she tried to rub noses with him he always ended up nipping at her without any warning. How wrong would it be to keep them in the rooms they prefer (ie most of the time they would be in separate rooms) and arrange daily supervised "dates" - do you think this might work at all?

They spent the first week (from the first minute) free in the same room and there was very little arguing going on, just an odd mutual nip here and there (I slept the first three or nights in the same room with them) and Lils hardly left the room although she had the opportunity to move to the bathroom at any time. This morning she came to the room following me, but as soon as Percy came a bit nearer she was out of the door.

Sari said:

They spent the first week (from the first minute) free in the same room and there was very little arguing going on, just an odd mutual nip here and there (I slept the first three or nights in the same room with them) and Lils hardly left the room although she had the opportunity to move to the bathroom at any time. This morning she came to the room following me, but as soon as Percy came a bit nearer she was out of the door.

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Did you then move them from this room as this may have upset the bonding process? As she is being a bit flighty, it might be better to force them together ie in a small pen, as Tamsin says choose a 48 hr slot when you aren't busy ? so you can keep a careful eye on them. You are right, it is usually easier to introduce a female into a male's territory.

Dating is not all that popular here, it's best to get it over with, unless they are hurting one another.

chloemurray said:

That's so untrue. Girls are notorious for being the more territorial and dominant out of the two.

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Totally agree. Completely untrue. girls are definitely more trouble in my experience

fiona0529 said:

Totally agree. Completely untrue. girls are definitely more trouble in my experience

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I totally agree with this. I'm having real trouble with our girls chasing and biting Fiva if he goes in the run or sometimes even when he's in the base of the shed. I am really worried that our bond of 4 may break completely.

I know how worrying it is to see your bunny totally frightened of another bunny. We are trying so hard to keep them all together but think we may have to separate back to two bonded pairs for Fiva's sake.

They have been in the same room all the time, but Lils started to move to another room every time she feels threatened and I don't want to deny her that. However, now they seem to be swapping rooms on a regular basis. They also spent several hours in a very small pen yesterday which resulted in Lils grooming Percy for several minutes and him having a nip at her afterwards.