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Help please - bonding my two females.

M

mistysmamma

Young Bun
Hi
I have been trying to bond my two females on and off for about a year now. They live next to each other and know each other well. I'm quite a nervous bonder and so it's taking me ages to get this far. Today they actually didnt nip or chase. What I need to know is how will I know when they are bonded? Do they need to be mutual grooming? At the moment my Lop (Misty) still seems a little nervous and doesnt run around much where as my Rex (Bella) is all over the place and quite at home in the neutral space. Any advice as to how anyone thinks the rabbits are doing would be really appreciated. A link to 3 videos I took while bonding them today is here: [video]https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL32pZERAf7KnJWaaRNgGPuMU1zi3KX8CR[/video]

Thanks.
 
Are they having regular dates? I only did one bond. A pair and two bucks (who had fallen out) in to a quad. I put them in a neutral space (puppy pen in my bedroom) and watched them like 10 hawks for a couple of weeks until all the chasing, etc stopped.

Your (gorgeous) rex does look more at ease. She reminds me of the head of the quad, Frosty. Perhaps she will be the dominant one, but until they have had at least 48 hours together with no chasing and nipping, etc you wont know.

I am definately no expert though. There are many very experienced bonders on here who will hopefully comment soon.
 
tulsi said:
Are they having regular dates? I only did one bond. A pair and two bucks (who had fallen out) in to a quad. I put them in a neutral space (puppy pen in my bedroom) and watched them like 10 hawks for a couple of weeks until all the chasing, etc stopped.

Your (gorgeous) rex does look more at ease. She reminds me of the head of the quad, Frosty. Perhaps she will be the dominant one, but until they have had at least 48 hours together with no chasing and nipping, etc you wont know.

I am definately no expert though. There are many very experienced bonders on here who will hopefully comment soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Do you know if theres any way to contact the moderators or experts on here for help or advice?
 
What happens when Misty dares to move? Where are the girls heading eventually to live? How long are they spending together at the moment? Sometimes it takes weeks before they groom. Looks to be going ok from the short videos I have seen but I need a bit more detail to advise :)
 
Some pairs never groom each other, I don't know if that's rare :? My first pair (Apricot and Ginger who have been together since birth) have never groomed each other as far as I know. they are now bonded into a quad with my 2 boys. The boys always groomed each other and after a day or so bonding the boys groomed the girls but the girls never return the favour.
 
alio71 said:
What happens when Misty dares to move? Where are the girls heading eventually to live? How long are they spending together at the moment? Sometimes it takes weeks before they groom. Looks to be going ok from the short videos I have seen but I need a bit more detail to advise :)
Click to expand...

When Misty moves Bella mostly ignores her and just carries on with what shes doing. I am going to buy a new cage for them both once I'm sure they've bonded. Bella has groomed misty on and off but misty refuses to return the favour. Do you think I'm getting close to them being ok together?
Thanks
 
Zoobec said:
Some pairs never groom each other, I don't know if that's rare :? My first pair (Apricot and Ginger who have been together since birth) have never groomed each other as far as I know. they are now bonded into a quad with my 2 boys. The boys always groomed each other and after a day or so bonding the boys groomed the girls but the girls never return the favour.
Click to expand...

At the moment they're spending about an hour a day together maybe more.
 
I think you have a couple of options but they do need to spend longer together before you can be sure they will be ok together. They need to be around each other for longer. Do you have time to do that?
 
alio71 said:
I think you have a couple of options but they do need to spend longer together before you can be sure they will be ok together. They need to be around each other for longer. Do you have time to do that?
Click to expand...

Yes I can make time - what are the two options?
 
Sorry I'm not able to see the videos but if I were you I would put them together in a small neutral space with nothing but a water bowl and some hay and maybe a litter tray and keep them together with 24hr supervision for a few days and then gradually increase the space back up when you're confident they are not nipping/chasing etc anymore
 
As above one option is to go for a full on bond where they will need constant supervision until they are fine together. If you are not able to do that I would increase the length of time they date for. They look ok together but Misty does not really look like she is behaving normally. I generally prefer the first option as I think when you date it's like starting again everytime however, I know it's not always practical for everyone. So I would say that they need to be spending a lot more time together before you know if they are truly bonded but so far so good xx
 
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