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So close but yet so far! Bonding advice really needed.

S

StickeeVicky

New Kit
Hiya,

firstly thanks for reading I could do with the confidence boost more than anything.

I have had my bunny Merlin since he was 6weeks old, he is now 10 months.
His brother (also now 10 months) who was there when I picked Merlin was picked by my sister who has since due to unforeseen reasons can't look after him anymore so to give Merlin some company I decided to take him on.

I made sure they were both nurtured Merlin in December and Zapp (his brother) a month ago. They are both male.

At first all went very well. Separated them through a gate for a day or two and they were sleeping next to each other by the gates within a day. Then when put in a neutral room there was no fighting and dominance was established by Zapp took a while but they seemed comfortable. We kept them together in there increasing the time they were together until I felt comfortable to leave them knowing there would be no trouble this went on for about a week.
We then introduced them into the living room where they will be hopping around free when they want only going away at nights. Again increasing times and this went well they have been laying next to each other sleeping, grooming one another, the humping from Zapp stopped completely and we thought everything was great felt comfortable leaving them on their own for periods of time with no trouble.

However after a week of being out and happy with each other (3weeks of bonding) Merlin has for no reason (or so it seems) starting biting Zapp and creating big fights, for example Zapp can just hop past him and Merlin will bite him as he goes past....we have had 5 fights alone this weekend!
We stop them before they start normally but there has been one or two we haven't been able to stop and had to get in the middle of. I have the bites and scratches to prove it!!

When they fight I put them both back into cages to cool off for 30 mins to an hour after checking them both over of course.

I just wondered if anyone knows why he might have suddenly started going for Zapp? Also what I can do to help them get along?

I feel a little disheartened as I have worked so hard to get to this point and all of a sudden it seems I have gone back to worse than it was on the first night and with my increasing work hours they have to spend more times in runs now as I can't give them as much time as I can to watch them.

Thanks again for reading, every little thing will help.

- Vicky

1620395_10152271152624099_147263460_n.jpg



This is how they were 3 days ago sleeping while I worked.
 
Last edited:
Sounds as though Merlin no longer respects Zapp's dominance

This may be due to the fact that Zapp has started to smell different as his hormones will have had time to 'settle' after his neuter. When you first introduced them he may have smelled more akin to an entire Buck. Hormones can still rage for a few weeks AFTER neutering. Infact Bucks can remain fertile for up to 6 weeks post castration !!

As the fighting sounds to have been more than a little scuffle I think that you are going to have to go right back to the beginning again to have any chance of bonding them. So totally neutral territory again and a smaller space. Unfortunately once some serious fighting occurs it can prove to be very, very difficult to get two Rabbits to bond.
 
I am wondering is Merlin worse when they are in an area which belonged to Merlin originally? Or does it happen in any area?
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Sounds as though Merlin no longer respects Zapp's dominance

This may be due to the fact that Zapp has started to smell different as his hormones will have had time to 'settle' after his neuter. When you first introduced them he may have smelled more akin to an entire Buck. Hormones can still rage for a few weeks AFTER neutering. Infact Bucks can remain fertile for up to 6 weeks post castration !!

As the fighting sounds to have been more than a little scuffle I think that you are going to have to go right back to the beginning again to have any chance of bonding them. So totally neutral territory again and a smaller space. Unfortunately once some serious fighting occurs it can prove to be very, very difficult to get two Rabbits to bond.
Click to expand...


Thank you for this. I'm not sure if the bond is totally gone as they still lay next to each other and groom each other even now they are asleep in front of me both completely flopped (See picture below). Merlin just seems to occasionally snap. I think we have had one serious fight where one had hold of the other ear , and the rest have been scraps that we have separated. Do you still think we need to go back to neutral?

This is them now..

1888504_10152251616614099_2142388149_n.jpg
 
tonibun said:
I am wondering is Merlin worse when they are in an area which belonged to Merlin originally? Or does it happen in any area?
Click to expand...

Merlin is worse in an area that was once his, but like I said this area he has shared and been happy to share with grooming and sleeping next to each other etc for about a week and a half now. There hasn't been any pooing all over the place for about a week either that stopped within 4 days or so and they are back to going in their cages now. They do still go in separate cages but close together and we swap these every night to get used to each others smell at night etc.

Both pictures are of them now and in last few days in what was once Merlin's area.
 
The thing is they won't be fully bonded if you separate them every night. If you feel you can't leave them together all the time I would give them one more chance and if they fight again then you can either do as Jack's-Jane says or keep them separate altogether. Good luck with them.
 
tonibun said:
The thing is they won't be fully bonded if you separate them every night. If you feel you can't leave them together all the time I would give them one more chance and if they fight again then you can either do as Jack's-Jane says or keep them separate altogether. Good luck with them.
Click to expand...

We are going to put them into one cage eventually but obviously we want them to be fully comfortable with one another before we put them into one cage.
Thank you tho!
 
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