Struggling to bond my bunnies :(

Hi all! Just after any tips and advice I can get rly! I'm slowly starting to loose hope that my bunnies will ever be friends

Hoppy - male neutered rabbit, came from a home where he was very well looked after, very spoilt, all attention on him as he was the only rabbit. Very confident, loves a fuss and a lot of attention (which he gets in bucket loads from us) nothing scares him so makes stress bonding difficult!

Bluebell - female neutered rabbit, was a stray and taken to the RSPCA where we adopted her! Curious rabbit but very nervous and quite timid! She scares very easily bless her! Not fussed on being handled, she gets very scared and runs away

They are both very diffrent buns! And I think that's where our problem lies. They are living in cages next to each other with their own runs so they can see each other all day every day! They sit near each other, clean themselves near each other...all good signs! Even when we put them together in a neutral area it begins like this! They then are nose to nose waiting to be cleaned by the other...bluebell gives in after a while and cleans hoppy...the bluebell will put her nose down and expect hoppy to return the favour and that's when it all goes down hill! Hoppy WILL NOT clean bluebell! And when bluebell refuses to continue cleaning hoppy fights break out! This happens every time! I'm worried that he's been spoilt a bit too much and expects all attention on him without giving anything back so it feels like we arent getting anywhere! We've tried stress bonding but that has no effect on hoppy as nothing seems to stress him and poor bluebell is stressed out to the max which I hate seeing not sure where to go from here :/

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I have no experience of this so I probably can't be very helpful, but I read that putting a little bit of banana on a bunny's head can encourage the other to groom them. Might be worth a try, assuming he likes banana?

They both love a bit of banana...we tried this once but unfortunately didn't work they both just had a messy face! Maybe if we keep trying it may encore them eventually! Thanks for the reply though!

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:wave:.. Hiya... Bonding is totally fraught with nerves for both bunny and owner. I perosnally haven't been brave enough,,,

There are millions of tips about on bonding on here... From starting with a really really small space, to in the bath (no water) to filling the small space with millions of food/hay/forage to distract them/to putting them in a carrier and taking them for a drive.....

All I can say Is good luck xxxx

It's so nerve racking...I'm on pins everytime I put them together!! Thanks for the luck! Think I'm going to need it with my two! Xxxx

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How long have you had the bunnies as it sounds like your female is being territorial. Is it possible to try bonding them in an area where she hasn;t been before. You would have to keep them together for a while, unless fighting broke out, so that the bond could deepen before returning them to the area where they live.

About a month and a half... we put them together in a neutral area...in the hall way where neither of them have been before.

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