Two neutered females to bond

Hi
I'm new to the forum and looking for some help with my two bunnies.

I have Daphne who is around 5 months and Phoebe who is around 4 months.
Both of them have been neutered and are fully recovered.

We've been bonding them but have some questions about the behaviour we are seeing.

They had their 5th session tonight and all was going well - Daphne flopped against a door but shortly afterwards Phoebe came over and started doing something to Daphnes tail/back legs (we couldn't see clearly but could have possibly been grooming/nibbling at her fur). Needless to say she wasn't keen on this and jumped up to confront Phoebe. It soon led to circling and fur pulling. We separated them for a few moments then brought them back together and it was all fine. Both eating their hay and laying down together.

Has anyone seen anything similar to what I have described?

Another odd thing we have is they both try to get the other to groom them (forcing their head under each others chins) but it generally just ends with the two of them laying down pressing their foreheads together... any clue what is going on here?

I have lots of other behaviour I'm not familiar with but these are the ones that are mainly getting to me.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any replies.

I've only ever bonded 2 females and that almost didn't work - one of them was going in for the attack but the other one just turned her back, so they ended up good friends and never fought I think pressing foreheads together is ok, I don't know what it means but I don't think it's a bad sign, and I don't know about the first thing you mention. You will just have to keep putting them together in the hopes they will become bonded.

tonibun said:

I've only ever bonded 2 females and that almost didn't work - one of them was going in for the attack but the other one just turned her back, so they ended up good friends and never fought I think pressing foreheads together is ok, I don't know what it means but I don't think it's a bad sign, and I don't know about the first thing you mention. You will just have to keep putting them together in the hopes they will become bonded.

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Thanks for your reply. We're researching lots of different techniques as they can spend an hour or so together very happily with no real fights breaking out (this is the first in a long time).

Are there any views on power bonding sessions? E.g. they spend 2/3 days in neutral territory without any separation before moving them into their forever home. Obviously they'll be monitored the whole time in case any serious fights break out.

Hi! I've never bonded two females before but the thing you described with the heads pressed against each other, this is asking for the other rabbit to groom them.

A lot of people spread banana or a mushy fruit on their forehead encouraging the other bun to lick it off, which makes the bun being licked off thinks its being groomed, another step in the bonding process.

Thanks.
Neither of mine really like soft food or fruits (awkward I know).
The one which is obsessed with being groomed likes peanut butter but the other who doesn't care so much about being groomed isn't fussed by anything like that. We'll try a few strawberries etc and find something that might work. Thank you =]

We believe it is better to put 2 rabbits together and keep them together, rather than short dates. Separating can confuse them and it can also mean a backward step, so as long as they aren't fighting then yes I would keep them together.

Hi Julia25, we've found that they both like home made strawberry jam so they got a little bit of that onto their noses and we have very gentle licking it off each other.

Thanks for your help with the power bonding, Tonibun. I'm working this weekend but David is home all weekend so we're going to put them together in a run in the bedroom Friday night and keep them together the whole weekend. On Sunday night we'll put them into their shared cage provided no fights and we'll watch them on the camera we have set up in the front room that watches their cages. It can be access from anywhere on our phones so even when we go to work on Monday we can still watch the cage - we both work within a few minuets from home so can get back quick if any issues.

There has been a little boxing through the bars today but a whistle stopped that quickly and they went to laying down next to each other.

I attempted to post pics of them together last night - but I can't quite figure it out... sorry.

I'll let you know how it went after the weekend - You've no idea helpful all this advice is. There is so much conflicting advice online and the bunny behaviour is so complex.

Rabbits usually try to scratch one another through bars so don't worry about that. Good luck for the weekend.

So we didn't even get half hour into this bonding weekend before a fight broke out. Fur flying, rolling around together on the floor. Broke it up very quickly and can't find any damage to either bun but.. I dunno.
I've kinda just broken down into tears. I so desperately want them to be friends and it had been going so well. We hadn't had any fights for a while and we even had Phoebe giving Daphne kisses on Wednesday night.

I feel so stupid for getting so upset but I just don't know if I can do this. I read so often of places that will help bond rabbits etc but I can't find a single one of these places.
I've read so much on stress bonding too but I'm so unsure of this method.

I just really don't know what to do and I don't even know where this post is going. I guess I just need to get it out. The boyfriend has spoken about re-homing them but I can't do that. I made a commitment to give them love and care for them and if I re-homed them simply because they can't live together I'd feel like I'd let them down.

Sorry if this is rambling... I just dunno.

I am sorry that there was a fight between your rabbits. I have never had to do any bonding myself, but can imagine just how stressful it is. I don't know where you are located, but perhaps it would be worth posting a thread to ask if there are any rescues who could bond for you close to where you live. The fact that there have been times when the two have got along OK would be positives for me and would give me hope that they could ultimately be happily bonded in the future. Sending lots of vibes for successful bonding

To make it even better I went to go pick up all the fluff from the floor and I've found a nice big wad of fur with skin attached. Needless to say I'll be doing an even more thorough check after they have calmed down.

Is the territory always neutral when you put them together? The big problem I think is with 2 girls, they have nesting and babies in mind, even though spayed, and another female around won't be tolerated. We can't change their nature.

tonibun said:

Is the territory always neutral when you put them together? The big problem I think is with 2 girls, they have nesting and babies in mind, even though spayed, and another female around won't be tolerated. We can't change their nature.

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Always neutral. Either bathroom with a floor they can't quite 100% grip which seems to help a lot or the hall way which we've never had any fights in. Friday night was in our bedroom which may have added stress as its a completely new room and they were in a run they're not used to. (Daphne never copes well with stress)

Today we have had good interaction through the bars. Sat eating together, mutual grooming and laying within 6 inches of each other. There appears to be some type of bond there as they appear to like being near each other but I guess we just have to slow things right down and maybe introduce them very gradually over a year. I know we're in for the long haul as re-homing is not an option. I love them too much.

So me and David have had a chat.

If after a year the girls are still not bonded we will be moving into a larger house so they can have more room to themselves and get them each a boyfriend to keep them company.

Some people will think we're crazy for moving house just to give our bunnies more room but we made a promise to them when we got them and we'd do anything to keep that promise.

That sounds lovely, or you could try getting a confident male who might just keep the peace :thumb:

tonibun said:

That sounds lovely, or you could try getting a confident male who might just keep the peace :thumb:

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Can you explain this to me? What would a confident male do? (Sorry if I'm missing something obvious)

We got them a dog crate to go into our bedroom so we'll try power bonding again after Christmas - we'll just do daily sessions together until then

He would be the dominant one and hopefully the 2 ladies will get along in submission to him. I have only read about this, although I do have a male in with 4 females and they all love him to bits but the 4 are family so have always been together. Just remembered, I had 2 sisters (my first 2 rabbits) and they took a little boy under their wing and shared him completely. It was wonderful to see so we never know what is possible.

Thanks very much. We will keep this in mind as the girls do seem to get along but they have the odd scuffle in new situations.
Sadly, Daphne is a highly confident rabbit so we'd have to have an insanely confident male that thinks he is the world to control her ego.

In my quad (two bucks bonded to two does) one of the bucks is top rabbit. The more dominant doe still submits to him so a trio may work.

Moving house to suit the needs of your rabbits sounds great to me. If only that was the normal attitude to our pet families.

We're debating a male now. The only issue is if they don't get along. We're struggling to bond two - we can't even imagine where we'd start with bonding three!