First time bun bonder - am I doing ok?

Hi all,
I'm verrry new to this forum, so apologies if these questions have been asked many times. And apologies for the length of it all but I'm trying to include as much as I can to give a clear scope.

So, I have at home Oreo (female bun) and Geoff (male bun)(name chosen by RSPCA). I've had Oreo since she was 8 wks old, she's now 1 1/2, and I picked Geoff up from the RSPCA on Saturday, he's about 10 months old. Oreo has never been with/seen other buns. Geoff has been in contact with other buns at the shelter.

The first pic is the original set up they had for when I'm not around (during the night and when I'm at work). Although, I've now extended the pen area (second pic) as I felt the smaller one was too small for them to be cooped up in all day/night. The pen set up has a middle section so the rabbits are separated. This is the only way I could let them be next to each other when there's no supervision.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5767/30534986125_08c20894bc_c.jpg

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5697/30276455370_eca58822e7_z.jpg

I've been giving them bonding sessions as soon as I'm home from work and they last around 3 hours. I know doing it this way will prolong the bonding process but it'll be worth it in the end.
The sessions are in an indoor cage that I've cleaned and cleaned and cleaned with a white vinegar/water mix and it's been partitioned for now.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5829/30276454910_9626251f3b_c.jpg

Bonding so far (from within the cage) -
Sunday: Geoff mounts Oreo for a short while but after he stops he keeps his head down demanding Oreo lick his head. Oreo settles (after the mounting) and falls asleep. Nothing else happens.
Monday: Geoff doing his thing again and demanding she lick his head but then they're just sitting, doing nothing.
Tuesday: After around an hour of them just sitting and eating together Geoff mounts Oreo, again a lot, a bit of chasing goes on but it's back to the mounting. This goes on for a while, stops for a while, then starts again. I had to separate them as Oreo was looking really stressed.
I've tried smearing a small amount of apple sauce and banana on both their heads to encourage licking, but they're both pretty much clueless :lol:
I switched their sides of the pen as well last night - Oreo in Geoff's side, and vice versa. There doesn't seem to be any problems there (not that I know what I'm looking for). They're both using the litter trays for wee's and some poops (there's a lot of poopys outside of them, but I guess we can work on that in time)

There is one thing I've noticed though, Oreo has never been much of a hay eater but everything Geoff's eating, she's eating. Woohoo!!

I'm just wondering if what I'm doing so far is alright? Can I make any improvements? Does this much mounting really happen? Anyone in a similar situation, how long before your buns bonded?


Any help/advice would be very much appreciated, and again I'm sorry for the long winded message.

Jen (Oreo and Geoff ) :bunny:

I'm not much help as I have not done the bunny bonding myself, but have a look on YouTube for "mypamperedpets" as she has some video footage of bonding trios which includes lots of humping.

Personally I'd leave them together now and stop with the dates as it can sometimes be confusing. As they've not had any fights I think you'd find it easy to bond without using dates.

Hopefully someone with more bonding experience can give more details etc, but personally I'd leave them together and let them figure out who's boss and keep them together. Every time you separate, they're having to reestablish who's boss.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

I've just had a look at her vids - they're a massive help. Thank you for pointing them out to me!

It sounds really good considering the female was there first. I agree with Daphnephoebe, try to keep them together but be careful not to put them in the female's area until they are properly bonded. Tha's really good that she is copying his hay eating habits! Good luck and I hope they spend many happy years together.

Aaah ok, I get it now. He's mounting so much as the work from the previous day is kind of being undone. I'll try leaving them together all night tonight then and see how that goes.
Fingers crossed all goes well.


Thank you for replying x

Yayyy, I feel a bit more at ease now.

Thank you tonibun. I'm hoping they do too - Oreo desparately needs this, as I'm sure Geoff does too.


Do you think if I take the partition in the pen down and give it a good clean out that would do or should I not clean it to leave their scents there?

It depends on how territorial your female is, some of them are so bad it gets in the way of bonding them. So it's best to keep them away from their own area until they are bonded. I am not sure what sort of a set up you have.