Will they bond

Hello all. This is my first post to please stay with me! :wave:

I'm after some advice/assurance. I've had Alex (5yr/neutered) since he was 16wks old. He's a house bunny who has had full run of our bunny proofed living room. Not to mention mine and my husband's full attention! He's a shy rabbit and likes to keep to himself in the main. Apart from when food involved, then he's all over us. Anyway we decided to get him some female company.

We contacted a local rabbit charity who said they'd be happy to help. They suggested a 6yr old female called Poppy (spayed). So Alex went to them and they carried out the initial bonding. I got updates and was told that although she humped him a lot he was being very good about it all.

After a week we picked them both up and brought them home. They have gone into a spare room (which Alex has never been in before) in a puppy run approx 64"x32". Since coming home Alex seems very down. Still eating and drinking well but I think he misses being able to run about. Also he showing no interest in Poppy. She is still trying to assert her dominance by humping him and climb over him but when she does this he just runs away. She'll try grooming him too but he doesn't seem to enjoy it. He doesn't groom her and never goes to her. They will sit together but again Poppy goes to him.

Is this normal, and does it improve with time, or has Alex been on his own too long? Advice and help gratefully received. X

Hello there and welcome. It's very thoughtful of you to get a friend for your rabbit as they are usualy happier in pairs. You have to bear in mind that your bunny has only known being on his own with his humans, and we don't know a lot about Poppy. She may have spent a lot of time alone as well, so my advice is to give them plenty of time to adjust. It could take many weeks/months and they may never get very interested in each other, but, as long as there is no fighting then you can be optimistic. Do they eat together? as this is a fairly good sign.

Thanks tonibun
I'm think I'm so use to watching Alex and tailoring things to his needs its really hard to see him being chased and backing away from Poppy.

As for Poppy's back ground they didn't know much. They had tried bonding her with several males. The first she was completely in love with but he was too nervous and scared so they had to separate them. The next two she just fought with.

There as been no fighting,just back off bunny thumps from Alex. They do eat together both hay and their veggies. So there is hope yet.

I agree with Tonibun, I expect these 2 just need more time. I'm sure they'll get there in the end & be much happier for it. Poppy sounds a character

This does sound quite similar to when I bonded one of my buns Snoopy to his new wife bun Fudgie. Over the first few days she kept going up to him and he kept running off and thumping. He did settle eventually and they are now very loved up so don't give up hope I agree with tonibun and j&b that they probably just need a bit more time.

Good luck :wave:

Thanks all for your advice and reassurance. Things have started to calm down a bit more now
Tho I did have to get up at 1:30am the other night as Alex decided it was a good time to thump for very little reason. Soon as I went in and spoke to them all went quiet! Gotta love 'em.

Hope you and your buns have a wonderful Christmas xx

Pleased things have calmed down and hope you all have a lovely Christmas.