Hi
I have a three year old girl called Charlotte (but now we just call her Bun). We are trying to bond her with Peter, a neutered 3 year old from a rescue centre. He's up for adoption as he lost his partner if they bond we will adopt him. If you have access to Instagram there's some videos and pictures to accompany this diary @charlottethebunnyrabbit
Set up: Bun lives in a large dog crate with wooden house, litter tray and a bridge suspended from the cage roof. We originally had Peter in a dog pen attached to Bun's cage. He has a wooden house and litter tray too. As soon as we put Peter in the cage they went for each other straight away through the bars between both their cages. We reinforced this wall with part of another cage, leaving about a 2 inch gap where they couldn't touch but could share hay through the space. They go about their business when they are in the cages and now don't seem phased by each other (groom themselves, floor over and look relaxed). We swap their cages every night.
Bun is a house rabbit and the living room (where both their cages are) is where she has her exercise. We let them out one at a time and keep the other in their cage, hidden under towels/blankets. If we leave a gap with some of the cage exposed they go for each other through the bars so we need to be very careful.
Date 1 (day 2): First date was in an empty bathtub with some hay and lettuce. They ignored each other mostly although Bun didn’t mind Peter resting his head on her or bumping into her. Kept it short to just about 5-10 mins then put them back in their cages (swapped again) and rewarded with treats. They didn't eat anything.
Date 2 (day 3): bath again. indifferent again, Bun was happy to eat treats but we couldn’t tempt Peter with any food. He looked quite nervous, nose was moving lots and his heart seemed to be beating very fast but we just kept petting them both. He did try to put his head under Bun’s tummy, then she stood on him and jumped (flew!) out of the bath but we put her back and she started eating again. It didn't seem aggressive, she’s always been opportunistic! There was one small nip from Bun after this, we separated them and made sure they ended on a positive note. By the end they were both kind of snuggling top to tail with each others heads resting in the others side.
Date 3 (day 4): Bath again. Towel down to help settle Peter. Didn’t go as well they sat resting against each other for a few minutes but then Peter nipped Bun and they had a bit of a fight they weren’t really clawing just trying to nip/bite head on which was frightening. we separated them with a dust pan and kept them away from each other for a few minutes, but they did it again so we got them both out to their cages. Lots of fur flying (mostly from Bun)
Would really appreciate any advice as I go along to help keep us right. Thanks
Poppy
I have a three year old girl called Charlotte (but now we just call her Bun). We are trying to bond her with Peter, a neutered 3 year old from a rescue centre. He's up for adoption as he lost his partner if they bond we will adopt him. If you have access to Instagram there's some videos and pictures to accompany this diary @charlottethebunnyrabbit
Set up: Bun lives in a large dog crate with wooden house, litter tray and a bridge suspended from the cage roof. We originally had Peter in a dog pen attached to Bun's cage. He has a wooden house and litter tray too. As soon as we put Peter in the cage they went for each other straight away through the bars between both their cages. We reinforced this wall with part of another cage, leaving about a 2 inch gap where they couldn't touch but could share hay through the space. They go about their business when they are in the cages and now don't seem phased by each other (groom themselves, floor over and look relaxed). We swap their cages every night.
Bun is a house rabbit and the living room (where both their cages are) is where she has her exercise. We let them out one at a time and keep the other in their cage, hidden under towels/blankets. If we leave a gap with some of the cage exposed they go for each other through the bars so we need to be very careful.
Date 1 (day 2): First date was in an empty bathtub with some hay and lettuce. They ignored each other mostly although Bun didn’t mind Peter resting his head on her or bumping into her. Kept it short to just about 5-10 mins then put them back in their cages (swapped again) and rewarded with treats. They didn't eat anything.
Date 2 (day 3): bath again. indifferent again, Bun was happy to eat treats but we couldn’t tempt Peter with any food. He looked quite nervous, nose was moving lots and his heart seemed to be beating very fast but we just kept petting them both. He did try to put his head under Bun’s tummy, then she stood on him and jumped (flew!) out of the bath but we put her back and she started eating again. It didn't seem aggressive, she’s always been opportunistic! There was one small nip from Bun after this, we separated them and made sure they ended on a positive note. By the end they were both kind of snuggling top to tail with each others heads resting in the others side.
Date 3 (day 4): Bath again. Towel down to help settle Peter. Didn’t go as well they sat resting against each other for a few minutes but then Peter nipped Bun and they had a bit of a fight they weren’t really clawing just trying to nip/bite head on which was frightening. we separated them with a dust pan and kept them away from each other for a few minutes, but they did it again so we got them both out to their cages. Lots of fur flying (mostly from Bun)
Would really appreciate any advice as I go along to help keep us right. Thanks
Poppy