Re-Bond now or wait?

Hi all, I'm after some advice about re-bonding our rabbits.

So Molly and Indy have been bonded for about 2 years. At the beginning of the week Indy got gut stasis and needed to spend a night at the vets, Molly went with him. We asked for them not to be separated at all and being an exotic vets and rabbit specialist they assured us they wouldn't separate. They did say they might use a partition to separate for a very short while to check if Indy had done any poos. Anyway when we get them home, it becomes apparent their bond is broken as after a few hours they have a fight. Luckily we were home and stopped it before there were any injuries. These two have never had a fight, there was only ever chasing during their original bond and nothing more. So basically we're devastated about this and think the vets must have separated them as we've been through gut stasis episodes and hospitalisations before and it's never affected their bond.

We weren't sure what to do next so we decided to instantly move them both into neutral territory to see what happened and if this helped settle them down. Unfortunately they just constantly chased no fighting, just chasing for hours. We decided to separate entirely at that point as they were both getting stressed and we were worried about and further gut stasis and we wanted them to come down and rest from being at the vets.

That was a couple of days ago.

Currently they are living in separate bedrooms in our house and we take it in turns letting them out to play round the rest of the house.

This whole thing couldn't come at a worse time as we're moving house and moving 4-5 hours away on Monday. We've now had to make new plans at new home to house these two separate plus our other pair as well. So this situation is less than ideal for many reasons.

What we're wondering now is whether we attempt to rebond them Saturday morning and hope we can achieve a bond by Monday so they can travel down together in the pet carrier or wait until we are in the new house and they are settled?

We're leaning towards trying to bond on Saturday as they still remember each other, can smell each other and when they are out playing they both sit in exactly the same place as the other one. I also think they are both depressed and much more on edge now they are single buns. I also don't want them travelling 4-5 hours alone as I'm sure they'd find this much more stressful.

So we're just looking for some advice and thoughts on what people think would be the best thing to do? Try to rebond now or wait until they are settled in new home?

Many thanks in advance.





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Personally, now they are separated, I’d wait until you’ve moved, as moving territories can affect bonds, as can illness, and smelling different after a vets visit, so it might be that the vets didn't actually separate them. But that’s just my opinion, there’s no right and wrong. I’d be worried about potential fighting in the carrier too.

I agree with Zoobec. Wait until you have moved and everything has settled down, then try again in a few weeks.The current changes are obviously unsettling the pair, so more changes definitely won't improve things right now. You may also need to keep a close eye on Indy to make sure the stasis is under control during the move.

When they came home from the Vets they were possibly just re-sorting their hierarchy. You could try them in a neutral space as after 2 years together they should settle down again.

Thanks both. I think we'll wait, that does make sense. Even though they had an easy bond before, or might not happen again this time so yes we'll wait until theyre settled in new house to try again. Thanks again for thoughts.

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tonibun said:

When they came home from the Vets they were possibly just re-sorting their hierarchy. You could try them in a neutral space as after 2 years together they should settle down again.

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Yes that's true. That's what we thought, then in neutral territory there was so much chasing and we started to get worried about thekr stress levels and the stasis bun. I suppose we could just try it today and see what happens. Even if only for a short while. Then make a final decision.

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Oh bless you. Rabbits are renowned for their poor timing in bringing issues to the table. One positive is everywhere will be neutral to them which appears to be the golden bonding rule, so you could reintroduce / bond in the room they'll live in. Saves unsettling them twice.

I get your dilemma - it would be nice for them to have peer support for the journey if its safe to do so

When they fell out, was it serious fighting - circling or tornado stuff?
The reintro sounds stressful but chasing in itself is not supposed to be a negative behaviour - don't get me wrong, I'd have stopped it too for fear of too much exhaustion / stress.

good luck in whatever you decide.

Stasis may take a couple of weeks to sort out fully, so I would reduce the stress as much as possible as this could make it worse - so I would keep them separate until you are settled in the new house and poorly bunny is better, then re-bond in the new house in totally neutral surroundings.