Hello all
We are trying to bond two bonded pairs of rabbits to make a group of four.
We've had a bit of a journey with them, initially had M1 and F1 (15 months old), who were meant to be two F, but one was incorrectly sexed by the seller. We had them both neutered 10 months ago. Along came pair 2, meant to be two M but again the seller sold us M2 and F2 (6 months old). They are now bonded and neutered too.
So, now we have M1 & F1 in one side of the run and M2 and F2 in the other (the run is probably 20 feet by 6 feet, split in the middle) and they happily eat and sniff at the middle. We have swapped them around a few times, to get used to other smells, and mixed poos etc.
So, today we put them all into a neutral pen in the garden to see what the first reaction was like.
Initially they ignored each other, but after a minute or two F1, tried to dominate head hump F2, and then M2. M2 and F2 then started squabbling, but F1 and F2 did the round and round dance as the tried to hump each other. M1 just ignored the whole thing.
Fur started to fly a bit so we called it at this point and put them back into their own space.
What's the next step?
Did we break it up too soon?
F1 (the antagonist) was in the pen for about 5 minutes before the others joined her - will this have made her territorial?
Thank you in advance folk for any help!
We are trying to bond two bonded pairs of rabbits to make a group of four.
We've had a bit of a journey with them, initially had M1 and F1 (15 months old), who were meant to be two F, but one was incorrectly sexed by the seller. We had them both neutered 10 months ago. Along came pair 2, meant to be two M but again the seller sold us M2 and F2 (6 months old). They are now bonded and neutered too.
So, now we have M1 & F1 in one side of the run and M2 and F2 in the other (the run is probably 20 feet by 6 feet, split in the middle) and they happily eat and sniff at the middle. We have swapped them around a few times, to get used to other smells, and mixed poos etc.
So, today we put them all into a neutral pen in the garden to see what the first reaction was like.
Initially they ignored each other, but after a minute or two F1, tried to dominate head hump F2, and then M2. M2 and F2 then started squabbling, but F1 and F2 did the round and round dance as the tried to hump each other. M1 just ignored the whole thing.
Fur started to fly a bit so we called it at this point and put them back into their own space.
What's the next step?
Did we break it up too soon?
F1 (the antagonist) was in the pen for about 5 minutes before the others joined her - will this have made her territorial?
Thank you in advance folk for any help!
