Bunny bonding HELP

Hey guys, I'm new to this and am just looking for advice about bonding my bunnies. I've had my neutered 1 year old male silver marten, Caro, for a year now and just got an unspayed female (we think a 4 month old brittania petite mix) called Bella. We adopted both of them a year apart and I'm really worried that I'm not going to be able to get them to bond. I spoke to my vet who says i can bond them even though Bella isn't spayed as Caro has been neutered for about 5/6 months now. I currently have them side by side in their own seperate cages so they can eat togrther, see eachother, smell eachother, and overall basically just get familiar woth eachother (please note that there's been an instance where Caro broke out of his cage and attacked bella while she was already out). I tried bonding them tonight for the first time in a small enclosure using c & c grids and it went okay but there were times obviously in which caro was attacking Bella and it got to the point Bella was afraid to move incase Caro attacked her again. Dont get me wrong there were times where they just chilled and ate but Bella was very on edge throughout the whole experience (she is generally a very timid rabbit). I've read that this is normal and to just be persistent. I just wanna hear from your P.O.V and if theres maybe any tips yous can give me to help with their bonding so they can become best buds.

I know it's not gonna happen over night but I'm just concerned incase Caro is being far too aggressive and is not going to be able to bond with Bella. The reason he was put up for adoption in the first place was because he was aggressive with other male rabbits in the store, however we were told that it could be because of rabbits general dominant behavioir and he should hopefully be able to bond with a female once neutered.

Thanks guys ^.^ !!

Welcome to the Forum

Bonding your buns will be a stressful but rewarding experience. Just have a look at a few of the posts below yours to get an idea of what to expect.

One of the members (Mischief and Tinkers Mum) on here has videoed her bunny bonding adventures, bonding a trio and then going on to bond five!

Mairwen Guard has also videoed bonding her buns, including a video of a bond that had to stopped.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoUO553lqSpZHWv16IzwTA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd9RmRTNSMcvd4z-a462avg

Good luck with your bonding

When bonding boy and girl the male has to prove his dominance over the female and as long as she can run away from him all will be well. This stage usually lasts up to 3 days depending on the Rabbits being bonded. Make sure Bella has a place to retreat to and give them plenty of hay. As time goes by you will see them getting closer until they actually sit closer together and eat together. Then you are almost there. Keep them together once you have introduced them.

Thank you very much for the advice, i really appreciate it!!

tonibun said:

When bonding boy and girl the male has to prove his dominance over the female and as long as she can run away from him all will be well. This stage usually lasts up to 3 days depending on the Rabbits being bonded. Make sure Bella has a place to retreat to and give them plenty of hay. As time goes by you will see them getting closer until they actually sit closer together and eat together. Then you are almost there. Keep them together once you have introduced them.

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I did notice that bella was trying to get away so i guess im on the right track but caro just kept chasing her and biting it which was really scary . I'll maybe try it in larger area as i was doing it in a smaller area as this was recommended as there was little room for them to fight.

Thank you for your advice though, it's really helped me !!

Motty said:

Welcome to the Forum

Bonding your buns will be a stressful but rewarding experience. Just have a look at a few of the posts below yours to get an idea of what to expect.

One of the members (Mischief and Tinkers Mum) on here has videoed her bunny bonding adventures, bonding a trio and then going on to bond five!

Mairwen Guard has also videoed bonding her buns, including a video of a bond that had to stopped.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkoUO553lqSpZHWv16IzwTA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd9RmRTNSMcvd4z-a462avg

Good luck with your bonding

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Thank you very much !!

I know it can be so scary and stressful. Especially this stage!

Good luck and I hope you start to see things calming in the next few days.

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CarelessSquid07 said:

I know it can be so scary and stressful. Especially this stage!

Good luck and I hope you start to see things calming in the next few days.

Sent from my SM-A705FN using Tapatalk

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It really is but i know that once theyre bonded it'll be perfect for them both !! I'll keep yous all updated !!

More experienced people might put me right here, but I wonder if you need to neuter her first before you try bonding, as that could have quite a big effect on the outcome and stability of the bond?
But as a fellow novice I'd recommend watching as many videos as possible, because what can look very "bad" to us is often just bunny benahviour that needs to run it's course. My female ended up half bald by the time bonding was well on it's way, but there was no way to avoid this, so we just monitored closely and made sure she was still eating, happy, healthy. Biting often looks worse than it it, usually it is just clumps of fur rather than bites, and it takes quite a lot of that before you really notice hair missing, dramatic though it looks!

dollyanna said:

More experienced people might put me right here, but I wonder if you need to neuter her first before you try bonding, as that could have quite a big effect on the outcome and stability of the bond?
But as a fellow novice I'd recommend watching as many videos as possible, because what can look very "bad" to us is often just bunny benahviour that needs to run it's course. My female ended up half bald by the time bonding was well on it's way, but there was no way to avoid this, so we just monitored closely and made sure she was still eating, happy, healthy. Biting often looks worse than it it, usually it is just clumps of fur rather than bites, and it takes quite a lot of that before you really notice hair missing, dramatic though it looks!

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Yeah i was thinking the exact same, but i asked my vet for clarity and he said it would be fine. However, i do feel like the best approach at the moment would continue to see them side by side in their cages getting familiar woth eachother as i read somewhere that their bond can break after neutering as the rabbit can come back smelling like the vet and be rejected by the other which is jist hard work completely put to waste. All it really was was fur, there was no blood thankfully.
Thank you very much for your advice !!

The best way is to take them both to the Vets when she has her spay. It is usually best to bond them while she is young.

tonibun said:

The best way is to take them both to the Vets when she has her spay. It is usually best to bond them while she is young.

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Okay, thank you. She'll be due her spay in 2 months so I'll see how they get on with eachother until then!!

Agree with everything Tonibun has advised. Tonibun is pretty much the expert on bonding and we are so lucky to have her.
I have it on good authority that even rabbits contact Tonibun and ask her for advice on bonding.
I hope it all goes well and I will be embarking on a very similar journey to you in a few weeks time. So I will be following this thread with much anticipation.
Craig x

Craig 1965 said:

Agree with everything Tonibun has advised. Tonibun is pretty much the expert on bonding and we are so lucky to have her.
I have it on good authority that even rabbits contact Tonibun and ask her for advice on bonding.
I hope it all goes well and I will be embarking on a very similar journey to you in a few weeks time. So I will be following this thread with much anticipation.
Craig x

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I feel very honoured having her give me the advice then (thank you Tonibun ). I trird again today in a larger area, there was a bit of scuffling again bug not as bad as yesterday and i managed to get them to cuddle next to eachother while i pet them and time they just sat and relaxed however there's been np grooming but i know there'sstill plenty of time to get that done. It was much less stressful and im much more happier with it than i was yesterday. I really am appreciating all of the advice and if i have any questions at all i won't hesitate to PM you. Goodluck on your bonding aswell !!!

This is the definitely the toughest stage of bonding but it sounds like you're all doing really well. I guess it's just a case of gritting your teeth and getting through this bit. Once the aggression starts to die down and they start to look relaxed in each other's company (sleeping near each other, grooming themselves and eating together) then you'll know you're well on your way to a successful bond.

Hey guys, just a quick update.

I bonded them today again in the bath and i used the small enclosure on and off. I done that for around an hoir then gave them like a 5 hour break. I've put them back in and its been about an hour and Caro is Finally grooming bella. Its such an amazing advancement and im so happy with how quick theyve managed to do this so far. I jnow this isn't the bond complete as bella hasnt groomed caro back and i still have to test them in larger areas but this is fantastic !!!

That's great then! Grooming isn't always a sign to wait for as it might not happen until they've been together for a while. Eating together is a better sign.

tonibun said:

That's great then! Grooming isn't always a sign to wait for as it might not happen until they've been together for a while. Eating together is a better sign.

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Because bella is so timid she is still very nervous around caro. When they were in the bathtub i put some hay down and bella was hesitant at first but once caro started grooming her they were both eating it perfectly fine !! All i really need to work on is being consistent and building up bellas confidence. This thread has really helped me so thank you so much guys, I'll continue to post updates to let yous know how we're getting on ����

Hey guys, thought I'd give yous a further update on the bonding of Caro and Bella. Any aggression and fighting is completely gone, Caro keeps trying to approach bella to groom her but with bella being so timid she always runs away, however there have been times where she lets caro groom her for only a few seconds. They go into eachothers cages and aren't territorial between them at all. Caro gets quote territorial with his food when i give them their bowls but when giving them hay they can eat together no problem. They drink out of eachothers water bowls and play with eachothers toys which is amazing !! Just gonna further try and observe bella so hopefully we can see an improvement in her confidence

Great positive update. You really seem to have got the strong foundations of a bond going.
Craig xx