Hello - after suggestions/thoughts from some experienced bunny owners as how best to try & re-bond our two boy bunnies.
We have never had any pets before so feeling very anxious & keen to get this right.
History:
- Our bunnies are brothers born in July 2020 who we got from a local family whos young rabbit unexpectedly had babies.
- We thought we had a boy and a girl pair until we were able to get them vaccinated in Oct. (Delayed as no vets local to us were accepting new patients due to covid limitations)
- They were both happy together so we assumed a boy/boy pairing was fine
- They were neutered at around 4 months old & sadly within hours of returning from the vets (after an overnight stay) they had a fight.
- We separated them & following advice from our vet adapted their pen so that they were side by side with double mesh between them.
- Aside from the initial fight they have never shown any aggression towards each other through the mesh divide in fact they both spend majority of their time against the dividing mesh and will lie, eat, drink next to the other one.
We had planned to try re-bond them a few weeks ago but with schools being closed & me having younger children around it hasn’t been practical.
I am also really nervous about the bonding process itself. I have watched several videos and read a few blogs so kind of know what we should be doing and what to expect. Just wish I had an experienced bunny owning friend who could come round & help!
Few questions:
- How neutral does the space need to be?
Would it be ok to use part of a room they have both been in before but only for short periods?
- Assuming they bond okay how long should we have watched them before just leaving them together unsupervised? (A few hours? All day?)
Our family situation would not allow us to stay with them overnight for example. I know repeated meetings are not recommended by everyone but that is easiest for us to try. I am thinking of building it up from 20 minute sessions to a whole day over a period of around 2 weeks.)
- Spring hormones?????!!!!
Another thing that’s worrying me! Is this likely to affect things & if so would we be better waiting until later on in the year?
- Move outdoors
We need to move the rabbits outside once the weather is warm enough. They only ended up indoors due to the lateness in being able to get them vaccinated & neutered. Lovely as it is having them in the house we sadly don’t have the space for them to run around as much as they ought to.
Would we be better waiting to bond until they are living outside?
- Forever bond?????
Lastly ... assuming all goes brilliantly and our two little buns bond happily together can we assume that they will most likely be fine together long term? Or, will I always have to be concerned that a fight might have occurred when I go to them?
Apologies for the epic post and thank you for reading - if you managed it!
I am so, so confused & anxious as really want our bunny boys to be happy and able to cuddle & play together once more.
PS. Getting two girl bunnies to partner instead isn't an option as we haven’t the space or the money to cover any additional costs (vets etc)
We have never had any pets before so feeling very anxious & keen to get this right.
History:
- Our bunnies are brothers born in July 2020 who we got from a local family whos young rabbit unexpectedly had babies.
- We thought we had a boy and a girl pair until we were able to get them vaccinated in Oct. (Delayed as no vets local to us were accepting new patients due to covid limitations)
- They were both happy together so we assumed a boy/boy pairing was fine
- They were neutered at around 4 months old & sadly within hours of returning from the vets (after an overnight stay) they had a fight.
- We separated them & following advice from our vet adapted their pen so that they were side by side with double mesh between them.
- Aside from the initial fight they have never shown any aggression towards each other through the mesh divide in fact they both spend majority of their time against the dividing mesh and will lie, eat, drink next to the other one.
We had planned to try re-bond them a few weeks ago but with schools being closed & me having younger children around it hasn’t been practical.
I am also really nervous about the bonding process itself. I have watched several videos and read a few blogs so kind of know what we should be doing and what to expect. Just wish I had an experienced bunny owning friend who could come round & help!
Few questions:
- How neutral does the space need to be?
Would it be ok to use part of a room they have both been in before but only for short periods?
- Assuming they bond okay how long should we have watched them before just leaving them together unsupervised? (A few hours? All day?)
Our family situation would not allow us to stay with them overnight for example. I know repeated meetings are not recommended by everyone but that is easiest for us to try. I am thinking of building it up from 20 minute sessions to a whole day over a period of around 2 weeks.)
- Spring hormones?????!!!!
Another thing that’s worrying me! Is this likely to affect things & if so would we be better waiting until later on in the year?
- Move outdoors
We need to move the rabbits outside once the weather is warm enough. They only ended up indoors due to the lateness in being able to get them vaccinated & neutered. Lovely as it is having them in the house we sadly don’t have the space for them to run around as much as they ought to.
Would we be better waiting to bond until they are living outside?
- Forever bond?????
Lastly ... assuming all goes brilliantly and our two little buns bond happily together can we assume that they will most likely be fine together long term? Or, will I always have to be concerned that a fight might have occurred when I go to them?
Apologies for the epic post and thank you for reading - if you managed it!
I am so, so confused & anxious as really want our bunny boys to be happy and able to cuddle & play together once more.
PS. Getting two girl bunnies to partner instead isn't an option as we haven’t the space or the money to cover any additional costs (vets etc)
