Ok, so I have recently aquired 2 new bunnies, a bonded pair called Ben and Belle. Ideally I'd like to bond them with my exisiting pair, Teddy and Lola. On Sunday I brought them all inside and had them in adjacent cages. They were all interested in each other, sniffing at bars etc. The boys in each pair chased their respective girls a bit and did a bit of nipping and fur pulling but nothing serious. I swapped them between cages at bedtime to get them more used to each other's smells and all was still going fine the next morning.
I then moved them outside (one of the indoor cages is not suitable for them to be in for any length of time). Outside each pair had one level of the hutch and half the run, so they could see each other but were still separated by mesh. So the set up was the same as indoors, only each pair had more space. They all seemed reasonably happy-Ben kept chasing Belle from time to time but not enough to concern me.
This morning however, I came down to find LOADS of fur in Ben and Belle's run (mainly all Belles). When I checked them Ben also has a small scratch in his ear. I brought them back inside as had to go to work and didn't want Ben to torment her more while I was out. Belle doesn't seem afraid of him when he's not chasing her or really hurt but there was definately WAY too much fur to ignore.
So my question is, what do I do now? It seems to early to give up on the bonding and there hasn't been any real agression between the pairs but seeing other bunnies is clearly making Ben dominate Belle so much that she must be miserable. As they are already separate when outside I'm not sure how I can let them get more used to each other without Ben hurting Belle in the process. I could separate the runs so they can't see each other, although they would still be able to smell each other. Or I could try just doing a few hours in adjacent runs at a time but not sure if this would be like them starting afresh each time they see each other?
Any ideas very welcome.
Rowan x
I then moved them outside (one of the indoor cages is not suitable for them to be in for any length of time). Outside each pair had one level of the hutch and half the run, so they could see each other but were still separated by mesh. So the set up was the same as indoors, only each pair had more space. They all seemed reasonably happy-Ben kept chasing Belle from time to time but not enough to concern me.
This morning however, I came down to find LOADS of fur in Ben and Belle's run (mainly all Belles). When I checked them Ben also has a small scratch in his ear. I brought them back inside as had to go to work and didn't want Ben to torment her more while I was out. Belle doesn't seem afraid of him when he's not chasing her or really hurt but there was definately WAY too much fur to ignore.
So my question is, what do I do now? It seems to early to give up on the bonding and there hasn't been any real agression between the pairs but seeing other bunnies is clearly making Ben dominate Belle so much that she must be miserable. As they are already separate when outside I'm not sure how I can let them get more used to each other without Ben hurting Belle in the process. I could separate the runs so they can't see each other, although they would still be able to smell each other. Or I could try just doing a few hours in adjacent runs at a time but not sure if this would be like them starting afresh each time they see each other?
Any ideas very welcome.
Rowan x