bonding a neutered male and spayed female - stuck in a rut!

[Shazza]

Help!!!
We are introducing a neutered male and spayed female, it has been going on for a while. The male we have had for a while and the female we got from rescue before Xmas. She was very fidgety always digging always seemed to be very stressed. We tried a few introductions but it ended in biting (not serious biting, no blood drawn!) over time, the female has calmed down totally, we think she was spayed just before we got her, now her hormones are calmed down she is a very sweet rabbit!!
We introduced them after moving house, in the kitchen as totally neutral territory and we had grooming! Male groomed female for about 5 minutes, and all seemed sweet. Next time she groomed him! Now here is the problem, every time since when we put them in the same space in the same way, he spends his whole time runnig away from her, even though she is trying to groom him! They still have seperate hutches, but right nest to each other, and when we have them out in the lounge (house bunnies) they are seperated by a wire cage.
When he spends his time running away from her, he thumps and grunts, she keeps trying for about an hour, but she gets more and more frustrated, then eventually loses her temper and start getting a bit rough. So we seperate them, put them back in the lounge in their seperate areas, and they immediately look for each other and kiss and groom through the wire fence, they do binkies, flops and lie next to each other for ages!!!
We have tried the whole car journey thing, no change, in fact they looked like statues for a while after getting back, then back to normal!
What can we do next, we have run out of ideas..........

 

[Daisylop]

:wave: I wouldnt keep separating them [even although the hutches are next to each other].Are either of the hutches big enough for two?If so thoroughly clean it ,neutralise with vinegar and let them share. It sounded fantastic at the start and I'm sure you can get there again

 

[smallbrownfrog]

Every time you separate them and put them back together they will need to re-establish the hierarchy between them. The behavior you describe sounds like totally normal bonding stuff. They need to go through the motions of figuring things out between them without being separated. I would do esactly what you have done previously, put them in a carry case and take them for a car ride or a walk. When you came back put them together in small neutral territory. You should only separate them if they are fighting, and by fighting we mean serious stuff. You should ignore the growling/chasing/nipping/humping unless things look serious or someone gets hurt. It's really best if you try not to inteferre too much during the process, so try to stick to observing only. When they seem settled in the small space gradually increase the space they have, you will prob find that for a little while anything different that happens in their space, ie new food, strokes, new objects, new space, requires a little reminder of who's the boss with a little humping/chasing,

Don't expect them to best buddies immediately, often they need a little time to get used to one another before they share a grooming session.

It sounds like your buns really want to be friends, but keeping them separated is stopping them bonding. They need to share the same space to bond.

If you are still struggling why not try contacting a local rescue centre who can help you.

Good luck, and remember, it looks a lot worse to you than it is for them. Try to keep your nerves and leave them to sort it out between themselves.

 

[chloaster]

Also too much space when bonding is not a good idea - if he's running and she chases then it can end in a bit of a brawl - in a smaller space where he can't run far you don't get this development.

 

[Shazza]

Ok, last night we tried decreasing the space to about 1 metre by 2 metre and making it more square so there were no hiding places. We also tried to be strong and let a bit of chasing go on rather than intervene. usual thing happened - Missy tried to approach gently, BB kept running. She started getting annoyed. I popped out and left O/H Simon in control (I knew I'd crack easily!) Unfortunately, in the chase, BB kept headbutting the wood barricade cordoning off the kitchen at speed in his hurry to get away from Missy and eventually did a bunny jump over. No mean feat as the wood was nearly 3 feet high and ran into the other room and hid under the table most of the night - looked petrified. Eventually he ventured out and groomed Missy through the bars of the indoor run thing which separates the room in half.

Bunny love is complicated.....

 

[smallbrownfrog]

It sounds like the space is still too big. My 3 spent about 1.5hrs in a small cat cary case whilst I went on a walk and a short train ride to the vets to pay a bill. Once back they gradually progressed to a tiny puppy pen about 1m diameter with the cary case attached where they spent the night. The next day they had the kitchen floor which is about 2m square.

Rabbits sometimes don't agree on who is going to be boss so a little chasing/hiding/nipping/humping ensues to sort it out. My house bun keeps trying to escape the kitchen, and thumps his way to his hutch letting me know just how displeased he is that he is now in the kitchen. Of course he wants to get back to his old territory, but it just aint gonna happen right now. He has bonds to cement!

 

[lottielouise]

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=153137&highlight=bonding+Autumn+Charlie&page=2

My experiences of the same situation.

my bonding space was 4ft by 4ft, as you can see, about the size of a bath sheet.