Pay for bonding 24/7 vs doing it yourself?

B

Bunnyfan25

Warren Scout
Hi looking for advice on bonding rabbits. I have 2 x 5mth old brother minilops. Considering dropping them off for 1week to bond 24/7 with a rescue centre who has had good success with bonding but friends and husband think it's a waste of money. Personally don't think I'll be able to give them more than 2hrs per night during the week bonding then apart rest of the time. I've been offered for cost £25 per day. What do people think?
 
Bunnyfan25 said:
Hi looking for advice on bonding rabbits. I have 2 x 5mth old brother minilops. Considering dropping them off for 1week to bond 24/7 with a rescue centre who has had good success with bonding but friends and husband think it's a waste of money. Personally don't think I'll be able to give them more than 2hrs per night during the week bonding then apart rest of the time. I've been offered for cost £25 per day. What do people think?
Click to expand...
Have they been neutered? I wouldn't do any bonding until thats done.
 
First time bonding rabbits is not for the faint-hearted :D Also after several periods of 2 hours together and then split up, you would need to be monitoring them all the time when they are ultimately left together . I hope I have understood what you meant with the hours you could give them.

Under these circumstances, in your position I would definitely choose the rescue. You know they have had success with bonding and also they can devote the time to monitoring them 24/7. You would though still need to be watching them very carefully when they first arrive home, as the change in accommodation from the rescue to their home will very likely cause them to feel unsettled.

You would also know that the fee would be going to a good cause.
 
Thank you good to hear some positive thoughts about it. It makes sense to me and she's running rescue and doing the bonding to earn for the cause. Meeting her next wk, may have found a second place that doesn't do 24/7 method but they still bond away from home.

Yes I realise that, picking up Saturday morning then have 2 days to get them settled at home before back to work, if spend all time with them that wknd hopefully they will maintain the bond and I can try them together whilst I'm out at work, will be hard though...

I think if after 7 days they're not fighting each other it will be progress. Also hot enough that can choose between double hutch and large pen for overnight...
 
Booked a non 24/7 border for September, they do gradual from 10mins to 6hrs then overnight with side by side pens

Then I came home and saw them lying together either side of their pen on their houses n wondered...

So I decided when having bunny time to introduce them, small chair for space but our Laps to escape to. Straight away Snowy washed Shadows eyes then head, Shadow put his head down, after a while they moved around a bit then shadow stayed still n snowy washed himself (v positive). Shadow looked like he was sniffing under snowy wasn't sure if he was gonna nip then snowy washed him more then gave them both a treat and moved them onto our laps. We then allowed them the choice n they went on same seat then same thing happened n when snowy washed himself finally shadow washed snowys head ears and his back. Waited til finished small shared treat then cuddled separately n put in the pens again.

The look on snowy's face when being washed was adorable. No mounting, bum sniffing or chasing.

Absence makes heart grow fonder and it shows they are comfortable around each other. Finished on positive. I know its first time in a few wks but great start.

Tried 20mins this morning they both washed each other, whether it was shared time or switching alpha not sure but they loved it - only one nip from one saying carry on washing me please 😉

Snowy seems completely relaxed n washed himself in front of Shadow, Shadow nearly lay down next to snowy but didn't wash himself. Snowy loved it his eyes bless him...

Tonight did 40mins with larger seat, shared eating (great sharing, trying to steal from each other no fighting) them playing on a straw house then just themselves. Plenty of washing, snowy splootted in front of shadow so cute! Shadow finally washed himself in front of snowy but didn't chill out fully. No chasing, one nip whereby snowy was nudging Shadows bum demanding wash n shadow clearly had had enough so waited til they weren't interacting then separated them. Good progress...
 
Thank you, do I continue doing 20mins per day in small chair area or could I move from chair to playpen? It's still small 1m cubed but they'd be on floor not at height.
 
Personally, since it's only been 4 weeks since they were neutered, I would take it really slow and keep doing what you're doing now for a few more weeks. Once they have more space on the floor and more freedom you run the risk of their hormones coming into play more and creating issues, so I'd wait until they've been neutered for longer until you do that.
 
It is sounding positive and well done bunnies. I think any consideration of what to do next though also has to take into account your wider plans for them. Have you found a way of sorting out their accommodation, so that they have somewhere to share 24/7? And what will happen when you go on holiday at the end of August, ie can they stay together then?
 
So we are cresting the extension but only at the purchasing phase, it's gonna take a few weeks to get that made, if bonded n happy then they'll use it for 4dsys. If not confident then will keep separate and bond again after.

I got too excited about them getting on so tried puppy pen - one was v relaxed playful and happy, the other wasn't sure, one instance of circling calmed them down then returned to seat, this time the one that's wasn't sure was happier. Should have left it there...

Next I thought how about one small pen with one toilet (mixed from both of their toilets), food bowls and a straw house that has two entrances. After 5mins of familirisation then they started circling, tried stroking to calm them then they both went inside straw house! Aargh,couldn't get them out ended up dragging one out n of course he latched onto me with a big bite so that was fun! Separated, calmed, returned to chair and then lay down together, then washed each other hopefully apology then returned them to separate pens. As far as I can tell they didn't hurt each other...

Note to self - stick to chair from now on...
 
a reader of books said:
Personally, since it's only been 4 weeks since they were neutered, I would take it really slow and keep doing what you're doing now for a few more weeks. Once they have more space on the floor and more freedom you run the risk of their hormones coming into play more and creating issues, so I'd wait until they've been neutered for longer until you do that.
Click to expand...
Should havd read your message first before today lol
 
I think your bunnies are demonstrating that they are not yet completely relaxed with each other. It's possible that there is still hormone activity going on.

Some thoughts....

Do make sure that when you are bonding rabbits, you wear protective clothing, especially for your hands. Bunny bites can be nasty.
When considering enlarging the bonding space, it's a good idea to have the bare minimum in the pen apart from the rabbits. I would leave out litter trays and food bowls to begin with and also anything like a straw house can become a territorial issue.
If the bunnies start to fight, it will be much more difficult to achieve a successful bond afterwards, as they will remember the fight.
In the very early stages of bonding it's best to ensure that any interaction is positive. That will allow them to develop trust between them. If that means taking it very slowly, then in my view, that will be more beneficial long term.
Check them over carefully for bites as they can happen very quickly.
 
Thanks I agree, many mistakes made. Will continue with chairs and yes should have had gloves on...

This time with calming them down together n waiting til they washed each other before separating helped although was hard to be patient with a bleeding cut!
 
So caught them at sleepy time 30mins on chairs again, both washing each other and themselves then cos sleepy one splooted the other washed then splooted next to him! 5-10mins splooting then got up, then put them back in pens so they could fully relax n nap

Fight may not be forgotten but I think forgiven...fx
 
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