24/7 Bonding - Please Help!!!

[alexis philippot]

Hello everyone! We are currently attempting 24/7 marathon/immersion bonding with our spayed/neutered male and female. I am so confused because we see such positive behaviours from them (always snuggling, mutual grooming, flops, etc), but also sometimes my female (the resident bunny) will just randomly attack the male and start a huge fight. It seems so strange to me that they display such polar opposite behaviours in the span of a few minutes. Is this normal?? What does it mean? FYI, they haven't established a hierarchy yet, as they both groom each other, but my female is definitely the bossier of the pair...

Some extra info:
Female was free-roam her whole life but always hated the kitchen, so that is the space we are using
We did tons of pre-bonding
Both are around 1 year old
We are on day 2 of marathon bonding in about a 1.5x1.5 ft space. We did about 2 weeks of dates a while ago but stopped seeing progress and therefore decided to try this tactic.

 

[JBun]

I think it's part they are just getting used to the other rabbit being around, sometimes they forget I think, and then all of a sudden there's the other rabbit and they react. Then it can also be they are learning each others personalities and establishing hierarchy. Just keep a close eye on them, break up scuffles before they can escalate, and hopefully they start getting used to each others presence and sort out the dominance issues.

 

[alexis philippot]

I think it's part they are just getting used to the other rabbit being around, sometimes they forget I think, and then all of a sudden there's the other rabbit and they react. Then it can also be they are learning each others personalities and establishing hierarchy. Just keep a close eye on them, break up scuffles before they can escalate, and hopefully they start getting used to each others presence and sort out the dominance issues.

Thank you

 

[NotaCocoaPuff]

One thing that really helped a few of my bunny's was stress bonding. I would put them in a laundry basket together and run the dryer or while I vacuumed (always supervised). Also took them for car rides in a pet carrier. I did this at least once a day and sometimes more on weekends. This was with my female/female pair and one had a very dominant personality. It took a few weeks but worked well.

 

[Blue eyes]

For 24/7 immersion bonding, that 1.5 sq ft space seems awfully small. Typically it's recommended to have a somewhat larger space with areas where the buns can get away from each other when they desire. For short bonding sessions, a small area is fine. But with immersion, they need to be able to get a break now and then.

If you check some of the videos on the following link, you'll see some of the set-ups they use for immersion. Theirs are all outside but the idea can modified for indoors. You'll notice they have different areas for the buns to go if they want to have some space/time away from each other.
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
Though some people have success with it, I'm not a fan of stress bonding. The concept has some down sides. Personally, I think it tends to "work" on rabbits that were inclined to get along anyway. The following is what that same cottontails site says about stress bonding.
https://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/stress-bonding-what-does-it-mean/

 

[LadyGrey]

I had a similar experience with my bossy doe. In the end I paid more attention to the buck, i made sure he was the one who was willing to make the relationship work. From my does pov she wasn't really sure if she needed some dude eating all her food and taking over her toys. But he won her over with kindness, grooming her, putting up her ripping out bits of his fluff. All i did was make sure he had a safe place t o go when she got moody. This behavior lasted 3 weeks, the random mood swings at him gradually becoming less and less. The fact both rabbits are grooming each other is a good sign. Just make sure she realizes you don't approve of her aggressiveness