Bonding males

[KrisiJ]

Hi, I am new to the Forum andI am looking for some advice.

I have two nuetered males,Bunners is 3yrs old,and Cricket istwo yrs old. They get along great as long as they are separated by a fence or in their cages. They really do love each other...through the bars only. We thought that once we moved into our new house, they would be in neutral territory and bonding would be easier, but it hasn't happened that way. They live happily separately.

I have heard that if you have two that do not get along, a third can bring the group together. Does anyone have any advicefor me on adding a third bunny? I am afraid I will end up with three bunnies that have to live separately. Thanks!

KrisiJ

 

[Little Bay Poo]

If you want to find a spayed female to bond to one of your males, that might work. However, I've never heard of bringing a third bunny in to help bond two unbonded males. But then again, I don't know anything about bonding!

From what I've read though, it seems like people usually introduce a third bunny if they already have a successfully bonded pair...and sometimes that third bunny will break up the bonded pair by taking the place of one of the old bunnies.

So, if you got a third bunny (preferably a spayed female), I think you'd be able to at least bond her to one of your boys. I wouldn't expect her to bring two unbonded males together though. Maybe someone who knows a little more about bonding has some input on this issue

 

[KrisiJ]

Honestly, I do not know if "bonding" is really what I am interested in.What I really want is for them to play together without the fur flying! They are perfectly content with their own cages (which are side by side). We put their beds together in the middle so the only thing separating themare the cage bars 24/7. There isnever anyaggressionas long as the fence is up. They will even groom each other through the bars.

I think they are just having trouble establishing dominance, so we thought maybe if we had a third that could establish dominance, then perhaps Bunners and Cricket would give up the fight and be friends.

 

[trailsend]

I agree with a lot of what Little Bay said. You can definately bond three buns, but I've never heard of a third bun bringing two unbonded buns together.

If your guys like each other but just don't want to live together, that's fine. Do they play well outside of their cages together? I have a lot of buns that enjoy free time with different bunny buddies, but like their own space, which is normal. With more space it's easier to get along.

 

[KrisiJ]

No, they like to be separate at play too.When they "play", Cricket tends to jump over Bunners, and he gets mad and attacks. When we have tried toput them together we end up with a "mexican stand-off"where they go nose to nosetrying to get the other one to back down and we get nowhere.

They are both so affectionate and love human attention (and trust me, they get a lot of it) never aggressive towards us.

 

[theevenstarlight]

Have you tried car rides? Those were the only way my buns would calm down enough to bond. It took 3 months for them to be able to live together!

 

[KrisiJ]

Unfortunately, my boys LOVE the car! It is not scary to them at all. They like to watch out the windows. It is a good idea though.

 

[theevenstarlight]

Are they scared of the vaccuum?

 

[KrisiJ]

Do I just have the stangest bunnies or what??? Nope, theyare not afraid ofthe vaccum. They do not like the linoleum...so that is where we try to put them together...but then we end up with the"stand-off" again. Are my boys hopeless???

 

[theevenstarlight]

There must be something that could stress them out a little so that they could become closer...what about dog barking?

 

[KrisiJ]

I do not know, that is something to think about.They are pretty mellow bunnies, until we put them together. Cricket likes to cuddle and Bunners like to run and play.

 

[theevenstarlight]

I hated stressing my bunnies out, but I knew that I had to do it so that they could be happier with a companion!

I really think you could find something that they don't like...it might take some time though

 

[b24karrot]

I have heard of putting them in a laundry basket on top of a running washer, this will sometims bond them. Takes a while but I hear it works.

 

[theevenstarlight]

Oh yeah, I did that before I switched to car rides. One of my buns almost jumped out of the basket and I was afraid he would get seriously injured.

 

[b24karrot]

Yeah you have to stand right there the whole time and keep petting them so they know even though they are stressed, they know you are there.

The woman at my local rescue did this a couple times and said it really worked for her.