Bonding rabbits...hmmmm

[daisyandparsley7]

Ok so I was inquiring about volunteering for my local chapter of the house rabbit society and boom I ended up adopting! They have been set side by side for about a week in x pens with three inches of space between them and they were starting to lay and eat by each other. First 2 min face to face the female(Natasha) was shoving her head under neath him. What does this mean? Then ended up grooming each other and then sitting by each other so I ended on that good note.

Then the second meeting was a little bit rough more biting and not as smooth. I again ended on a good not.

Third meeting 7 min long Natasha was thumping a lot? What does this mean and also shoving her head under neath him again and pancho was just laying flat and still the entire time.

I've never bonded before so I am going slow. I have read so many different articles and it seems each one is different. I would just like opinions and especially what does thumping during bonding mean and her shoving her head under his belly. Both are spayed and neutered and about 2 years old. Natasha is a standard chinchilla and pancho a Dutch.

 

[Troller]

Each bonding is different and each is based on the personalities of the rabbit. What worked for me might not work for you, and vice versa. Know your rabbits is the most important thing in my opinion. Read as much as you can about bonding and experiment along the way until you find your own method.


Thumping can mean a few things. Warning of danger, or a sign of anger. You have some good signs going in so thats a positive. For me dates didnt work, the constant separation always eliminated my progress. Eventually I ended up sticking my two together for a few days while I constantly observed and broke up anything too aggressive until they finally bonded. I had to do two car trips a day with them in one carrier to stress them. Thats what worked for me but there was a lot of trial and error.

 

[zombiesue]

Where are you putting them when you do the face-to-face meetings?

 

[JBun]

The slow bonding method can work for some rabbits, but for others it seems to just cause more problems and issues because the rabbits sort out their dominance and hierarchy issues in the first date, then get separated and have to sort it all out again when they are put back together. You may be better off doing a fast bond. Put them together and keep them together while you closely monitor them for the first few days, even sleeping nearby in case a scuffle occurs. Sometimes it's necessary to intervene, to prevent fights(you do NOT want any fighting), petting and keeping the peace at times. Bonding with some rabbits, can be very tricky and complicated. If a tactic doesn't appear to be working well for your particular buns, don't be afraid to try a different technique.
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/bonding-bunnies/

The thumping is probably because one rabbit is upset with the other one. Shoving their head under the other bun is usually a dominance play, trying to get the other rabbit to groom.

 

[daisyandparsley7]

The face to face is in a neutral area in an xpen. I might try the fast bond because it does to seem that each time I do the face to face it starts the same and then they end up grooming or laying together and I get nervous it's too long and I put them back in their side by sides. They have never shown any real aggression just what I take as try to figure out dominance. Thank you for the feedback!

 

[Imbrium]

I'm a fan of brief "dates" for evaluation purposes - I'm doing them with my three bunns now because I'm periodically checking to see if Normie's done being hormonal and I did them with my most recent sugar glider pairing because for a while, Abby was too high-strung to be willing to give Lemmy a chance (I did periodic face-to-face meetings a few weeks apart and suddenly on the last one, they were agreeable instead of fighting (which had always happened on previous meetings)).

As soon as both animals (or all three, in my current situation) appear ready to bond (ie open to the idea of making a new friend and don't have raging hormones), I greatly prefer "marathon" sessions. While my bunny bonding experience is minimal, I've got quite a bit of sugar glider bonding experience (four pairings and a trio) and the process is remarkably similar. I've always found that the longer and more frequent the sessions are, the more smoothly things seem to go and the faster the bond is solidified.

First 2 min face to face the female(Natasha) was shoving her head under neath him. What does this mean? Then ended up grooming each other and then sitting by each other so I ended on that good note.

Third meeting 7 min long Natasha was thumping a lot? What does this mean and also shoving her head under neath him again and pancho was just laying flat and still the entire time.

Shoving her head under him is classic rabbit speak for "groom me". Some people have had luck with putting a dab of apple sauce or fruit-flavored baby food on one rabbit's head to entice the other into grooming them... this is more likely to work if he's just clueless about what she's asking for (as opposed to both demanding grooming from the other). The fact that he DID groom her in the first session is a good sign, as that means it's likely he'll do it again at some point.

At this point, I'd recommend doing longer sessions (15-20 mins minimum). If there are disagreements, give them time to work it out - don't intervene right away. The only things that should ever be stopped ASAP are chasing and vicious attacking. A little nipping is ok. A little humping is ok. Watch their body language and let that tell you when it's time to intervene. When possible, break them up without inserting yourself in the situation by using a spray bottle, loud noise, etc. to startle them into knocking it off.

Wheekwheekthump has numerous wonderful bonding articles that really take a fresh approach to bonding and do a great job of explaining why the conventional methods may not be the best ones - it's definitely worth reading them if you haven't already .

 

[daisyandparsley7]

Today everything is going ok so I'm doing an hour they were biting each other's face for a bit and it seemed they were progressing. I broke it up a couples times and now they seem indifferent.


I guess my big fear is they will never really bond. I'm keeping my hopes up indifference is not a bad sign

 

[daisyandparsley7]

I meant to say it seemed like the aggression was progressing a bit

 

[Imbrium]

Indifference is actually a good sign (though aggression obviously isn't). If they started out with aggression and then things turned towards indifference later in the session, that's GOOD news as it means they can get over the aggression during long sessions and actually make progress.

 

[zombiesue]

This is way too early to be worried about them never bonding, lol. Way too early. I think you're progressing along very well.

 

[daisyandparsley7]

I know it's too early I just think way too far ahead for my own good sometimes lol

 

[zombiesue]

That's a common problem too LOL I think every first time bonder thread I've ever been on has been like that.

 

[kisha.princess]

Is it normal for my girl rabbit to hump my boy rabbit? every time I put them out together she keeps humping him and be just lays there terrified

 

[pani]

It sounds like she's trying to assert her position as the more dominant rabbit in the pair. If he's scared, I wouldn't be letting her hump him, because it's going to negatively affect how he feels about her. Are they spayed/neutered?

 

[Troller]

Hey be happy you got some humping signs of dominance display. My rabbits never did that and displayed far more subtle clues so it made it so much more difficult.

 

[daisyandparsley7]

I just realized I should probably explain pancho's name because I also call him Lou in other posts. They are the same we have a ton of nicknames depending on the day lol it started with pancho then some how panchalou( long story) and then Lou...

 

[daisyandparsley7]

Ok I need help now. I stuck with the short bonding because I have noticed fighting. I ended on a good note but when i tried again today it became even more violent. Within two minutes a huge fight broke out my rabbit was attacked really bad by Natasha. I had trouble separating it and once I finally did she lunged at him again as I was pulling him up. I feel very uncomfortable with this bonding and I fear for pancho's safety. It seems he is really interested in her and she want nothing to do with it. He was really traumatized by the event. I am going to contact the foster house and ask where to go from here. I do not think this is a good match. I mean she is violently attacking him. When is enough enough and it is enough reason to say they are not a good match. I myself and very upset and I feel so bad for pancho.

 

[daisyandparsley7]

Oops not today this was yesterday and now today they are not acting like themselves at all

 

[Troller]

What does that mean not acting like themselves? Considering Natasha was attacking yesterday does that mean she's calm today?

My personal belief is that unless two rabbits hate each other at first sight, they can be bonded. However having said that, its up to the keeper to decide how long and far they are willing to go. It took me 5 months, a battle that injured one of my rabbits badly enough it necessitated a Vet visit, and i was very well nearly done bonding. I persevered and it got done, but it easily could have gone the other way and have stopped. Now looking back, who knows if my decision to keep at it was a good one. Yeah they're bonded but they could have been happier being two separate rabbits and maybe I cruelly forced them to bond. So what happened with you sounds to me like just a set back but if its too much for you don't continue.

If you continue, make sure whatever technique your using to stress them actually stresses them. I noticed during my time I thought the bathtub, confined space, moving chair etc was doing that but i was quite wrong. They were discomforted yeah, possibly annoyed, but jot stressed. Only the car rides would do it, and i made it a habit to do a car ride every so often Whether they fought or not.

 

[daisyandparsley7]

Not acting like themselves as in the are hiding in their xpens and don't even want to come out for me.