Bonding went wrong... =(

[Mika]

manda wrote:

im also bonding two bunnies. ages 2 yrs and 7 months.

try taking them outside (in a secure pen made of nic cubes!) and set in there with them with a glove on and break up any fighting before it happens! and just do it for about 10 mintues a day. thats what i have been doing, and its been working.

give them specail treats when they are together too. my bunnies love crasins but they only get them when they are out together having a bonding session

Thanks Manda! I think, at this point, they are definitely not ready to be put together in a pen....Mika (when in her cage) charges at the cage when she sees Joey...and she's grunting and pawing through the cage :? I tried to give each bunny their pellet food when I had them side by side in the cages and that seemed to distract Mika for a little bit....but I will definitely try your method when Joey is a little older

 

[Mika]

HoneyPot wrote:

Hi Mika - you're not alone with this problem!

I'm trying to bond Misty (9 month old spayed female) with my new bun Charlie (9 week old male) and I have the same issue. Misty sniffed Charlie through the bars, then tried to bite his face off.

She was also attacking me when I smelt like Charlie (the heavy sniffing, then a nice big chomp).

I tried the neutral territory and Misty didn't care, she explored for 2 mins, then went back to trying to trying to attack Charlie.

What I've been doing - at the suggestion to others with experience, is keeping Charlie in Misty's territory (she also has free run of our whole house). He is in his cage (2x2 NIC) and surrounding the cage is an X-Pen. I have shoes and weights keeping the X-Pen about 3 inches from Charlie's cage, so Misty can't reach Charlie through the bars.


I would suggest trying the same thing to get Mika used to Joey being in her territory. I also let Charlie out in Misty's play area so he can play and get his scent on her things. It's working - Misty is a lot calmer now when she smells Charlie - although the two of them are having a poop/pee war in my living room which is suck y.

Hi Nadia! Thanks for the tips! Glad to know that I'm not alone!! I tried the cage switch today for about 30 minutes....Mika was just pooping EVERYWHERE and chinning EVERYTHINGin Joey's cage.....and Joey was just having lots of fun running around Mika's cage.....however, when I put Mika back into her cage, she didn't seem to care the Joey was in there (no chinning or sniffing....).....but she's still grunting and attacking the cage when she sees Joey outside.......

.....these silly bunnies!

 

[Mika]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

I have the same carrier as you. Same color too.

The picture of the two with Joey in the carrier scares me, as rabbits can bite through cages. As Naturestee says, keep a distance in the barrier between the two. Some members here, just had their bunnies ears bit or ripped by other rabbits. Having fur pulled is as far as I would go, but if it continues for a while, then I would hold back on the bonding. If the bite draws blood or scarring, then I would separate the two immediately.

Another member here is bonding her Holland ( 6 months?) to a 2 year old rabbit. She waited until she had her Holland spayed before she attempted the bonding.

Are you sure Joey is a male? Sometimes rabbits will know immediately that they arethe same sex, and prove that bonding can be difficult.

Rainbows!

Got my carrier on sale at Pj's petstore =) Yeah, that picture looked very sweet because they were only sniffing at that time....then 10 seconds later...BITE! from Mika.... ~sigh~

Yeah, i'm sure Joey's a boy.....he peed on me...and it shot out...not dribbled out.....(he was on his back)...and the breeder also showed me his winky...lol

 

[Mika]

naturestee wrote:

Bunni wrote:

I see, i see. Bonding of coruse doesn't always go well. If i buy a rabbit i make sure it has a pal it can grow up with. If you do this later sometimes they will hate each other. Its always good to buy two rabbits if you think that the other one will need a playmate. I bought 2 rabbits first then later a third and they dont really like the third. See what i mean.

Unfortunately that doesn't always work. Just because they've known each other since they were born or from a very young age does not mean that they'll like each other after they hit puberty. One of our other members tried this and they fought while she was gone... and one bunny didn't make it. And if you read MyBunnyBoy's recent threads, she had two boys who were great together until they were nearly a year old, and now it's impossible to keep them together. And they were neutered. So introducing rabbits at a young age does not guarantee that they will bond permanently.

Thanks Bunni and Naturestee! If i thought it through first, I would have definitely bought two bunnies at the same time....but I didn't know at the time....and even so....I guess it doesn't always work out anyway :?

I thought that bonding success rates were usually pretty good....from the stories I've been reading here.....i'm a little apprehensive about it now

I guess it will just take time.....



So right now, I have Joey's cage (plastic, NOT wire) beside Mika's wire/crate cage. I guess because it's a little more difficult to see through the plastic, Mika isn't freaking out so much...but when Joey is outside of Mika's cage...she freaks out a bit...but then she does something funny...she turns her back to us, and flops down on her side!!

I thought that was a sign of relaxation! BUT....after a few moments, if she sees Joey getting a TINY BIT CLOSER to the cage...she flips out again....

Do you guys think I should continue with the cage swapping to try to get each bun used to each others' scent??

Thanks so much everyone!

 

[naturestee]

Gotta love that flop! It probably means that Mika is trying to make Joey jealous because she's oh so comfortable. And she's purposefully ignoring him when she does that too, another bunny snub.

Bonding rates are usually pretty good, as long as you are patient. Mika is acting like Mocha was when I brought Loki home for her, and they're happily bonded now. But it took a month before they stopped nipping each other and I could put them in non-neutral territory, and another couple of weeks before I was confident enough to let them live in the same cage. Mocha had been spayed a month before and Loki was already neutered when I adopted him.

Have you read the bonding thread in Bunny 101 yet? There's lots of helpful ideas and experiences.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12072&forum_id=17

For now, since Mika did get pretty aggressive, I'd keep them separate for a while but within sight of each other. Let Mika get used to the idea of another bunny around, and give her time for her hormones to cool off. In another week or two start switching cages (I usually switched them for a day or three, then switched again) to help lessen her sense of territory. Then start introducing them slowly, for only a few minutes at first, in neutral territory. Yes, it sounds slow, but that's because it is. Rushing is not a good idea, especially since Mika has been pretty aggressive and Joey hasn't hit puberty yet.

 

[jordiwes]

Bunni wrote:

Sometimes male and female rabbits don't bond well.... i read that most of the time same sexes (as long as they are girls) get along. If they are both boys then that's wrong. Two males wont get along. (Territorial issues)

I believe that a male and female combination are the easiest to bond. Then comes a pair of females, then a pair of males. There are quite a few male pairs on this board.

Give them some time to get used to seeing each other without putting them together. Sounds like you're doing the right thing.

 

[Mika]

jordiwes wrote:

Give them some time to get used to seeing each other without putting them together. Sounds like you're doing the right thing.




Thanks Jordiwes!! A little encouragement always helps =) I think you have Mika's twin :bunnydance::bunnydance:

 

[Mika]

UPDATE:

I still have Joey in a large plastic cage with a lid that has many little holes.

When I let Mika out of her cage, she doesn't show any aggression towardsJoey's cage (no grunting or charging the cage) BUT sheDOES jump ON TOP of HIS CAGE and POOP all over the top of it!

Is this just a sign of 'showing who's in charge'?

Is the fact that she doesn't get mad at Joey(when he's in the cage) a good sign?

Thanks!

Carina

 

[naturestee]

It sounds like Mika is trying to claim Joey's territory as her own. It's perfectly normal.

If she's less annoyed by Joey's existence (seeing him in a cage), then it's a good sign. She probably just needs time to get used to the idea of another bunny.