Bonding

[Pepper89]

so I got Cinnamon from a pet shelter. I have had her for about 2 months, she is spayed since august and she is lovable towards us. She is about 2-6years old while Pepper is a year and 2 months. I wanted to try bonding her with Pepper. And have started about two- three weeks ago. I have read up on alot of bonding practices and have been trying to bond them... everytime i have done bunny introductions they have been fighting. Cinnamon just pulled a crazy ton of fur from Pepper tonight. Is that normal?
They are fine with having pens side by side each other. They lay beside the wire i put up between them. I recently saw a few days ago that they were fighting by the wire one night... is this normal for fur pulling? And is the bonding kinda going okay in anyones opinion? Should i just give up on it? The first time Pepper mounted her and she didnt want anything to do with him he hasn’t since then they just keep fighting and tonight was the first time for fur pulling and it upset me a bit to see that. I’ve been trying to research on it and haven’t been finding much of an answer in regards to fur pulling. Any help is welcome. Just worried its gonna fail and that Pepper is gonna get hurt. Thank you

 

[Blue eyes]

No. This isn't good. Laying by each other on the pen wall can just as easily mean, "hey, this is the line of my territory and don't you dare cross it." If they are biting at each other through the openings, then this is more likely what that means. Fur pulling is not a good sign, is not normal, and can escalate to much worse.

Is there a reason you waited so many weeks after bringing Cinnamon home before starting to bond them? Did the rescue know you were intending to bond her? Did you bring pepper with you to the rescue to see how the two reacted to each other? Rabbit rescues work with rabbit owners to ensure a bond. Shelters seldom do. What were the circumstances with yours?

 

[Pepper89]

I took her to the vet to make sure she was in good health before bonding them and the vet said to wait alittle longer, which is why it was awhile before i started bonding them. The shelter did know but apparently didn’t have much information on her behaviour, thought i would take a chance cause she was so lovable.
I didn’t bring Pepper with me cause i dont trust the pet shelter in regards to health problems, especially since they haven’t double checked things that popped up on her record and I dont want Pepper getting sick. And I don’t know if they would have let me... i should have asked. I will for sure have Pepper with me next time I try to find him a buddy.
Thank you!

 

[Blue eyes]

I was wondering if the shelter has any other rabbits and if they would allow an exchange. Rabbit rescues, when they know one is attempting a bond, will allow an exchange if one rabbit refuses to bond with an owner's rabbit. I don't know if the shelter you used would even consider such a thing. I was hoping that could be an option for you if your goal is get a bondmate for Pepper. It's possible they could still take her back straight up (without an exchange) if it is explained that she doesn't get along with your current rabbit. If that is an option in your mind, then you could start anew by working with a rabbit rescue to find a bondmate for Pepper.

Unfortunately, the only way to pre-guess potential compatibility is to allow two rabbits to meet. There is nothing at all personality-wise with a rabbit that would indicate whether or not any particular rabbit will be inclined to get along with any other rabbit. The most lovable rabbit (with humans) can be a nightmare with other rabbits. And the meanest or shyest of rabbits (towards humans) could be a great bondmate for another rabbit.

I guess you'll have to decide what options you prefer. Whether you keep Cinnamon or not is something for you to choose. There may even be a slight possibility that one of those rabbit rescues would be willing to take her (with full explanation of what happened, of course)-- if you're uncomfortable sending her back to the shelter. And then they could help find a compatible option from among their rabbits.