Has anyone successfully bond two females?

[BB03]

So, I have two female rabbits and I really wan't to bond them. I've tried a few times but I'm just too scared something is going to happen. If anyone has bonded two females please tell me what you did, because there isnt much information online regarding bonding two females. My two rabbits are also spayed.

 

[Preitler]

Well, not exactly, but I have two pairs of intact does, both mother-daughter. And my intact male house bunny and his spayed cuddlebun.

Spaying makes things somewhat easier I guess, but they are still females. Does have a much more ritualized way to settle controversities and pecking order: evil eye, humping, pawing, lounging, chasing, plucking tufts of fur - all part of sorting out their hierachy. Males, on the other hand, tend to get along until the mood snaps, and then it's full out fight, sometimes to the death. Females have a better chance to get along, but it really depends on the individual characters.

As I see it, and what I have to do with my female duos is that their space is structured in a way that they can get out of each others eye if necessery, and that there is kind of a raceway with no dead end. If one insists to make a point, the other needs a way to get away. That is with one of my duos, Black Fury (9)is my smallest, but most dominant rabbit, her daughter (7) quite submissive.

About all that bonding, "Tried a few times", well, I think that humans messing with their social skills can cause more problems than they solve. Putting them together, and seperating them - as long as there is no real fight that's something I would not do. It emboldens both, makes them think they made the other doe go away, and therefore she's the boss. Stick to the basic rules, and get through it.

Normally I keep my duos seperated, but there are accidents and both got out in the garden. There were tufts of fur when I got home from work, but then they just kept their distance. I'm pretty sure If I would keep them in this setting they would get along. But my whole setup isn't for a colony.

Note: I do not do bondings, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt.

 

[Mac189]

Many years ago I had two sisters who maintained a happy bond for their whole lives, although as I said they were sisters. I never saw them fight, nor was there ever any evidence that they did and they loved flopping on top of each other. I am not always the best opinion on bonding questions, as I've always been extremely lucky and never had a bond fall out and only had one experience in which two rabbits failed to bond, which wasn't a shock at all.

It is possible, but it won't always work. Your best bet will definitely be if they are both spayed and of pretty laid back temperments.

 

[JBun]

While female/female bonds can be difficult and sometimes impossible, you have to go more off their reaction to each other and their individual personalities. If you have two highly dominant females, there's a likelihood they aren't bondable because they will both want to be dominant. But if you have one that is more submissive than the other, and they don't go right into true aggressive fight mode(circling, tails raised, ears pinned, trying to bite the underbelly, etc), there is a chance they could bond.

I have had a female pair in the past, that were good together. I'm not sure how because they were both pretty dominant, but I think the younger one was a bit nervous about the older bun and was willing to take on a more submissive role. Plus the older bun had arthritis and couldn't really do much chasing. But that same young female from the pair couldn't be bonded with a different female bun. I tried for months and couldn't get it to work as they would always try and go straight into a fight.

So it all just depends on the rabbits involved. I have a group of 7 now(4 females, 3 males), but group dynamics are a bit different than a pair would be. That young female from my previous pair, lost her bun companion to old age and is now part of the group. But I could only add her in after she got cataracts and became blind. Otherwise there was a conflict of her chasing the other dominant female in the group. Now there can be some minimal chasing, but for the most part they all get along well and will all snuggle together at times.

If you haven't already, I would suggest reading up on bonding. There is a slow method and fast method. The slow method is usually preferred, but the fast one can be a better choice for some bonds. And there are lots of different variables and bonding choices, depending on how your two react to each other. The most important thing to understand is the warning signs of true aggression. Some minor nipping and humping is to be expected, but you need to know when it's escalating and to stop things before it turns into a fight. To know when it's needed to step in and intervene, to either distract and divert before it continues to escalate, or when to stop bonding attempts completely because there are signs of escalating aggression that is going to result in a serious fight breaking out.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together

 

[bright_eyes]

It depends on the individuals. JBun gave you some great articles. ☝

I had a bonded female pair that adored each other (both spayed). The older of the two was a submissive, easy going Lionhead cross- I introduced the dominant, younger Belgian Hare after being spayed (she was about 6 months old, the older girl was almost 2 years old and already spayed). I got lucky, as it was ridiculously easy. I had them live in x-pens side by side (about 4" of space in between to avoid nose nipping) for a month, then after that I let them loose together, observed no arguments, and that was the end of it! Only twice over the past 4 years I found tufts of fur indicating a disagreement of sorts. They could almost always be found snuggled up or grooming one another. I recently used that same method for a neutered male/female pairing and it worked just as well (even faster, they were living together by day 8).




Unfortunately, Breezy (LionheadX) passed away last year . I have not found Sage a new friend, as I feel she is too territorial to accept another. The bonding process probably went smoothly before because she was a baby- wouldn't be the case now and not worth the stress.

Don't worry too much! If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out.