introduced the bunnies to each other

[manda]

i hope its not too early. after much thinking idecided to go ahead and get the introductions and bonding started. ijust want to tell you all what happend and what you can make of it.

well, i got out my extra NIC cubes and made a small playpen. i put itin neutral territory. i put Ryo in her carrier, and Alex in his andplaced the carriers both in the pen. i opened it up and let the funbegain.

it started out well. i thought it was this "love at first sight" i washearing about. but just as i sighed in relief Ryo got ontop of Alex andbackwards mounted him, while holding onto the fur on his neck. i readthat this is normal and always happens so it didnt worry me. Alex didntfight the mounting much at first. He tryed to run away shortly afterand Ryo chased him. so there they were both going in cirlces andgrunting at each other. At one point Alex grabbed a hold of her fur andyanked it out. i was shocked to see this little bunny do this! Well Ryodecided she wouldnt have any of that, so she lunged at him. i wasscared it was going to far. so i sprayed them in the face with thewater bottle. it didnt even fase them at all. they didnt stop to dryoff, or even stop fighting. i had to gently push Ryo awaybecause i was scared she was going to hurt Alex. at one time theyappeared to be fighting dangerously bad, so i put Ryo in her carrierfor maybe two mintues and let her back out. after that she backwardsmounted Alex some more, and went into his little carrier and layeddown. Alex then crawled in beside her and layed down with her. i wasrelived to see this. after about five minutes of that Alex got out andwent to the other carrier to groom himself. they didnt pay each othermuch attention. Alex came out of the carrier to check out his surroundsand twice he went next to the carrier Ryo was in, and she lunged athim, but didnt even come close to biting him. i think she was more less"stomping" at him. After that he went in his pet carrier, and bothrabbits were just looking at each other.

i put them both up, and moved Alex's cage right next to Ryo's. fromwhat i have seen they dont appear to be too interested in each other.Alex was watching her very closely and was up close to the bars, but helost intrest pretty quickly.

from everything i read i say this went pretty well! am i correct?

hopfully i didnt do anything i wasnt supposed to do, and didntintroduce them too quickly. he was just so relaxed in his surroundingsi figured i could go ahead and do it. quicker i start, thesooner i can finish!

sorry for this being so long. lol, i had to tell every little detail

 

[manda]

i think i am going to do my introductions outside today. it would make them both nervous so maybe it will help bond them.

 

[FlopsnWills]

i'm sorry, but what are the sexes and ages ofyour buns and are they both fixed? how long have they been fixed? fromwhat you described.. it does not sound good. it sounds like they wereas aggressive as possible.

if they are fighting this much, it's going to make the bonding processa LOT longer! the key is to only let them near each other for veryshort periods of time once a day, sometimes even a minute or 2.. justas long as they don't fight at all. the more you let them fight, theleast likely they are going to bond.

please read this throughly:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html

 

[manda]

thanks for the reply. i have a 2 year old female spayed rabbit

and a 5 mounth old nueterd rabbit

i did an intro again today and he ignored each other for about 15minutes, but then the boy started fighting with the girl and pulled outmore hair. also Ryo (girl) bit his ear in protection and it broke theskin. barely, but it did break it. i have the rabbits cages side byside and the lay right next to each other. i break up when they fightand keep them in there carriers for a few mintues and relaease themagain. usually both of them will just set in their carriers.

i dont know how long Alex (male) has been fixed. i just got him from a shelter a few days ago. i can call and ask

 

[manda]

both of them has even became agressive with me!!!

they have been fighting through the play pen bars too!!

 

[SOOOSKA]

Hi Manda, I read your bonding story.

Are your cages really close to each other? If so I would bereal careful, the bunnies can lunge at each other. I knowthis from experience, a year ago Wilbur jumped up and tore Buttercupslip area. He needed emergency surgery at 3:00 am, it cost usabout $260.00.

Good Luck

Soooska:apollo::Canada:

 

[manda]

i seperated the cages because they were fighting through the bars. now they cant reach eachother. but Alex sure tries.

i also found out that alex was fixed dec. the 25 last year. so he isnt so much of a baby as i thought



if it wasnt for Alex attacking Ryo things would be fine.

 

[naturestee]

Give them some time. I've found thatall of my rabbits attack through the bars, so I keep a few inches ofspace in between cages or put a solid barrier there.

I think you may need to back off a little and allow Alex to settle in,and let Ryo get used to the idea of a second bunny around.Keep them side by side, but don't try a bonding session for a littlewhile. Then start slow, just a few minutes at atime. When one gets aggressive, separate them for a few hoursor a day. It's okay if the sessions only end up lasting 5 or10 minutes. That's how mine started out, and the buns slowlygot used to each other, worked out their dominance issues, and becameless aggressive. Let their attitudes determine how long thesessions last, and don't try to force it too much.

Have you checked out the bonding thread in Bunny 101 yet?

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

 

[manda]

thanks alot!

yeah i am backing off for two weeks.

no i didnt see bunny bonding, thanks for the link.