Should I keep rotating between enclosures? (bunny bonding)

[McNuggets]

I am working on bonding my bunny with another rescue bunny I got about two weeks ago. My resident bunny has always been free roaming with acces to my whole apartment, but generally kept in the living room, clearly considering this his territory. When I got the new bunny I put a fence between the living room and hallway, and made a home for her in the hallway. Then I started the usual procedures of regularly rotating some items and their litterboxes etc. Every once in a while I also rotate the bunnies between enclosures, so that I put my resident bunny in the hallway, and my new one in the living room (which makes them both chew at the fence trying to get back "home". They sometimes chew at the fence either way, but it gets a lot more intense when I rotate them).

My question is this; is it a good idea to keep rotating them like this? I can imagine it being either good (that it could make them less territorial and start seeing the apartment as a common space) or bad (that they see each other as intruders on their respective territories, especially that my resident bunny becomes hostile about being forced to surrender his territory to another bunny). Advice?

Bonus question; are there any good criterias for determining when they are ready for their first bonding session?

 

[McNuggets]

Is it also possible that the rotating creates a negative association towards the new bunny for my resident bunny? I could imagine a scenario where rotating enclosures means that he is stressed and angry about being forced out of his territory, and while in that state he is surrounded by her scent, which creates a negative association. Thoughts?

 

[Blue eyes]

You bring up a good question. The theory of swapping areas is that they each get used to the other's scent and become more comfortable with that scent in their areas. It seems to be a plan that has worked well for many bondings.

That said, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to bonding rabbits. It depends on the unique personalities of each rabbit and the dynamic of that combination of personalities.

I have had a bonding attempt where the rescue suggested the cage/area swapping. I tried it and it seemed in this particular case to make things worse. Would things have gone better if I had not swapped them but just let them get used to each other in side-by-side respective areas for a longer period of time? I wonder.

I believe that it is often best to go with what your gut tells you. Perhaps they need time in their respective areas without being physically swapped between areas. Perhaps just switching items and litter boxes is the best way to go for a time. On the other hand, there's a possibility that they will solidify their claim on their own areas if they are not swapped.

Generally, being side by side for several weeks is a helpful first step before beginning actual bonding. My thought would be to let them just be side-by-side (without swapping them) for a couple (or few) weeks first (starting now). Then after that, progress to actual meeting (in a separate, neutral area). But you are in a better position to make that judgement as you have been observing their behaviors.

I'm afraid there is no straight forward, do this and don't do this, type of answer. The best you can do is observe their behavior and trust your instincts on what steps to take.

 

[McNuggets]

You bring up a good question. The theory of swapping areas is that they each get used to the other's scent and become more comfortable with that scent in their areas. It seems to be a plan that has worked well for many bondings.

That said, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to bonding rabbits. It depends on the unique personalities of each rabbit and the dynamic of that combination of personalities.

I have had a bonding attempt where the rescue suggested the cage/area swapping. I tried it and it seemed in this particular case to make things worse. Would things have gone better if I had not swapped them but just let them get used to each other in side-by-side respective areas for a longer period of time? I wonder.

I believe that it is often best to go with what your gut tells you. Perhaps they need time in their respective areas without being physically swapped between areas. Perhaps just switching items and litter boxes is the best way to go for a time. On the other hand, there's a possibility that they will solidify their claim on their own areas if they are not swapped.

Generally, being side by side for several weeks is a helpful first step before beginning actual bonding. My thought would be to let them just be side-by-side (without swapping them) for a couple (or few) weeks first (starting now). Then after that, progress to actual meeting (in a separate, neutral area). But you are in a better position to make that judgement as you have been observing their behaviors.

I'm afraid there is no straight forward, do this and don't do this, type of answer. The best you can do is observe their behavior and trust your instincts on what steps to take.

I really don´t give much credence to my instincts in this area, since I am fairly new to bunnies, and therefore my instincts aren´t really based on.. Well, much of anything. But if I were to still trust them, it does seem like the rotating is actually doing some good. Previously I´ve only rotated them for short periods of time, during which they seemed pretty discontent about the whole thing. But this time they have spent over a day and a half in the other one´s enclosure, and things actually seems to be changing a bit. My resident bunny still isn´t happy about it, but they are becoming more friendly towards each other, less nipping at each other, lying around gazing at each other more etc. (which to me seems like they are becoming less territorial). It also helps me bond better with my rescue bunny, since even although I do my best to spend equal amounts of time with them both, for practical reasons I simply can´t avoid spending more time in the living room.

I guess I´ll keep going for a while and experiment with rotating them for longer stretches of time and just see how things play out

I am wondering about another thing though; I am moving to a new apartment in the beginning of July. How should I handle this bunny-wise? Should I try to get them bonded before? Or let them meet over there for the first time, before neither have laid claim to any territory? Could the move to a new home possibly incite territorial conflicts, if they both try to claim an area for themselves?

 

[rabbit_friend]

I think moving to a new place would be the perfect time to try first bonding meetings! We usually have to wait till we go on a trip and stay in a hotel

I have always been partial to the long, living side-by-side (with fence between) method of bonding. I even divided my living room in half with a fence for one pair of brothers, which might be an option for you. I have two identical end tables side-by-side in front of the sofa, so each brother got one as a sleeping platform. Pictures are attached, with divider and without. These brothers, separated for a brief time early in life, were only successfully rebonded after 9 years, by the way.

I only swap litterboxes and maybe one piece of fleece, since the bunnies love to go in each other's litterboxes, but if let in each other's territory, have tended to want to pee all over the other bunny's stuff. That definitely leads to resentment, and more work for me