Bunny Bonding Advice

Hi everyone!

My new bunny is here!

Rather than phone the rescue guy, since the two bunnies are perfectly fine and there's no urgency, I thought I'd ask you lot.

Chewy and 'Zelda' (her new name since she doesn't know the name Bonnie anyway) are getting along fine - and by fine I mean they are completely ignoring each other, yet contentedly sharing the same space. They've been in the run together for about an hour and a half almost without so much as a single tussle. They are wandering around each other, eating (though not together) and have approached each other a couple of times then wandered back off.

So this is all good, I am guessing, but I'm now wondering if I should give them a break? Should I separate them for a wee while? Neither one seems stressed (though Zelda seems a bit tired), they are both fairly relaxed, they just aren't showing any interest in each other yet.

Would you give them space at this point to rejuvenate or since they are getting on okay just leave them together?

Cheers for the advice!
Lori

Nope. I would leave them together. If they are getting on - which they are - then parting them just disrupts the process.

Different people use different methods.

Humum tries not to separate bunnies once they have been introduced (except if the bond is obviously never going to work) - at most she'll divide the pen down the middle if she feels they can't be trusted to be left alone together, so they are close but can't get to each other.

But some people do short sessions over a longer period of time.

It does sound like they are getting on ok. Have they each been grooming themselves?

They have been grooming themselves but not each other. They seem so calm, both are hopping around, and they aren't bothered if they come near each other, but there hasn't been much interaction between them. Might put out some more food and see if they both go for it.

Don't panic about the lack of interaction. You need it to come naturally and without aggression. They will make friends with time.

So now everyone, I'm wondering what to do for night time? They are still fine, though not interacting... I just don't want to leave them alone while we go to bed, but I don't want to separate them either... any tips?

Sleep on the sofa.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/superlori/7103405531/in/photostream

Looks good, doesn't it!

As long as the space they have isn't too big so they aren't able to designate a bit each and just stay in it thus establishing a new bit of territory, it sounds like it is really going well.

Lack of interaction is sometimes a good sign as it means that neither thinks of the other as a threat. Mutual grooming says the same thing. It is them just trying to show the other that they aren't bothered - bit like Vicky Pollard!

Hope it all continues to go well.

As it's approaching my bedtime, I'm thinking of trying to move the run into the living room so I can sleep on the couch.... the only thing is, the living room is Chewy's domain so I wonder if that is too much too soon. If its a problem, Chewy can go into his hutch over night and Zelda can stay in the run. Fingers crossed that this doesn't backfire, but I don't want to chance either leaving them alone unsupervised in the hall all not OR separate them over night and have to start over tomorrow.

If the hall is not too far from your bedroom just go to bed and leave the door open. You will probably her the scuffle if there is a fight. You can always get up and check on them if you like. But I really wouldn't move them or separate them.

Got your response too late, I moved them to the living room and... it's still fine! I even attached the run to the hutch, so if necessary I could close Chewy in his hutch and they'd still be right next to each other. Zelda went straight in, Chewy went straight in behind her... and they just got on with it. She at his food, drank his water, went into his hidey hole, sat in his litter box, and Chewy was totally cool with it. There has a been a BIT of grooming once or twice, nothing terribly romantic, but I am feeling great about this!

Wish I had a baby monitor for my bedroom! The hubby won't let my 7 months pregnant bum sleep on the sofa so I'll stay up for another wee while and watch them. Then he'll be on duty.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/superlori/6957543914/in/photostream/

If he has allowed her into his cage then it is probably all fine.

That does sound very hopeful. Usually somebun's hutch is a very private area and letting a strange bunny in is a big test. Hope it continues to go well.

This sounds quite encouraging. Sharing his food, water, space and litter box are all big deals. Chewie and Zelda are adorable

From what I saw of the photo of them both they are doing ok and I bet tomorrow they will be grooming each other

Night time went without a hitch. They are absolutely fine with each other. Still not grooming...it sounds silly but it looked as if Zelda were happy to just hand over dominance, she tried to groom him and he wandered off. It's like he's in a bit of a huff but she's not trying to dominate him in any way! But they are getting along like happy strangers so I'm not worried. Only problem now is she's been on a hay-only diet, so I've only been trying to give her a few pellets at a time, but she is devouring all of Chewy's pellets! He's not getting any and she's getting too much!

Again I am going to suggest you try a dog treat ball. The bigger size seems to make a difference. It will give them the opportunity to work together to get their food and reduce the amount on bun can get as well as minimising the opportunity to argue about food.

I'll try that, thanks, Cheryl.

I wouldnt worry to much, as long as there eating fine and not fighting. I will be starting the bonding process after about 5 weeks, smokey was done last week, and rosie is going in on wed, so will hold off till after 5 weeks then begin to bond them. I remember when I took bugsy to the rescue lady years ago she just put her in with all the buns she had, I asked wont they fight she said there fine, concerned me at the time.

Well, they've just had their first fight. I guess it was about time! I don't know what happened, but someone must've gotten ticked off because there was an all out rumble. I was taken by surprise and because they were circling each other and fighting inside the hutch (door was open but they were inside), I kinda freaked out. Kids were in the room too and they started crying, so I broke it up. They briefly fought again after but that one wasn't bad. Hopefully though this means they will soon become friends, as they've still pretty much been ignoring each other now for 24 hours!

Still, they chose a rubbish time, I was about to go take a nice relaxing bath, silly rabbits!!

I have tried to respond to this three times and my bloody laptop keeps closing down the box!

Try them in a small neutral space again and stay with them. If you see any head mounting, stop that right away as buns' genitals can get bitten. The fighting is because they have accepted each other and have now reached the stage of sorting out who is going to be boss.

Hey guys,
So it's day four... the bunnies are living okay enough together but I still wouldn't say they have bonded. They are sharing space fine, will eat out the same bowl and can stand and sit close to each other, but they are still nipping at each other and having little mini fights and there hasn't been any mutual grooming or anything. Is all this going as normal or do I need to be doing something else to help them along?

It is absolutely normal. Just keep with it.

Thanks. I was just starting to worry that I'm doing something wrong. They are nice enough to each other than I can trust them and leave them alone for long periods of time, they never hurt each other, but they still obviously haven't sorted out the hierarchy between them!!