Rabbit "bonding" advice...?!

Hey guys - i wanted to see what some other "rabbit people" had to say about this...
Well, after the passing of our bunny Fi, we didn't want Navi to be left without the company of another rabbit, so my dad bought Biscuit.
They're in seperate huches that touch each other so they can see/smell/rub noses etc, but they can't intrude on each others' space. They seem quite happy at the gate, they rub noses together and sit and watch each other - but when my dad opened the door and allowed them to come together, they walk towards each other, there's a moment of peace, and then Biscuit runs away, with Navi taking chase. We're not sure whether it's Navi being aggresive, or Biscuit running away in fear and Navi thinking it's a game and chasing?? But 'cause they're racing around the cage (and we think Navi may have been biting Biscuit's tail at one point, they have to stay apart, and we don't want them to have to stay apart for the rest of their lives?!

Any help/advice would be appreciated!! :-)

Bonding -

the first rule of bonding is that both buns must be neutered. Even if they are the same sex. The best bonding pair is a neutered male and a neutered female. I am unclear from your post what sex your buns are. 2 females are the next best option. 2 males is an option to be avoided as they are most likely to properly fight. Neutering is a must as hormonal buns are generally territorial and display problematic behaviour. You should wait for around 6 weeks after spaying for hormones to settle after neutering to attempt bonding.

There are several different categories of bonding behaviour.

Bad behaviour - proper fighting. This is really agressive, quite noisey and is typically when the buns roll together head to tail. This is intended to cause damage and you should never put you hands in to separate buns fighting like this for fear of having them lacerated.

Neutral behaviour - includes ignoring each other, chasing each other, bum fur pulling.

Positive behaviour - mutual grooming, lying down together, sharing food.

The other key to bonding is in getting the space right. It needs to be small. A lot of people think this is counter intuitive but you need to confine the buns to a small space to start with. Once they have managed to spend a couple of days together without incident in this space you can begin to increase it. Most rabbit arguments are caused over territory and having too much of it too quickly.

Sorry - forgot to mention their sexes
Well both are female, and they're both still a tad too young to be spayed but once they're ready i guess that was our first step anyways!
And phew, from the sound of it, Navi was being neutral not aggressive which is a huge relief!
Thanks so much for the advice, now we know to start small and work our way bigger, but more importantly to wait until they're spayed! Thanks!! :-)

Ask as many questions as you want, someone will always be able to help.

Excellent advice from Cheryl. Welcome to the forum Hun x

Thanks Katie :-)

Hiya The place where you bond them has to be neutral as well so no where near their cages and in a small pen where neither has ever been. Their original homes will need to be thoroughly scrubbed to remove their scent before reintroducing them to their new home.

How old are your two girls?

Hi :-)
Yeah, we were gonna bring them inside into our small hallway (since theyre outdoor bunnies) but we were worried we wouldnt be able to seperate them again if they started fighting or something!
Um, Navi is around 11/12 weeks and Biscuit is 9/10 weeks - i think, very close to that anyways!

Still very young then, so bonding should be easier. Have you tried them in your hallway yet? Get some gardening gloves, a water spray, a thick towel, dustpan and brush, anything really but don't use bare hands to seperate a fight (I got a nasty bite once doing that ) Look for the body language, flattened ears and a very raised tail, look at the tail, that is a good indication of how the rabbit is feeling. I sometimes find making a loud clapping noise and a stern 'no' can help distract my buns if they look like they are going to start on each other.

I think if you are very nervous they do pick up on that, so get your dad to help you too. Let us know how you get on and feel free to ask any further questions. (if I may also add, you may find you get more response if you post in the rabbit chat section as you are in infirmary at the moment for sick bunnies:D )

As Vince the Bunny's mommy said, watch for the body language. There is a website that will teach you how to 'hear' and even 'speak' a little 'rabbit'. It is a good read and written humorously. I strongly suggest it for any Bunny Parent.(aka bunny slave)The Language of Lagomorphs. Start practicing your nose twitches. Really!

gentl wrote:As Vince the Bunny's mommy said, watch for the body language. There is a website that will teach you how to 'hear' and even 'speak' a little 'rabbit'. It is a good read and written humorously. I strongly suggest it for any Bunny Parent.(aka bunny slave)The Language of Lagomorphs. Start practicing your nose twitches. Really!

I have actually tried the nose twitching and it does work after a time , you can actually speak to bunnies in their language and get a response...honestly

Dovahkiina wrote:Hi :-)
Yeah, we were gonna bring them inside into our small hallway (since theyre outdoor bunnies) but we were worried we wouldnt be able to seperate them again if they started fighting or something!
Um, Navi is around 11/12 weeks and Biscuit is 9/10 weeks - i think, very close to that anyways!

We have used our hallway to bond bunnies but we have put them in a small pen in the hallway. Get a water spray for if they start fighting.

This is a great website for info on bonding http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/matchups.asp

Yup still our baby bunnies
And that's what i was planning to do when i got back from my holiday (theyre just with Dad at the till i get back) and he said he'd try and help when i got back, but he texted me today saying he'd got them to stay nicely together in the hutch, and that they were now snuggled up next to each other sleeping!! I have no idea what he did, but he did something!
So thanks for all your help everyone, but cross-fingers we're all good now
- Oh god, i didn't even notice that "Vince the Bunny's Mummy", i just clicked on the first one i saw xD
- and thanks gentl, even though we're hopefully alright, i still think it'd be pretty
cool to speak "rabbit"!!

Oh, Tuckerbunnies, only just saw your posts!!
Aww, i really wanna start learning the whole twitching nose thing now (shame i don't have much control over my nose though!!)
And i read in a few other places about the water sprays - at first i only thought they were for dogs and cats

If it was me I would wait until they are spayed to bond them. If you bond them now there may be a chance that they fall out and have a big fight once they hit sexual maturity. It can be done obviously but personally I wouldn't want to take the risk. If this does happen then they may not be able to rebonded as they will always remember fighting.

It's up to you and I can understand that you want them bonded before as they are still a way off from being old enough to be spayed.

Yeah, i understand where you're coming from, we were just hoping that if we bonded them young, they'd be okay, but i guess now we just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best - and if they do fight, they'll have to stay seperated

Speak to your vet and see how early they'd be willing to spay them. We have three girls from the same litter who had been together since birth, and were keeping a close eye on them. At about 16 weeks they turned into little monsters almost overnight and were whipped straight to the vets. Ours had plenty of room to avoid each other when they did decide to scuffle, too.

Wow and they were from the same litter?!
Thanks, i'll speak to the vet next time we're there!

Easter and Hermione are sisters and Hermione turned into a right little Diva, she was humping her sister and Boo (the male that lives with them) and fighting her sister a little. I got them both done one after the other and now harmony is restored. You will know when it is time as they start humping and you will notice the mood swings. They change overnight! Your friendly cuddly bunny will suddenly not want to know you! Females also spray urine, it's not just the bucks. Spaying stopped this straight away along with the need to hump, the mood swings subsided over time.

I think you did right bonding now, that is what I would have done, just get them spayed as soon as possible, don't leave them unspayed and you must do both of them

Maysie, I once sat for ages in front of Sasha twitching my nose to see her response and she looked at me as only a rabbit can, as if I was completely mad!

I tried the nose twitching but Fiver looked at me as if I was stupid. He will "dance" with me though Fiver will run around my feet when I walk in my room and if I spin on the spot he stops and watches me and then joins in, running round and round me, that is basically an enthusiastic greeting in bunny language lol. If I shake my head at him he also does a head shake back, I'm basically saying "I'm happy" and he is saying "So am I".

I'm not crazy, honestly!

The nose twitching takes time. You are after all learning a foreign language. Thumper understands when he wants to. Just like a child does. But that in no way assures he will respond appropriately!

When he sees my Hubby he runs circles around and through his legs. With me he will run circles around my wheelchair. Sometimes I'll spin the chair in a circle in answer and he gets so excited and happy!

For the times when grooming is needed for communication I pull out a section of my longish hair and stroke it. If a head flick is needed I'll take a large strand of hair and flick it and my head back. I have longish hair so flicking that back exaggerates the head flick.

Yeah, we're hoping to get them spayed one after the other as soon as we can - and im dreading the time just before - now ive heard about all the mood swings and humping...ness

Awww, thats so sweet
I'd love for my bunnies to do that (the dancing and the circles!) - but so far, the main time they come over willingly is when i have their bowls of food in my hand!!!