Bonding tips please!

I'm picking a girl (from 3 buns) on sunday, and she'll be coming home with me 😁

Going to give her a week to settle in before i start bonding, but I'm new to this so all advice is welcome

Fingers crossed hector doesn't decide he hates rabbits

Hahaha, love the closing sentence!

I was so worried that Willow wouldn't take well to company as she'd lived very similarly to your Hec for a while before we introduced Mo. They've never been 'best buds' or 'loved up', but they do co-exist happily together so we must have done something right

I think other than all the usual recommendations, the only thing I would say is try (and I know it's hard!) not to be too nervous. I am SURE they pick up on it.

Good luck, can't wait to meet your new girlie!

Oh this is just lovely news! Im so happy for you all.

I dont have any tips as have never bonded, but I wish you oodles of luck hun......we absolutely MUST have piccies!!!!

There will of course be loads of pictures! The hardest bit will be not getting too attached to the girl in case things don't work out!!

I'll try not to be nervous but I think i'll do terribly at it, Hector is my baby, I'll worry until they've been together at least a week

I have heard on the grapevine that Hector is to have his very own Honeybunny I am so pleased for you all. Am sending loads of pre-bonding vibes your way. I am sure Jill will be able to give you some useful tips.

Oooh, did Jill tell you?

She did, I let her know that you might get in touch about a ladybun. I am so glad this has worked out

Aw thank you sixer, she's been really great, even calmed me down when i had a wobble

Wobble? Not needed surely. All bonding vibes for you and hector and???. Great news travel fast. 

Ooh exciting

I'm not much help with bonding but one thing I see repeatedly is to make sure you neutralise their area.

I would also move things around in Hector's pen, and replace everything that is his. Everything down to the litter tray, so he can't get possessive over things that were solely his.

Good luck with it! Can't wait to meet her

I'm bonding them at my boyfriends house, its all neutral ground, there's lots of space so i can have multiple pens, and no dogs! Plus my boyfriend is home all day so he'll be there to keep an eye on her while she settles (and get her used to humans if need be) and he'll be able to keep a close eye on them for the week after I've bonded them. I will of course to a mass cleaning of hecs stuff before they come back here though! He isn't too possesive over his stuff so hopefully that translates to another bun

That sounds like an excellent plan to use your boyfriend's house.

When I have bonded I don't put litter trays in the bonding pen at the start to prevent one of the bun's becoming possessive. I have used newspaper over puppy training pads with just a mound of hay in, scattered pellets, veg etc. I haven't added trays until there are positive signs.

You must be very excited about tomorrow. Jill is great - I have a huge amount of respect for her.

Everything crossed love for an easy bonding, please keep us informed.

Hugs
JO xx

Those are great tips, thank you sixer! The pen is all set up, I'm so excited 😁

Good Luck with bonding, hope all goes well x Its very exciting!

Not tips as such... but this is my experience......

I have recently bonded my boy Seb with Dotty and it was very successful. I let them spend almost a week, housed next to each other before attempting a neutral pen. They got used to the sight and smell of each other, looked interested in each other but also ignored each other too. During this time, i also swapped their litter trays over daily.

After the week, I created a small pen in a shed where neither bun had been. I filled it with hay and treats. I was prepared with thick gloves/thick clothing to intervene if things didn't go so well! Luckily, both buns seemed keen to actually meet each other properly. Within around two hours Dotty was grooming Seb and they were very happy. After a few more hours in the neutral pen, they spent time together in Seb's run and Seb was happy with this. We didn't let them share the hutch just yet but waited until we observed more happy, loved-up behaviour the following day. They have been very happy together ever since. Hope this helps x