I think it's safe to say that they are now bonded! They spend all their time together and over the weekend and the first part of this week, I worked up to housing them together 24/7. Today I left them home alone for 4 hours, and I came back to this:



Yayyy!!! I would say that they were bonded by day 12. Since then we've just been working on solidifying their bond. Today is day 17. As long as nothing goes sour now, then I'm done!!!

I was to make a list of some bonding basics that I picked up along the way. I think some of these tips REALLY made the bonding process easy

Tips for bonding:

• If you have the opportunity, take your current bunny "dating" at your local shelter or HRS.  That way they can pick their new friend.
  • Good signs on a first date are: ignoring each other, sniffing, no fighting, grooming
  • Bad signs: fighting, excessive mounting, thumping, growling, teeth grinding
  • Once your bunnies have picked each other, you still need to proceed with the bonding with caution, even if they had a very good first meeting.
• Start bonding with short sessions (20-30 minutes) two, or even three times a day.
  • Repetition, consistency, and high frequency of bonding sessions are very important and are more effective than one long session daily
• Start the initial bonding sessions in a completely neutral territory, like the bath tub
• Make sure to wear heavy gloves in case a fight breaks out and you need to separate the bunnies
• Fights tend to start when the bunnies are positioned butt to face, so until they become more comfortable with each other, always prevent the bunnies from approaching each other from behind.
• Also, the litter box is prime ground for a fight, so if you are going to provide a litter box during the bonding sessions (you probably don't even need to bother during the first few short bonding sessions) make sure that only one bunny is in the litter box at a time.
• Fights can break out very quickly, so even when things seem to be going well, stay very alert until their bonding sessions progress to more calm waters.
• If you seem to be stuck in a rut:
  • and things are going well but not progressing (ie, one bunny grooms but the other doesn't) move to a larger area like a small pen.
  • and things are going badly (ie: fighting, excessive mounting) try stress bonding such as putting them in a laundry basket on top of the running washer, in a carrier in the car - with someone to drive so you can mediate, in a box or NIC cub that you can shake around
• Once you find an area that the bunnies do well together in (ie, the bathtub) and you progress to a larger area, you can always return to the area that you had success in if things go sour.
• Try to keep yourself calm during the bonding sessions - the bunnies pick up on your vibes and your positive feelings will have a positive impact on their bonding session (and likewise with negative/stressed/frustrated vibes).
• Always always always end the session on a good note (such as ignoring each other, snuggling, or grooming, based on their stage in the bonding process)
  • even if it means holding both bunnies firmly on their shoulders so they can't attack each other and then shove them together so they're sitting side by side and touching. Pet them a little so they get some positive reinforcement and hold them there for as long as they'll let you. Forced into that snuggling position or not, the way I see it, touching and not fighting is a "good note"
• As their bond progresses, you can work up to sessions that are several hours long.
• When you trust them together, you can go about your business, checking in on them every so often.
• Once you've expanded their access to 100% of their permanent space, then you can work on putting them together for the night, and then putting them together 24/7.
• For the first 48 hours of their bond, bunnies should be monitored at all times.

Also, for those who are wondering about their first rabbit's personality changing: Leroy's personality and my bond with him have not changed one bit. If anything he's more outgoing and CLOSER to me now. He still grooms me like before (but not it's not that annoying incessant licking like he used to do), and he follows me around the apartment like a puppy even more than he did before. Jeannie sees Leroy spending time with me, so she follows suit and approaches me too for pets, so that has helped her bond with me. Both are very happy, and now that I've gotten Jeannie and they are bonded I am so glad I did it. It's so much fun to have two bunnies to watch and as well as Leroy has bonded with me, nothing can replace a rabbit-rabbit bond.

you forgot 1:
NEVER attempt to bond unaltered bunnies! its awful

Posted By MirBear on 03/03/2010 02:18 PM
you forgot 1:
NEVER attempt to bond unaltered bunnies! its awful

 

ditto that!

I will add another: don't assume your rabbits will bond in 12 days... I think Battie on here has been at it for 8 months!

Mir bear... oh yeah, great point! I just assumed that one cus I got both of them from the shelter so they were fixed already.

Petzy, yes, I got lucky.... I am SO thankful that they had an easy bond

Congratulations Barbie! They make a sweet pair - enjoy!

Another thing that I always found worked for me is using my "stern voice" if they started to seem agitated with each other. A firm "No!" can distract them from lunging if done at the exact right moment.

Oh yes, I used that all the time

And the mashed banana on the head works to help jumpstart the grooming.

Oh and, I usually let the bunnies out for a few hours each before starting the bonding sessions, especially when we were still bonding in the bath tub and there was no room for them to stretch their legs and binky.

Thanks Jersey! I think they look adorable together too! They're really starting to cement their bond. It's been a week since I put them together for their first sleep over. Now they're rarely out of sight of each other.... when one wanders off the other follows. And they spend lots of time snuggling together under the dining room table - their favorite spot.

I did all 36 nails last night in half an hour and didn't quick anyone! I think the entire process went much more smoothly because the bunny that was getting their nails clipped had their buddy hanging around. Jeannie was QUITE the little helper, climbing all over my lap when I was holding Leroy... even tried to steal the clippers a couple times! I also tried holding them a little differently so they had less room to struggle/squirm away. I held them like a baby on their backs (it's the only way to do it when I don't have a helper). Head tucked in my left elbow and clippers in my right hand. It worked much better then when i tried to lay them on their backs on my lap, head towards my knees.