Don't feel bad, Fluffybun. It can still work out. Next time, when you start fresh, do without the adjacent housing as a safety precaution. I have my unbonded one, Neigey, upstairs, and my trio in the basement.

Today, I didn't really do a bonding session (obviously), but I let the bunnies see eachother. It wasn't quite what I expected.

I brought both bunnies in their carriers for a little visit to the living room. I let Ms. Rabbit hop around outside of her carrier while Mr. Bunny stayed inside of his carrier. Ms. Rabbit happily hopped around and sniffed the couch, which smelled a little like Mr. Bunny. After a minute, she noticed that Mr. Bunny was there too. She hopped over to his carrier and tried to sniff his nose. Mr. Bunny backed away from her. She got a little upset that he didn't want to sniff her back, and she hopped back into her carrier.

After that, I let Mr. Bunny out of his carrier while Ms. Rabbit stayed inside of her carrier. He immediately searched for Ms. Rabbit. He very carefully crept over to her carrier. When she started biting at the bars and trying to sniff him, he jumped back. He got a little scared, and the bunnies had a staring contest for about 5 minutes. Ms. Rabbit got tired of it, and she comfortably did a half-flop in her carrier. That scared Mr. Bunny again, and he hopped in my lap (after giving me the "Human...please help me, I'm scared" look he always gives me when the vet is holding him) and hopped into my lap. He refused to get out of my lap after that. He stared at Ms. Rabbit with his eyes wide for a few more minutes before I put him back in his carrier and took the bunnies back to their rooms.

After the bunnies got back to their rooms, Mr. Bunny had a change of heart. He realized that maybe, just maybe, he wanted to see Ms. Rabbit. He decided to have a war with my foot while I tried to get in her room.

It seems that even though Ms. Rabbit is the one who got hurt in their fight, Mr. Bunny seems to be more afraid of her than she is of him. If that's really the case, I'm actually grateful that it turned out that way; I know for a fact that Mr. Bunny is a very loving, forgiving rabbit. He'd probably lose his old baggage if they had 2 or 3 good sessions.

Over the last few weeks, I've frequently been doing sessions where the bunnies can sniff eachother through cage bars. The bunnies seem to be very relaxed when there's bars between them.

A few days ago, I tried something a little different. I draped Ms. Rabbit's butt around Mr. Bunny while firmly holding both bunnies around their chests. I've now done three sessions like that. Mr. Bunny seems to be very relaxed (he even toothpurrs) when he's the one on the ground, but he gets slightly scared when he's the one being held. Ms. Rabbit is very nervous both ways, but she relaxes more when she's the one being held.

I'm going to do a "real" bonding session in the big bucket in about 10 minutes. Wish me luck!

Good luck!

Remember pictures!

Sorry about not updating!

Attempt #2 bonding session #1 went fairly well. Miraculously, there was no fighting! I kept it very short - it was no longer than 5 minutes. I put both bunnies in the blue bucket. Both bunnies were very scared, and all they could do was stare at eachother. After a few minutes, both of them started to relax. I decided to seperate them then.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #2 went very well. It was probably about 10-15 minutes long. They were both in the blue bucket again.

For a first few minutes, they had a staring contest like the day before:

After a  few minutes, I decided to spice things up by shaking the bucket. Mr. Bunny laid his head on Ms. Rabbit's back. Mr. Bunny seemed to enjoy it a lot; he closed his eyes and even toothpurred a little. Ms. Rabbit was a little scared at first, but eventually, she relaxed a bit too:

After a minute or two of that, Mr. Bunny got off Ms. Rabbit. The bunnies had another staring contest, but this time, Mr. Bunny was very relaxed:

Well, that was quite short-lived. Mr. Bunny started going crazy and trying to climb out of the bucket. He also tried to sniff Ms. Rabbit's belly (which she hates, especially after getting a bad bite there in their fight), which made her terribly scared. I had to hold him still and keep both bunnies calm:

After another couple of minutes, the bunnies relaxed again. They slowly moved their noses closer and closer until they got to this position:

Ms. Rabbit was still keeping an eye on Mr. Bunny, but both bunnies were relatively relaxed at this point. I decided to end the session then, on a good note.

 

I'm incredibly happy that there hasn't been any fighting! One of my fears after their fight was that they'd still have that old baggage, and would continue to be aggresive. It seems that they're just a little wary of eachother, which I'm sure they'll work through eventually (Mr. Bunny already partially has). Hopefully I'm not jynxing myself by saying all that!

 

That's great that they snuggled like that in the bucket session. Keep in mind however, that fighting is most likely to happen in larger space so when you get to that watch closely again.

I don't plan to stop with the bucket this time for at least 5 or 6 more sessions. After that, I'm thinking that I might convince my parents to let me use the bathtub for a session or two before I try with the hallway again. I'm definitely going to take it very slowly this time around.

Attempt #2 session #3 went fantastic!  The session was about 15 minutes long, and they were in the blue bucket, as usual.

When I first put them together, they had their usual staring contest:

I shook the bucket a little. That made the bunnies comfortably snuggle with eachother:

They stayed like that for a few minutes. After that, Mr. Bunny got a little scared, so he hopped away from Ms. Rabbit:

I shook the bucket again. That made the bunnies snuggle with their noses together:

They both toothpurred and stayed like that for a few minutes. I decided to try "the raisin trick". I smeared gooey raisins all over Ms. Rabbit's head and encouraged Mr. Bunny to groom it off. He didn't want to do it at first, but after a few seconds, he gave in and licked the raisin off Ms. Rabbit's head and ears:

Obviously, Ms. Rabbit loved that! She put her head down and toothpurred very loudly. After Mr. Bunny licked off all of the raisin, he realized that maybe he actually liked grooming Ms. Rabbit. He gave her face, nose and ears a very thorough cleaning before laying his head next to hers. After a few minutes, I smeared some more raisin on her face, which he licked off eagerly. Both bunnies were very happy, so I decided to end the session.

Both rabbits were very happy after the session. Ms. Rabbit even did a few binkies! Both bunnies also seemed to be trying to find eachother again after the session. They seemed a little disappointed once it was time to seperate them.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #4 (which I did yesterday evening)...

Well, I think these pictures describe it pretty well:

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #5 (done in the afternoon of 11/6) went great! There isn't really all that much to say about it. It was pretty much 15 minutes of snuggling and licking. I took a really cute video of Mr. Bunny licking Ms. Rabbit, which I'll edit in here later.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #6 (done earlier today) went amazingly well! It was a very long session with about 15 minutes spent in the bucket and then about 25-30 minutes on a semi-neutral (to Mr. Bunny, at least) sofa. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this session, since my phone was out of battery power.

As usual, after I put the bunnies in the bucket and shook it a little, they snuggled comfortably. I smeared some raisin on Ms. Rabbit's head, and she got licks from Mr. Bunny.

I was getting a little bored (as were the bunnies), so I decided to try something new. I put both bunnies on a semi-neutral sofa. At first, I kept them seperate while snuggling with them. Mr. Bunny layed down and toothpurred. Ms. Rabbit was initially very scared, but she relaxed after seeing that Mr. Bunny wasn't a threat.

After a few minutes, I smeared raisin all over Ms. Rabbit's head. I kept doing that until Mr. Bunny had licked her for about 1 minute total. After that, Ms. Rabbit did something that really surprised me - she took a  long look at Mr. Bunny, and then hopped over and licked him!

She licked him for about 30 seconds straight. I hadn't even smeared all that much raisin on his head! After she licked him, he seemed entirely comfortable around her - he didn't even care when she sniffed his butt! After that, I decided to end the session on a good note.

 

Do you think that it would be alright to start bonding them in a larger space yet?

what a turn-around: from fighting to grooming! I am happy for you!

That is so great! Mutual grooming - excellent! Lucky you. I hope your sessions continue like this!

Attempt  #2 bonding session #7 (done this afternoon) went great! It was a very long session - about 2.5 hours. I had them in a blocked off part of the hallway that was about the same size as the sofa.

When I first put them together, they almost immediately went up to sniff eachother. I smeared some raisin on Ms. Rabbit's head, and Mr. Bunny groomed her for a few seconds:

The bunnies snuggled for a few minutes. After licking her a few more times, Mr. Bunny put his head down for licks. After not getting any, Mr. Bunny gently nipped Ms. Rabbit on the belly:

Obvously, this spooked her pretty badly. Both bunnies started grunting. I pulled them apart and calmed them down before there was any more nipping.

After another couple of minutes, the bunnies decided to sniff eachother again. Both bunnies wanted to be licked, so they put their noses together. Eventually, Ms. Rabbit gave in and licked Mr. Bunny for a few seconds:

The bunnies hopped around and explored for a few minutes. Ms. Rabbit still seemed slightly tense, but Mr. Bunny acted like everything was normal. I poured some pellets on the floor, which the rabbits shared:

Both bunnies hopped around and explored for a while. Ms. Rabbit scent marked the whole area with poo. I brought in a litterbox, and both bunnies hopped in it to pee:

After a little while, Ms. Rabbit hopped into the cardboard box. Mr. Bunny did a dead bunny flop near the door:

They stayed like that for a long time. Occasionally, a rabbit would hop over to the other bunny to sniff them.

Eventually, I decided to take away the box, since Ms. Rabbit was getting very defensive of it. The bunnies licked eachother for a while before snuggling again:

They hopped around for a while. Mr. Bunny peed in the litterbox. Eventually, the bunnies went up to eachother again and took turns licking:

I decided to seperate the bunnies then, on a good note.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #8 went fantastic! The session was about 1.5 hours long. I had the bunnies in a neutral bathroom. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of this session, since I forgot my phone until I already had the bunnies together.

I brought two salads down for the bunnies to share. Ms. Rabbit was a little scared at first, but Mr. Bunny dug right in. After a few minutes, Ms. Rabbit joined in and nibbled on parsley.

Both bunnies explored the room for a few minutes. After a while, they approached eachother. They took turns licking eachother (sometimes for a few minutes at a time!). After that, they snuggled for a few minutes.

They hopped around a little more before finishing the rest of the salad. They then hopped over to see eachother again. They continued taking turns licking eachother. They pretty much continued doing that for about 45 minutes. I had trouble seperating them - they wanted nothing more than to stay together!

I am incredibly happy for these little bunnies! They obviously love and trust eachother quite a bit. I'm so glad that they worked out their issues. At the rate they're going, I wouldn't be surprised if they're ready for bond cementing by the start of next week.

That would be really great if they were cemented by next week. I think you have a very quick and easy bond as well. Sometimes we are just really lucky Good for you - and Ms. Rabbit and Mr. Bunny. Shouldn't they have the same last name then hehe - Mr and Mrs. Bunny-Rabbit?

Woohoo! That's great news FluffyBunny :~)

I've been putting off updating for no particular reason for the last 2 days, even though the sessions are going great. So, here's probably the largest post I'll ever post on this site!

Attempt #2 bonding session #9 (done in the afternoon of 11/9) went great! It was about 20 minutes long. The bunnies were in the neutral hallway.

When I first put them together, they just stared at eachother for a while:

But then they decided to explore:

As usual, Ms. Rabbit was a little more serious than Mr. Bunny. She followed him around and demanded head pets while he continued exploring:

The bunnies shared some pellets on the floor. Eventually, Mr. Bunny gave in and licked Ms. Rabbit for a while. He then went on to sit on her     ():

The bunnies exchanged licks for the last few minutes of the session. Unfortunately, I had to go somewhere, so I had to seperate them early.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #10 (done in the evening of 11/9) went great! I had the bunnies in the neutral bathroom. It was about 45 minutes long.

When I first put the bunnies together, they immediately both put their heads down for licking. With a little encouragement (I've taught him a hand signal trick for this...lol), Mr. Bunny started licking Ms. Rabbit like crazy:

At first, when I put down the veggies, Ms. Rabbit didn't feel like eating:

...so she started exploring. She hopped behind the toilet for a while. Mr. Bunny eventually got the courage to follow her:

The bunnies chewed on the broom together for a while:

While Ms. Rabbit ate the rest of the salad, Mr. Bunny slowly creeped up on her:

After sharing the rest of the veggies together, the bunnies had another lickfest. They continued licking and snuggling until the end of the session.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #11 (done yesterday afternoon) went great! It was about 45-60 minutes long. Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures of this session. I had the bunnies in the neutral hallway, but this time, they had most of the hallway to hop around in.

Well, they did great in the larger space! They were a little scared when I first put them together, but within a few minutes, they were licking and snuggling. They shared some pellets together and then flopped next to eachother. I seperated them on a good note, after the bunnies licked eachother for a while.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #12 (done yesterday evening) also went great! (although that seems to be how they usually go now   It was about 1 hour long. I had them in the neutral bathroom, as usual.

When I first put the bunnies together, they immediately dug into the veggies:

It was really silly, because they kept stealing veggies out of eachother's mouths. Fights over who gets the lettuce are much better than tooth-and-nail fighting!

After they both finished eating, Mr. Bunny gave Ms. Rabbit's butt and back a very thorough cleaning:

After a few minutes of that, the bunnies took a break for cecals and grooming:

....and then snuggled for a while:

Unfortunately, after a few minutes, I did just what I was trying to avoid and attracted Mr. Bunny's attention:

I then fed the bunnies a few raisins. After the raisins, they snuggled right next to me:

Unfortunately, Mr. Bunny got a claw stuck in the rug while running over to get raisins. (Don't worry, I checked him over, and he's fine - just bent a claw.) He started holding it up and licking it. Ms. Rabbit got scared and gave him a small nip in just the wrong place - the paw that he had just hurt!

Mr. Bunny jumped away after giving her a small nip on the side in return. Fortunately, the bunnies didn't have the fight I was expecting. Instead, they just hopped around and looked scared for a minute:

Fortunately, they were back together within about 2 minutes:

Ms. Rabbit was still a little too scared to lick Mr. Bunny, but that was OK with him. He licked her for about 5 or 6 minutes straight:

I decided to end the session then, on a good note.

 

I'm still planning to start doing cementing early next week. Do you think that I should do a session in non-neutral territory (aka one or both bunny rooms) before cementing? Neither rabbit is too territorial about the non-neutral territory, since I've been swiching them in their rooms daily for about a week now.

Ah @#!&! I typed out this whole post, and then accidentally deleted it.

Bonding session #13 (unlucky 13?) didn't go too well. I had the bunnies in the neutral hallway. It was about 2 hours long.

The bunnies were a little scared at the beginning, but I thought they'd get over it. Mr. Bunny did, but Ms. Rabbit didn't.

The bunnies licked eachother for a few minutes. After that, Ms. Rabbit ran into her box and started thumping like crazy. This scared Mr. Bunny pretty badly, and he started dashing around the room. I calmed them down, and then decided to snuggle with them for a minute. That was a bad, bad idea. Ms. Rabbit started feeling trapped between me and Mr. Bunny, so she started attacking him wildly. Mr. Bunny got scared, and he started biting her back. I broke up the fight immediately, but they started trying to fight again as soon as I took my hands off them.

I fed the bunnies a few raisins and calmed them down a little. It seemed to work; Mr. Bunny laid down by the cardboard box, and Ms. Rabbit took out her frustrations on a seagrass ball. I decided that the bunnies would be fine for 30 seconds while I grabbed a litterbox from the bunny room. That was also a bad, bad idea. The opportunistic bunnies had a quick fight while I was gone. I came back to see two very scared rabbits. I didn't think anything was up until I saw the fur tufts scattered around.

I checked both bunnies for injuries. If they have any, they're very small, since I didn't find any blood or skin chunks.

Now here's the weird part. I put Ms. Rabbit down next to Mr. Bunny after checking her for injuries. After nipping him, Ms. Rabbit put her head down for licks next to Mr. Bunny..and he licked her! He licked her for a few seconds before she hopped away. At this point, I was wondering what, exactly, was going through these rabbits' heads. Ms. Rabbit also licked Mr. Bunny after a few minutes.

The bunnies spent most of the rest of the session laying down on opposite sides of the hallway. At the end of the session, the bunnies licked and snuggled for a few minutes. I decided to end the session on an...uh, good note?

 

Apparently, I never considered something: Both bunnies are extremely aggresive when they're scared!  Is there anything that I can do to help prevent this from happening? I'm afraid to do cementing now, since I don't want them together unsupervised if they're going to fight every time something scares them.

(oh, and writing this post was turned from distressing to hilarious after I realized that I was listening to the song "Bad Romance". )

I wonder why they were scared at the beginning of the last session and that Ms Rabbit remained scared?
Was there anything you did different in bringing them to the hallway? Anything there that may have spooked them?
Was Ms Rabbit out of sorts when you went to get her for the session? Was sleeping or in an alert mode?

Many so-called aggressive behaviors are actually out of fear.

This of course was not an ideal meeting between your two, but it actually has many postives undertones: the fact that they only took fur off each other, that they groomed each other, and that they even sought each other out again to snuggle.

Anything can spook a rabbit and it can cause tiffs in bonded pairs especially in the beginning. It is not a big deal just don't leave them unsupervised. When you get to cementing, choose a location where they are very comfortable. Don't use the hallway again.

I've actually figured out that it might have been because they were in the same space where they had a few fights. I think they have some bad memories associated with it. They don't fight when they're in any other neutral/semi-neutral space.

I didn't do any bonding sessions in the evening of 11/11 or on 11/12.

During the day and a half that I wasn't doing bonding sessions, Ms. Rabbit started behaving like a rabbit who just lost their bonded friend (depression, lethargy, not as interested in food, etc.). She was constantly searching for him, and it was obvious that she missed him very much. I decided to put them together again yesterday afternoon.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #14 (done in the afternoon of 11/13) went great! It was about 1.5 hours long, and I had the bunnies in the neutral bathroom. There's not much to say about it, really. The bunnies shared some pellets, and then played with eachother and some toys. There was a lot of grooming and a good amount of snuggling. I have some cute pictures I took from this session, which I'll post once my phone is charged.

 

As soon as Ms. Rabbit was able to see Mr. Bunny again, she immediately went back to normal. That poor little bunny...I think she's very sensitive about that kind of thing, since she lost her old bonded friend in a fire right before we adopted her.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #15 (done in the evening of 11/13) also went great! It was about 45 minutes long, and I had the bunnies in the neutral bathroom. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of this session.

The bunnies spent the first 20 minutes of the session eating veggies together. The rest of the session was spent with the bunnies licking and snuggling with eachother.

 

Attempt #2 bonding session #16/Cementing day #1...where do I begin? It started with me planning a 3-4 hour session, and turned into the first day of cementing.

The bunnies were in a different part of the hallway - the part I've been planning to use for cementing. They've never been in that part of the hallway before. They weren't scared at all - they spent the first 30 minutes exploring, occasionally taking a break to snuggle with eachother.

About an hour in, I decided that if the bunnies didn't have any fights/biting after 4 hours, I'd start today with cementing.

Well, at about 2 hours in, I moved in some toys and a litterbox. At this point, the bunnies were still doing great - no fights/biting. They were taking turns licking eachother.

They eventually made it all the way to 4 hours. I stayed in the other room until they had been together for 5.5 hours. Still no fighting.

I decided that I'd just turn that into cementing. I've checked on them a few times in the 5 hours since then, and they're doing great! There's been no fights (as far as I can tell), and I even caught the bunnies flopping next to eachother at one point.

They're still doing great. I'm about to go feed them, so I'll post more about how they're doing in a while.

 

I have a few questions...

First, how long should I keep them together for cementing? I've heard that 1-2 weeks will do it - is that enough/too much time?

Second, should I clean up the bunny rooms before moving them in there? If so, will a simple sweeping/vacuuming do or should I mop and spray the carpet with vinegar?

Start with a few days at first, obviously if they are doing well than they can stay where they are. As long as they are doing well than they can stay together. I, personally, would clean the room where they will be as thoroughly as possible. Cleaning the carpet, washing the walls, etc. It should be as 'new' and neutral as it can be to them. Keep an eye on them when you first move them in as not ALL the scents can be gone.

The rabbits are so naughty now! Don't believe anyone who tells you that "two rabbits are half the trouble of one". That's a lie.

Cementing day #2 went well. There were no fights, and there was plenty of licking and snuggling. Unfortunately, Ms. Rabbit had gas for most of the afternoon, since the bunnies broke into the raisins overnight. They shared their veggies once Ms. Rabbit was feeling better, and then snuggled for a little while before I turned off the light.


Cementing day #3 (today) went very well - so far. There still haven't been any fights...but the rabbits are still getting into lots of trouble! The bunnies shared their pellets today and snuggled for most of the afternoon. It's so great to see them snuggling and licking. Unlike yesterday, they didn't want any "alone time" in the boxes.

They've now broken into the rest of the hallway all 3 days that they've been together. Teamwork! (I've learned not to leave any cords uncovered, and especially not to leave the raisins outside of the foodbox! Thank God that I always remember to close the hallway door!)

Cementing day #4 and #5 went great! There isn't really much to say about them. Every day, the bunnies would spend all afternoon snuggling and licking. There were no fights.


On Cementing day #6, I decided to move the bunnies into their new room. I sprayed the whole room with vinegar and then moved them in. They weren't very pleased with the vinegar smell, but they were snuggling again within an hour.

Since they're now in their permanent non-neutral space together, I officially pronounce them husbunn and wife.



The End

What a beautiful photo!!!!! I am so happy for you! Is Ms Rabbit all mended?

That photo is very cute! Congrats! It is so exciting!

I just love to see white buns next to the agoutis. one of the best combos visually

Congratulations!!! I'd been laughing at your title updates with the cementing but hadn't realise it moved on to "Bonded" so fast.

The rabbits are so naughty now! Don't believe anyone who tells you that "two rabbits are half the trouble of one". That's a lie.

 

 I saw this aswell with mine. I believe others have reported it too. Newly bonded and notorious! It should settle down.....

Posted By Petzy on 11/20/2010 04:25 PM
What a beautiful photo!!!!! I am so happy for you! Is Ms Rabbit all mended?

 

Yes, Ms. Rabbit has healed up very well. She still has a small lump on her ear, but that's slowly going away. I can no longer find the scars on her back and belly.

I agree about the agoutis and REWs. They look great in photos.

 

Congrats!!!!

So happy for your sweeties. That is such a great photo.