Best time of day to bond

[Sindri]

Hi I was curious and this may seem like a silly question but I was thinking about the times when bunnies are the most active and I was wondering what time of the day is best for bonding? Would it be better when they are most active or during their normal nap time? My rabbits have what I call their nap time in the afternoon when they like to sleep and relax. I was thinking of doing it when they were relaxing but then they could be more grumpy  because they are tired. This is my first bonding and I am trying to do everything the best I can. I have read stuff on here and online and even watched some videos but I haven’t heard of anything mentioning a good time of day to do bonding. Any info would be very helpful.

[Beka27]

You could try both and see what kind of results you have and how they react. You can also do more than one session per day. I usually did one hour sessions all at once, but you could split them up too. I bonded years ago and I don’t really recall when I had better results, but someone else who bonded more recently might have better input.

[MoveDiagonally]

I didn’t see much difference in bonding during their normal lazy times or their more active times. The biggest issue related to time of day I saw with them was they tended to get crabby with each other if they didn’t get their veggies/pellets “on time”. I avoided doing sessions during those times unless I was feeding them together. Even now with all 5 bonded they start bickering around feeding time. I usually did multiple sessions throughout the day as well.

[LBJ10]

If either one of them seems possessive of their food, I would avoid doing it around a meal time for the first sessions. Nothing like bunnies bickering over their food when you’re trying to start things off on the right foot.

[Sindri]

Thanks for all of your input. I did do my first bonding session 2 nights ago in our master bedroom bathtub. They both love pellets and I thought giving them some during that time would be a good idea, I was wrong. I have had my second rabbit since August and I have done a lot of prebonding things until Kilala could be spayed and heal but I still had a feeling Usagi he is my male rabbit would still try to fight with Kilala my second rabbit and he did. I am thinking adding the pellets might have made it worse. my husband and I tried letting them visit in the tub for a few minutes but Usagi kept attacking poor little Kilala and she was fightened. After he started pulling her fur out I took her out. she was scared for the rest of the night. I didn’t like that at all. We used a vacuum to scary him everytime he went to fight her but it didn’t work. I used a big strainer in between the fights but he would go back to try and fight with her. I think the next session I am going to put them in a box and take them for a ride maybe or put the box on the dryer and see what happens. Thanks again for the replies everyone.

[LittlePuffyTail]

He was obviously being food aggressive. I only offered food after my buns were quite comfortable with each other. Buns are so territorial and food just adds to their need to protect what’s theirs.

[Sindri]

Yesterday me and my husband put the rabbits in a cardboard box at the same time. Of course Usagi had to start attacking Kilala. I moved the box around while I carried it to the dryer so he would stop attacking. The dryer ran for about 10 seconds before Usagi got use to it and went in to attacking Kilala again. So I picked the box up and moved it a bit sat it back down. Kilala was trying to jump out of the box so we took them back to the tub area where we first started and put Kilala in first then Usagi. They sat for a bit and I petted both of them. Usagi started to groom himself and explore the tub. Its jetted so he was checking that out. Then he sat back down and I petted them some more. I stood back and watched them for a few minutes. kilala hadn’t moved the whole time. I was thinking I should end this now on a good note and just then she decided to start to move and check things out and that’s when Usagi decided to attack again before I could do anything kilala started making noises and jumped out of the tub which I was surprised because its pretty deep. I caught her and that ended the session. My poor girl. I wish I had ended their session before that because it ended on a bad note again. She is so gentle and has never tried to attack Usagi even threw cages. Now she is so scared I am worried about her. These are the times I really wished I had a rabbit rescue that wasn’t 4 hours away so I could have taken Usagi on bunny dates. Oh, LittlePuffyTail I agree with you on Usagi being food aggressive because he did check out the bathtub this time last time all he was interested in was his pellets and then attacking Kilala. I wont make that mistake again. All I can hope is that this gets better.

[Zombie-Sue]

I’d take a break, like a week before trying anything again.

It doesn’t really sound to me like you’re top rabbit in this house, I think Usagi is. It seems to me like you’re a little lost, kind of sitting back and lamenting about your poor girl. This week I think you should read up on difficult bonding. You’re doing things technically correct, in the same way I think that a lot of people would do them, but you really need a lot of confidence to control strong-willed creatures, and I don’t see a lot of confidence in the way you type/talk about them.

Your little girl is GOING TO LIVE. I know it’s really distressing to see her frightened and being hurt, but you’ve probably been scared in your life too and you didn’t die–and being down on yourself or your situation isn’t helping you feel better about it. So imho take some time off, comfort your girl, and give yourself a few pats on the back even though it isn’t going ideally. Then go forth with a lot of confidence, more confidence than just hope lol.

Here’s a good page that might help you : http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html

Don’t be scared, and don’t second guess yourself.

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