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Forum BONDING Bonding advice needed

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    • Peri and Poe
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        Since i’ve started bonding my rabbits Poe and Peri yesterday, i’ve noticed several issues which have popped up again in the second bonding session.-i’m not really sure what i’m supposed to do about them.

        We start the bonding session in a neutral area in a small x pen.

        What tends to happen is when we put them in togethor Poe immediately starts humping Peri. To begin with Peri tolerates it but not for long before she gets fed up and then a fight escalates. 

        Sometimes Poe will lay his head down for his head to be groomed but Peri refuses to do it. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t know what to do considering she licks us all the time (usually after she’s been groomed).

        Anyway it’s usually what happens afterwards that leaves me feeling very confused. Even though Poe starts of strong with the humping. After Peri makes it clear she won’t tolerate the humping by nipping him back, he retreats on one side of the pen. He will sit on his side very tense and not moving, whilst Peri calms down, she then seems to be fine, will even groom and relax on her side. But if she comes anywhere near him Poe will stomp and then run away, which might lead to chasing by Peri.

        So basically the bonding continues with each of them in their respective side not really interacting and when one of them (usually Peri) moves anywhere near the other one, there will be stomping and chasing. 

        Today i tried stress bonding and basically what happened was during the whole time Poe was humping a frightened Peri, who just stood still the entire time. Then i put them in a smaller x pen hoping they would interact but the same thing happened again. They moved to opposite sides, Poe became increasingly nervous and won’t allow Peri near him.

        I don’t know where i should go from there. If any one has any suggestions it would be very helpful. I’m a complete novice at this bonding thing

        ps they have both been neutered/spayed and are healthy. 


      • Silwerkitty
        Participant
        30 posts Send Private Message

          Hi there, I don’t know if I’m too late in giving you this advice, but here goes.

          Humping: Don’t let the humping continue too long, after about five to ten seconds, gently remove the top bunny and place next to bottom bunny. If humping gets excessive, stop it before it begins for the next 20 minutes or so. You don’t want your submissive bun to get fed up. Five seconds is enough time for your bun to exert his dominance.

          Regarding the grooming: Sometimes a bunny will only start grooming his bondmate back months after bonding’s done. When he’s feeling really comfortable with his bondmate. This doesn’t mean that they won’t bond.

          You could try gently petting them together, I know some people don’t want any human interaction during bonding, but in my own experience, it can help to relax a stressed out bunny and also get each other’s scents on them as you pet them both with both your hands.

          Do not allow chasing. Tell the chasing bunny calmly that that’s not acceptable and then pet them together, side by side and head to bum if you can.

          If you’re worried that they’re not interacting, you could try to limit their space even more, or try to give them their food in the xpen, or put a litterbox with hay in there with them. These are things they can focus on together which will allow them to interact in a non-threatening way. If it seems like any of these things is setting your bonding back, remove it and try something else. Don’t be afraid to move them to a different setting if you feel like bonding has struck a rut. Or make your bonding sessions longer by an hour or two. Try different things and see what helps, eliminate what doesn’t.

          All in all it’s sounding pretty positive. They just need to get used to the idea of each other and get comfy being with the other one.


        • Peri and Poe
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            Hi Silwerkitty.

            Thanks for answering back, i just noticed the post now.

            I have been bonding them for a couple of weeks now, on and off, basically whenever i have time and things have improved a little.

            I’ve tried most of the techniques you’ve mentioned. I’ve been bonding them in a small storage box which seems to have helped (Poe doesn’t keep running away from Peri and Peri stops chasing him). I’ve also been doing forced snuggles which for the first couple of sessions really seemed to help, they both seemed to enjoy it however they have recently put up a protest whenever i try it, Poe gets very fidgety after a while and i can Peri is starting to resent being pinned down because the first thing she does when i let her go is nip Poe. I’ve also tried to put a bit a bit of strawberry jam on their forehead to encourage grooming, although Peri refuses to groom Poe, Poe will happily lick her and actually we’ve stopped using strawberry jam and he will often now continue grooming her even without the jam.

            I have a couple of questions now cause there are still things i find confusing:

            I thought Poe was the dominant rabbit because in the first bonding session he was very bossy towards her and would continue humping her but now he has completely stopped humping her (we have had zero humping since the 2nd bonding session). However he’s the one that will continually groom her. It’s become clear to me that he really likes Peri, since often during the bonding sessions he will try to cuddle with her and groom her for ages (which she seems to accept). But at the same time there would be times when he would ask to be groomed, which lead to Peri lunging at him and giving him a nip. Is he the dominant one or Peri?

            Also although i know it’s quite early, do you think the bonding is going to work out as at the moment it all seems one sided. Poe is clearly in love with Peri but Peri doesn’t seem to like him. She continually lunges, chases and nips him (sometimes for no apparent reason) and although she sometimes accepts grooming from Poe, she will never initiate any form of affection. 


          • Peri and Poe
            Participant
            52 posts Send Private Message

              Hi everyone
              I just thought that i would update incase this helps anyone but also i think it helps me to write down any progress made.

              So we realised the short bonding sessions were not working-things were becoming stale and Peri continued to be tense and nippy throughout. We decided to change tact completely and stopped bonding for a while. We decided to do fast-track bonding as soon as the christmas holidays began.

              By then it had been about a month since we stopped bonding but the bunnies were in the same room and could see each other still. This seemed to have a positice effect on Peri, she started to get used to Poe’s scent and she stopped all the previous territorial behaviour she used to do.

              We set up an x-pen and completely covered up the side, making it appear like a giant box, as we realised that they felt more comfortable in the storage box.
              There was still a lot of lunging and nipping from Peri but it was nothing like how she used to be, it appeared that she had calmed down during the break. Meanwhile Poe had stopped running frantically around the x pen although he was still nervous and jumpy around Peri.

              We’re on the 5th day of bonding and things have gotten much better. Although Peri still nips Poe occasionally, they are interacting in a good way. I will often find them sleeping close by each other and they share the same hay bowl and litter box. Just today, I caught Poe grooming Peri excessively and Peri even gave him a short lick as well! All in all, i feel like things are progressing very nicely.


            • LittlePuffyTail
              Moderator
              18092 posts Send Private Message

                I’m glad to hear things are going better now


              • swedishbun
                Participant
                29 posts Send Private Message

                  I tell my bunnies “No BITES!” when one decides to start biting.

                  As for licking, it took B three months before he gave L their first kiss. They still only kiss and clean in somewhat stressful situations.

                  Patience, patience, patience…it’s like potty training children. Two steps forward, one step back.


                • Peri and Poe
                  Participant
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                    Thanks everyone for the support.
                    It been nearly 2 weeks since i’ve started the bonding experience and i’m glad to say the rabbits have officially bonded. I’m going to wait until i can set up their new home (Peri’s old cage) and then they can hopefully move in togethor.
                    They both groom each other a lot and will even cuddle so i’m happy. I finally feel like this stressful bonding experience has been worth it.

                    Just one quick question from my sister. In the xpen set up, we have 2 water bottles (Peri and Poe’s old ones) and for some reason both buns only use one of the water bottles to the point that they will kind of queue up for that water bottle. Occasionally when Peri gets fed up of waiting to use the water bottle, she will push Poe off. I feel sorry for him so i lead him to the other water bottle but he just refuses to drink from it and will sit waiting.-I know it’s not a huge problem but it’s really bizarre considering they used to use the other water bottle as well.


                  • swedishbun
                    Participant
                    29 posts Send Private Message

                      That’s so exciting! Congrats!!! Party with the carrot cake

                      Bunnies are just little weirdos sometimes. Leave the two water bottles in, they’ll either want to have both, or just want their one bottle. Who knows!


                    • Robert
                      Participant
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                        I’ve gone away from using bottles, they are still there if the want to use them but I added 2 heavy water dishes to their condo and they prefer the bowl over the bottle 9 times out of 10, I have to fill it 3 times a day!

                        Now they do have the problem of using only 1 of the 2 litter boxes and it has to be cleaned everyday now


                      • Peri and Poe
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                          Hi Everyone,
                          Unfortunately things have taken a step back with the bunnies when we moved them to what was going to be their permanent home. 3/4 days ago. According to my sister, Peri managed to escape from the cage set up although she went straight back in after a couple of minutes. Since then her relationship with Poe has been a lot different.
                          Both of them continue doing their grooming stand offs. neither are willing to groom anymore. Peri has also become a bully again and is constantly nipping poor Poe, who thankfully runs away and doesn’t seem to bothered. What i don’t understand is even though she nips his butt, Poe always come back to cuddle with her and i have found them sleeping with each other several times in the day so they aren’t fighting.
                          I haven’t seperated them at all throughout the whole bonding and i even put them back in the x pen set up i had first but Peri is continuing with the nipping.
                          Does anybody have any advice on what i should do now? I feel really bad, they were progressing and cuddling and grooming each other so much and now Peri is so mean to Poe.


                        • Peri and Poe
                          Participant
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                            Last Update for the bonding thread.
                            Peri has calmed down with the nipping and they have continued to be very cuddly. The poop wars have also seemed to have died down so i can say with full confidence the bunnies have finally been bonded.

                            I though i would leave the post with a picture of the happy couple:

                             

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                        Forum BONDING Bonding advice needed