Soooo… Bonding?

[Kyrkogrimr]

As you can probably imagine, with Theo arriving tomorrow, I’ve been thinking a lot about bonding and I’m thoroughly confused, On the one hand, I’ve read that you should sit in with the bunnies to reassure them, on the other hand I’ve read that you should avoid touching them or being too close because they’ll focus on you, not figuring things out with each other. I read that you should start with short sessions and work up to longer periods together, on the other hand I’ve read that you should put them together and not seperate them unless they’re inflicting injuries on each other because seperating them and reintroducing them increases the stress, reinforces their association of the other bunny with being stressed. And lengthens the bonding process. Put their cages next to each other. Don’t even have them in the same room.

Any suggestions? 

[MoxieMeadows]

*FIRST, I mist state that I have never PERSONALLY bonded a rabbit, although I’ll do my best to give you suggestions until sombody who knows more comes on*

Is Theo already fixed? I’d wait until he was fixed and healed before bonding.
You could try stress bonding, and bonding in a nuetral territory, putting your new rabbit into the living are of your current bun could cause your current bun could feel threatened and attack.

[Kyrkogrimr]

Oh, we’re not going to try bonding them until Theo’s neutered and got the hormones out of his system – at least that piece of advice was consistent Everything else seems to vary so widely I have no clue which pieces to follow O_O Except for “don’t let them fight”. That much seems like a no-brainer. Not sure I’d want to be friends with someone who attacked me

[Hazel]

I think you’re seeing all kinds of inconsistent advice because every bonding experience is different. It depends on the individual bunnies involved, what they are and aren’t comfortable with. Some bonding techniques work in certain cases, in others they may prove completely useless. Generally, the more contact they can have now, without causing aggression/stress, the better. It can make for easier bonding later on. Of course I wouldn’t advice you to just put them together, but switching litter boxes, blankets, toys and things like that will help them get used to the other bunnies scent. Also, as long as they both stay relatively calm, you can put both cages in the same room where they can see and smell each other. Of course you will have to be careful when you let either one of them out, as they can bite and fight through the cage bars. A second barrier would be good to create a little buffer between them.

If they do start to become aggressive, put them in different rooms until you are ready to start bonding. Switching items would still be a good thing to do, as that usually doesn’t cause problems.

Good luck, and don’t forget to post pictures of Theo after you get him!

[JackRabbit]

Yes, every bonding experience is different. My three were in the same room with no problem, however, moving Kieko’s condo right next to the M&Ms combined with nightly bonding sessions stressed Kieko to the point of beginning gi stasis. We immediately moved her condo back to its spot across the room, went through the CC routine, etc., and all was well. When we ever try again, we will know that doesn’t work with her (she is very territorial).

Personally, I think that if you have the time to do marathon bonding that it will go faster overall. That being said, I don’t know if *I* could handle the stress!

[theshrew24]

I originally set up my rabbits’ hutches across the room from each other. I live in a small apartment, so I do not have a lot of room, and even less neutral space, but my first bun (A) was fine as long as the adopted brother (W) stayed in his hutch across the room. I swapped blankets and litter boxes daily so that they could start sniffing each other.
I did a lot of scent swaps (daily switches of litter box, toys, blankets, etc) and the smoosh. I *loved* the smoosh at the beginning because you have total control of the situation, the rabbits are in contact, and it is [nearly] impossible to fight. Stress sessions are fantastic as well, but I did not do those until a little later in the game.

I found bonding to be stressful, on both my rabbits and me. I am currently in week 8 (we’ve had a lot of setbacks), and while I am significantly calmer than I was when I first started, I still have doubts. I think the best tip (besides waiting for both rabbits to be fixed and be ready to break up fights) is to be calm. If you are stressed, your rabbits are going to pick up on it, and you can also easily exacerbate a situation. So try to find something that calms you (eg, listening to music) that you can do either before starting a session or during it.

Good luck!

[theshrew24]

Also, there are a couple of threads that were incredibly helpful to me. “Swedishbun” has few documenting her experience, and Nora’s “Bunny Boys Bonding Beautifully” works as a blog.

[Kyrkogrimr]

Thanks for your responses
Hazel, I will of course be posting pictures of Theo when I get him home, people at work are also demanding pictures lol And I’ll be making a fence out of NIC grids so that they can’t get at each other. I guess it’s just frustrating having conflicting advice, because – being new at this – how do I tell the difference between “this isn’t working with them” and “this needs more time to work”? O_o

JackRabbit, I booked a week off work at the end of March so that I could try marathon bonding them, fingers crossed it will at least help

Theshrew24, I’ve read about the smoosh, but how does one do the smoosh? When does one do the smoosh? Can’t they bite each other if they’re smooshed up next to each other? And I read Nora’s thread, it was great to know that WWIII might NOT erupt in my living room. Or bathroom. Whatever

The one I’m most worried about it Puck – and not ’cause he’s just a little guy; trust me, he makes up for his diminutive stature in sheer quantity of attitude. I’m just a bit worried he’s going to be a permanent grump and cause trouble. Y’know, like an only child that didn’t really want that sibling, thank you because now he has to share his toys. How do you deal with that?

[Emillie]

Those of you that bonded, did u do bunny dating or did you just pick a bunny and bring it home. Many of the stories iv read that do the dating have gone very well and fast so i want to see if that is true across the board.

[BellaKezia]

See my bonding thread – https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/134531/Default.aspx

I started with separate cages for the first 3 and half months before Duke was neutered, I started bonding them properly a month after duke was neutered. From my experience I found the most important thing was to really wait until the hormones have calmed down. Take it slowly and when i say slowly i mean don’t rush them, work out if they’re ready, watch for small signs, tail up, growling, circling and mounting i found with my two this meant they’d had enough for today. Some days went better than others, Cleaning, laying down, pretty much ignoring each other were all good signs in the first stages and I’d leave them together a little longer. Use neutral territory and stick to it! We rushed into semi-neutral far too quickly. I think always leaving a bonding session on a good note is important even if the good note is them ignoring each other at first! If it’s going well keep going! If it’s stressful for you and its going badly, it’s also stressful for the buns so let them have a rest and try again later. I really don’t agree with carrying on even if it’s going badly, it can’t be good to stress them out that much!

Our two we tried bonding just of three weeks after Duke was neutered and thought it would never work from the scuffles and their immediate dislike of each other. We then decided we would really wait until Duke calmed down and it’s been 3 months since he was neutered and is a completely different bun. It’s only really taken a couple of weeks of proper bonding sessions and they’re best friends now!

Emillie – We bought Duke because we fell in love with him! We had decided that it wasn’t fair on Dinky to be alone and had looked at adopting another rabbit rather than buying one. But one look at little Duke and he had to come home! I do genuinely believe that with a lot of time and effort so long as they are neutered and their hormones have calmed down bonding is possible with the majority of pairs. If i was to get another bunny I would look at bunny dating however as for my two the bonding sessions were very stressful at first and they seemed to only want to scuffle, chase and mount! It’s been really difficult and I think letting them choose is almost always easier.

Good Luck!!!

[theshrew24]

The “Smoosh”
There is actually a youtube video describing it that I am going to attempt to post at the end of this. The woman in the video suggests kneeling and using your thighs tohold your bunnies in, but I found this uncomfortable and have thick thighs, so ended up sitting on my rump with my legs out before me. Pick a spot where you are comfortable. Then pick up one rabbit, place him in the space formed within your legs. Stroke him, make sure he is calm, then go for the other one. Once you have them both before you, you want to make sure they line up head-head, rump-rump, but facing forward, so away from you (bunny rumps in your crotch, thighs and knees firmly but comfortably forming a nice little barrier).

From there, you just stroke them. Head to butt, head scratches – make sure that you use one hand for both or that you are switching hands. You want to mix the scents! I sang to mine to keep me calm as well as the buns. My boys did try to escape, but because the only way out is forward – and away from the other rabbit – there really is not much chance of fighting. You don’t want them with a personal space bubble around each one, you want them “smooshed” against each other.

The smoosh sessions would last about 8min for me. Eventually, someone (or both) would start tooth purring. I also started doing most of the best pets (head scratches, cheek scratches, nose scratches) only when they had their heads together. So if A wanted pets, he was going to have to tolerate W’s face right next to his, and vice versa. The conditioning lasts, too, because now that they can do several hours in a decent sized space together, they will hop over to me and lower their heads not only to my hand but smooshed against each other. I do individual pats but them squishing their faces together at my feet or hands has become a signal of “PET ME, HOOMIN!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-QdIqFXrCE

^^All her videos that I have seen have been extremely helpful.

[Emillie]

Thanks for the info Bellakezia, iv been staying away from pet stores and fairs for that very reason. I originally wanted to get my first bunny from a rescue but me and my mom saw honey at the fair and just fell in love. Iv been looking on pet finder a lot and have seen quite a few come and go that iv liked but it will just come down to who is there when im ready . I really want a lop eared bunny this time, maybe one that is a bit more chill and relaxed and lazy to off set honeys crazyness lol.

[Kyrkogrimr]

From what I’ve seen courtesy of Theo, a French lop would fit that description

[Kyrkogrimr]

From what I’ve seen courtesy of Theo, a French lop would fit that description

[Author]

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