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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING I don’t know what to do

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    • Alyssa
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        I have a bonded pair of females, Sky and Sylvia. Sylvia has recently started lunging at Sky for no apparent reason. She mostly nips at her butt then that turns into chasing. I don’t know what to do. Sky still grooms Sylvia and Sylvia still flops next to her so I feel like I am getting mixed signals. I also have a recently neutered male named Cesar. (About 4 weeks ago) I wanted to possibly bond them into a trio but I think Sylvia and Cesar are too dominant and would bully Sky together. Sylvia and Cesar got in a bad fight when I tried bonding them. I have only introduced Sky to Cesar once so far, and he also tried nipping at her butt to get her to groom Him. She gave him a few licks and we ended it at that. Should I separate Sky and Sylvia to bond Sky to Cesar?? I fear Sylvia would get lonely but she bullies everyone she is introduced to ?


      • Bam
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          To me it seems the fighting between Sky and Sylvia would be related to Cesar and his recent neuter. For a while after a neuter, the hormones go wild in a bun before they die down altogether. During this time the bun can act super- hormonal, and I would suspect smell super-hormonal too. (Not a smell us humans can identify, but other buns most certainly can, they have more acute sense of smell than dogs even). This is a passing thing though. But any attempts at bonding should be held off until things have settled down. For some boys, it can take up to 8 weeks.

          I have virtually no experience with successful bonding, but I know we have several members who have made difficult bondings work and/or have bonded multiple bunnies, and I hope you’ll get answers from some of them. Meanwhile I hope you can find old threads in the bonding-section that can be of help to you.


        • Alyssa
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            The lunging initially started before he was even brought home, it has just continually escalated.


          • Love4Bunny
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              I have only bonded a pair of bunnies but I used this person’s blog for advice on bonding multiple bunnies (she bonded 5):
              http://www.thebunnychick.com/2013/11/19/7-ways-hurting-rabbits-chances-bonding/


            • Alyssa
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                I’ve read her blog. Thanks though! I’m more concerned about the girls issues right now…


              • Love4Bunny
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                  I see. How long have the girls been bonded for? Like you, I’ve also awakened to the sound of my rabbits chasing in their pen several times, and had to settle them (no true fighting, only stressful chasing) and I couldn’t figure out what in the world was wrong. I really believe mine was a scent/ territorial issue. And probably some dominance issues. Thor (6lbs) used to chase Crysta (2lbs) after nudging her for grooming. Crysta loved to groom Thor but once she started to ask for more mutual grooming, Thor didnt like that, and would request grooming and chase if she didn’t comply. Crysta would act slighted and avoid him and his requests for grooming outside the pen. The problem subsided when I reduced the size of their enclosure and included multiple shared litterboxes (with Crysta’s scent) in the space outside the pen. I now observe a more equal grooming between the two. I also have done the whole spray bottle and clanging objects thing and it has helped, but I’m guessing you’ve tried that. Everything I have read suggests that separating bonded bunnies is not a good idea. 

                  Are all the bunnies housed in the same room? If this is the case, it could be that having a new rabbit in the same area is exaccerbating the current issues with the girls.  Just a thought, a bit like what Bam mentioned. Thor was aggressive with a few of the girls I had tried to bond him with (when they lived next to him in his room). I found Thor’s aggression was reduced when I put cardboard dividers around the cage to hide the new rabbit from him (of course, he was still a little agitated cos he could smell them). If I could do bonding all over again, I would not keep bunnies in the same room during the early stages of the bonding process, and would only have them live next to each other after someone groomed someone else in a bathtub.


                • Alyssa
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                    I actually don’t have any litter boxes outside of the pen so I haven’t tried that. They only get the run of one room so they just go back to their pen to do their business. I just feel so bad for sky because she is so little. Lol she won’t groom Sylvia outside of the pen either. Cesar kind of got thrown into my arms so I was not ready for this at all. Haha. It’s stressful. I’m almost considering getting a 4th and having two pairs. I called the humane society yesterday though, and they said I could not do any sort of pre introduction to see if the buns will get along. So that’s ridiculous. I’m at a loss ?


                  • Love4Bunny
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                      I know what you mean about being worried about the size difference. Have you observed them in a different room to see if they exhibit different behaviour? When they have a big litterbox in the area, they can chew hay and de-stress, as odd as it sounds. Monitoring them in the kitchen helped me narrow down the causes for chasing, because Thor only chased in familiar territory. I also had to remove anything I observed Thor was territorial over, and that may help in your situation.

                      Have the girls been bonded long? (I’m also assuming they’re spayed, cos Thor was a little agitated when Crysta came to us several weeks after the spay, and hormones can make them weird around each other).

                      I wonder why they won’t allow you to do bunny dates for Cesar… Where I live, they allow you to meet up with bun buns for dates. Keep looking. There may be an independent rescue that will accommodate your situation. But I think you’ve got the right idea by wanting to deal with the girls’ issues first. You don’t want to have to tackle two bondings simultaneously, as one is time consuming enough! I would just go slow, because it can often be more stressful for us humans. I used to think Crysta was super fragile, but she is a little toughie. She looks small and frail, but sometimes those ones have bigger brains than the heavyweights.


                    • Alyssa
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                        They have only been bonded for 8 months or so. They are both fixed. (Never toned down the craziness in Sylvia) ? I currently live in an apartment and I will be moving to a house in a month so maybe more space will help. Crazy buns…I just want them to all love each other! Haha. Sylvia doesn’t usually do the chasing outside of the cage so maybe it is territorial thing. I’ve noticed she likes to nip Sky’s butt until she leaves the hut


                      • Love4Bunny
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                          That sounds annoying for poor Sky. Yeah, Thor will nip Crysta’s butt at mealtimes if she’s too close to me (the food bringer). Crysta has learnt to stay our of Thor’s zone when they hear the pellets, else chasing ensues.

                          Also, like the whole Sylva hut thing, Thor will chase Crysta from the BB tunnel, and I remove it when he gets that way. When I see them display affectionate behaviour, I put the thing of dispute back in. I also keep a spray bottle handy, and since I can read Thor’s behaviour fairly well, I spray him when he does the “Possessive Leaning” stance before the chase (with his charging bull ears), and I am seldom wrong about that because I realised it was his body cue.

                          That is funny you mention Sylvia’s post-spay behaviour, as my guy also has some lingering traits. Thor will still circle me, honk, and try to mount my arm on occasion (if I give him a tummy massage). He stopped trying to persistently hump me after the neuter, haha, but these behaviours still remain for some reason.

                          Hopefully your buns will be able to start afresh in new territory, and get along.

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                      Forum BONDING I don’t know what to do