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Forum BONDING Update – Bonding spayed adult female to baby male

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    • BazziBun
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        Bubba is a spayed adult female holland lop and Poe is a baby male holland lop who hasn’t been neutered yet (he’s a too young for the operation). 

        After adopting Poe, I decided to wait to initiate the bonding process until Poe was neutered. However, I wanted them to become familiar with each other’s sent so I placed their enclosures in close proximity. From the beginning Bubba noticed his sent and did not seems to be bothered by it. 

        I would let Bubba out of her enclosure to run around the apartment and she demonstrated some excited behavior: binkying and running. (She seemed perfectly happy) 

        This made me curious to see if I could push the envelope a little so I decided to then to let Bubba run around free in the living room and placed Poe in an x-pen on the ground. She would occasionally smell him through the bars and Poe was very curious to smell her too. They even bumped noses at one point and everything seemed fine. 

        This morning something really cool happened (at least I think it’s cool). I decided to pick up Poe and bring him on the couch with me. He’s a snuggle baby so he was on my lap falling asleep as I was petting him. I didn’t realize my fiance’ let Bubba out of her enclosure and so….All of a sudden Bubba jumped on the couch right next to me and immediately demanded attention (as she usually does). I remained calm and began petting them both. Poe was on my lap and Bubba’s head was on my leg. They were both purring and had their eyes closed and their noses were super close together! Nothing happened and we were all enjoying they petting session which lasted about 15 minutes.

        Is this a good sign?


      • LittlePuffyTail
        Moderator
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          That’s a good sign but if you were to bond them now, I wouldn’t expect it to last. When Poe’s hormones kick in, his behavior will change and this will most likely result in a break in the bond or even injuries. Then you would need to separate, neuter and try again anyways.

          I would just wait. But that is definitely a positive thing. You may have a really easy bond on your hands after Poe is neutered.


        • BazziBun
          Participant
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            Thank you!

            I am definitely planning on waiting before I seriously try to bond them.
            I usually let Bubba out of her condo when I’m home and she has free roaming of the apartment…when I do begin the bonding process, after Poe is neutered and has healed, where could I start?
            Would Bubba think that the whole apartment is her territory, or just her condo?
            I also have a cat, Mimi (she’s a very docile cat), and when Bubba runs around, there doesn’t seem to ever be a “territorial dispute”..could this mean that Bubba doesn’t see the whole apartment as “her territory” after all? Could it then qualify as a neutral area?

            Any advice is appreciated.


          • Love4Bunny
            Participant
            878 posts Send Private Message

              Since Bubba has free roam, try the bathtub (if you have one). That’s how I bonded mine. I’ve never had a cat, but I have two dogs and my rabbit never behaved the same around the dogs as he did when I brought his girlfriend home. He spazzed out when she hit his territory, but was chill with the dogs, so I wouldn’t necessarily count Bubba’s interaction with Mimi as indication of a non-territorial bent (although it’s great overall).

              When I bonded my two, I used the Binky Bunny bonding info to help, so I would suggest checking it out. I think neutral territory is so important. I have experienced both sides of the coin, so I wouldn’t take any chances. Bonding can be really stressful on both humans as well as buns. Mine wasn’t as difficult as some that I’ve read about, but it took longer than I’d thought, and that is also okay.


            • BazziBun
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                Thanks for the reply!

                My bathtub is wayyy small, I could try there but I’m afraid that would stress out Bubba more. She HATES the bathtub! I think it’s because of the one time I had to bathe her…I dropped a can of tomatoes on the floor and she decided to jump right in the middle of the mess. Being a white bunny, her legs, under belly and even her chin and ears were all tinted red! It was quite funny at the moment, she reminded me of the murderous rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Lol! Long story short I had to bathe her and she did not like it one bit. 

                Should I still try the bathtub? Would the stress distract her from Poe or would it hinder the bonding process? I also have a patio…maybe I could use that as a neutral zone?

                I’ll check out the bonding info on the website


              • Love4Bunny
                Participant
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                  Lol, poor bunny! That sounds like a video I have seen of a rabbit eating a raspberry, and just yesterday, I saw a meme portraying a rabbit eating a red fruit as a murderer, haha.

                  I’m unsure of whether or not the actual tub will stress her out, but bonding is a stressful activity in itself, and a small space is a good thing in the beginning, to my understanding. I don’t have varied experience, but I do know, the bigger the space, the more Thor would’ve chased Crysta, which I really don’t like because she scares easily (and THAT stresses her out).

                  I would defer to LittlePuffyTail as to the question of whether Bubba should be put in the bathtub again.

                  Another suggestion is doing the bonding at another location, like a friend’s house.

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              Forum BONDING Update – Bonding spayed adult female to baby male