Bonding Harlow~ Questions regarding cage placement

[Auburnie]

If you saw my earlier posts, you would know that I had a meeting with someone rehoming their 3 year old neutered male mini lop. Unfortunately, they decided that it was harder than expected to part with him so they ended up keeping him. 

But I found a neutered Holland Lop male who was a little bit further away, but he is younger and almost a year old! We think Harlow is about 8 months now but we’re not sure. So if everything goes as planned, I will be driving an hour and a half next Saturday to pick up the Lop, Cooper.

I’m going to have to keep Cooper in the same room Harlow is. She is in my bedroom, and I have a spot picked out for Coopers cage which is in the corner of the room directly across Harlows. 
I’m kind of worried because I watched a video on youtube, and the girl said that if the first bonding session goes bad they will never be able to be bonded. I;m wondering if keeping Cooper in this corner is going to make them both aggressive of each other. The lady who owns Cooper right now said he beat up another bunny, but the bunny was a male and in Coopers territory. 

I’m really nervous about now being able to bond them together. /:

[Love4Bunny]

Oh, I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. I’m surprised the person kept the rabbit after all that effort, but it is probably for the best.

That doesn’t sound entirely correct about NEVER being able to bond if the first meeting is bad. Thor disliked Crysta in the beginning but they are fine now. I think it’s really about having neutral territory.

I read on the forum that most bunnies can be bonded, except for the occasional few who prefer to be king of their domain, and who won’t share.

Everybody does it differently, but I would just observe body language to see if the new rabbit’s presence makes Harlow irritable when they live opposite each other. If that happens, just keep them in separate rooms till they’re bonded. That’s just my opinion.

They can be wonderful together in neutral territory and protective in common territory, and that was kinda my experience. Just keep reading up on bonding, and whatever you do, make sure your arms, hands, and legs are protected before you reach in the middle to break any humping up.

Don’t be scared – you got this. Patience is really important, and will be your best friend in this process. No two bonding experiences are exactly the same, so don’t worry about how long it took someone else to bond their bunnies. One last thing – when in doubt, never take chances/ leave them alone together.

[Mikey]

Im disagreeing with the bonding thing you saw too. My three got in a fight during our first bonding session. Fur was flying between the oldest and the youngest. We split them for close to a month, but had their cages directly next to one another, only an inch a part. So the entire “break” they could see, sniff, and even nose poke the other buns if they wanted to. After that, we tried one on one training with our middle bun and our youngest bun. It went fine. After a days, we added the oldest bun. There was some nipping, but nothing too bad. We went through another month of intense bonding sessions using water bottles to stop bad behavior and using treats when everyone was calm. Now, the oldest and the youngest cuddle when theyre free roaming together. Were getting them all used to sharing a cage together too, but we want to wait till the youngest is neutered

Anyway, with patience, love, care, and a lot of training, i believe any bunnies can be bonded together. Posting here for help and reading bonding blogs are probly your best bet to go about it. Youll want to take bonding pretty slow over time, but youll want to do small sessions multiple times a day. Start with them apart, moving them a little closer over time. Use neutral territory when you start bonding them in a room together. Tons of pets help the buns stay relaxed around one another too, and help them see the other bun as a positive rather than a negative

[Auburnie]

So as long as the bonding happens in a neutral territory, you dont think that it will be a problem to house them in the same room? Unfortunately no one else in my family is very bunny friendly. They like to pet Harlow when I hold on to her, but I think everyone would have their choice words if I had Harlow outside of my room. So putting Cooper outside of my room isn’t really an option, unless I put him on the platform on my stairs. I guess that could be arranged if if gets bad.

The run space that they have would be the same so thats something else that concerns me. Harlow would still get floor time, but she would be able to go to Coopers cage, and when cooper is out he will be able to go to Harlows while out running. I’m really nervous this set up will make them hate each other and not ever bond. Cooper is a big boy, and until He’s bonded with Harlow, his cage situation will be the pet store cage he’s currently in. Which is sad, but shows how much floor time he’s going to need.

[Mikey]

I would always keep their cages in the same room. Even after my bunnies have a bad fight, i kept their cages int he same room. It helped them get better used to eachother because they can always see and smell one another. And during times were im taking turns free roaming them, theyll sniff the other buns cage then walk off and binky around. Itll just take a while to get Harlow ok with having Cooper move in with her, since everything around her is “hers” and now she has to share it. I would first get them used to sharing your room then. Once theyre ok playing in the room together, give them a few weeks to a month of play time before trying to bond them in Harlows territory/hutch/pen. To do that, you can swap each bunnies cage. I mean, put Harlow is Cooper’s cage and Cooper in Harlow’s cage. She will likely be angry about it, so dont try to bond them/free roam them the days you swap them. Doing the cage swap helps them get their scent on everything so they gets used to being in the same territory again

[Love4Bunny]

I would probably put flat cardboard boxes around the entire cage of the bunny that’s confined during individual play time in your room.

I had issues with Thor’s jealousy, and he tried to scratch and bite through the bars. I was told that it was okay to let them play together in Thors room, but it was too early in the bonding process, and he chased Crysta like crazy, and tried to attack her.

At that point, I went back to basics, and got some advice from a more experienced bonder, who told me to do:
1. Bathtub sessions. Once good, progress to
2. Supervised day sessions in an exercise pen in neutral territory. Once you can trust them together, move forward to
3. Cementing the bond for 2 weeks by keeping them in a pen in neutral territory, and finally
4. Move them into their new home

I had a few hiccups, but it is good now (not perfect) and they bond more and more each day.

[Auburnie]

i do have a lot of cardboard L4B! I use it to block the outside of their cages so they cant get to the wall and had planned on using it when one is out
Harlow has done amazing the first night with the other bunny in the room! Only problems would be my new bunny peeing on his fleece. And as an un neutered male, it smells! lol. i’m setting him up an appointment today.

[Bam]

In prep for tyhem actually meeting, you can swop their litter-boxes. You can give them each a stuffy bunny (or other stuffy animal) and swop the stuffies every other day or so.

If the bunnies fight, you change your strategy to stress-bonding. Many buns get into fights during their early sessions, that doesn’t mean they can never be bonded. Watch out for backwards humping though, it’s really dangerous for the boy if he’s doing the humping, he can get his privates bit off. So if you see that, separate immediately.

But first things first. Harlow is still in the process of healing from her spay, so you won’t want to let them meet just yet. As L4B says, cardboard or other barrier so they can’t reach throught the cage bars and bite each other is a good idea.

[Auburnie]

Right. Thank you for the advice! it’s going to be a while before bonding though. Luke will hopefully be getting neutered sometime next week. His examination is this thursday and we well schedule his appointment then So it’s going to be a few weeks before we start bonding.

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