Bonding troubles

[beccamcnl]

I adopted my two mini lops sisters in September 2015. They were great together and got along well. They had little spats here and there, nothing a night separated couldn’t fix. And this was more towards when their hormones were starting to kick in. In January they were spayed and we thought this was the answer to all their hormonal troubles……not so much. They day they came home they were so lethargic, it was so sad. I put them in their 3 story bunny apartment and they went into different corners and slept. I noticed the next morning that there were some tuffs of hair laying about. When I sat down with them after a few minutes they started nipping and chasing each other. I separated them for the day, like I have done before. When I let them out the next day they just started going at it again. I tried keeping them apart (just by putting a divider in their cage so they were still next to each other, but couldn’t get to each other) for longer periods of time. Nothing was helping. I started rebonding them slowly (car rides, bathtub, etc.) It’s now July and they still aren’t rebonded. Honestly I got discouraged after a few months and I gave up. Right now their bunny apartment is split down the middle as is their play pen that’s attached to it. For car rides and outside time they are great and the best of friends. In the bathtub they started off great and then would get weird and territorial a few weeks in. As soon as we enter the basement, where their bun room is, they get territorial. Even if I have them in a different room in the basement they will go after each other. Not sure what exactly to do. Feel like I’ve tried everything and I don’t want one or both of them getting hurt in the process. Any tips would be much appreciated.

[Mikey]

Likely all of the fights caused them to severe their bonds completely. Note that it is possible they no longer will be willing to bond together. There is one thing you can try before calling it quits, though. First thing first, until they are back to being perfectly bonded, youll want to keep them 100 percent apart. Different cages, different food and water bowls, different litter boxes, ect. You can keep them in the same room, but do not let them out at the same time together. Youll need to keep them like this for 2+ months; this also means stop with the bonding sessions (no excuses)

After those two months are up, start bonding them in a small neutral area. If they go right back to bad fighting, their bond cant be repaired. If they ignore one another or just nip but no fur pulling, its a good sign theyre willing to be bonded again. If they are willing to bond again, start super slow. 5 minute sessions, multiple times a day in the small neutral area. Do this until they stop nipping/mounting, then move to 10 minute sessions. After 10, do 20. Then 40, then an hour, ect. Dont be afraid to move back a step if you need to, and dont move to longer sessions until you feel they will be ok with it. As you increase time, you can also increase their bonding space

[Author]

Messages