Bonding Artie & Missy… the story, so far……..

[Anna]

This is my first post, so hi everyone!

About 3 months ago I adopted my first bunny, a grey and white desexed lop boy called Artie. Over the passed few weeks he started getting depressed so we decided it was time for a girlfriend. We took him to a bunny rescue and tried him out on a few dates, and he was pretty good at scaring off the girls by chasing, humping and hair pulling. There was one girl though, who would thump and jump out of his way, and we watched them throughout the day… he was never aggressive, just lots and lots of mounting. The rescue decided that this little girl was doing a very good job at telling him off, and didn’t seem at all scared, just a bit grumpy at him for not leaving her alone. So we bought her home late that afternoon. Her name was Dusty, but we changed it to Missy (my family likes to give our pets ‘people’ names.) She is a sweet girl, a browny-grey seal point/himalayan ‘lop’ with one uppy ear and one downy ear. She’s totally gorgeous. 

My original plan was to leave him at (a different rescue) for a week or so and have him fully bonded with a lady bun, but the bonding pro was pretty sure that they would bond quickly, so here I was heading home to bond my own buns. 

I do not have much room in my house, so the only place I could use for bonding was Artie’s pen, which is absolutely not ideal at all, but I had no choice, so I scrubbed the pen and litter trays with vinegar, replaced the carpet square, and disinfected the room so his scent was on nothing (hopefully!) I put a dividing panel in his pen and set it up with a litter tray and water bowl in each side, and a few toys, and popped the bunnies in. 

For the next 8 days we did bonding sessions twice daily (lucky I am not working much at the moment) and I was constantly feeling like I wanted to scream “FOR GOODNESS SAKE ARTIE, STOP HUMPING THE POOR GIRL!” Missy was fine for the first few days, always grooming Artie when he asked, and kicking him away then running when he mounted her, but after a bit she started to get annoyed. She stopped kicking him away and started just running, and every time he would come near her she would move away. She would still groom him, but seemed less ‘into’ it. I started to get really stressed out and worried. It felt like she was starting to hate him, and he was still chasing and humping her. On the 8th day I contacted a boarding place that does bonding and decided to take them there, because I was starting to lose all hope. I knew these things take a lot of time and patience, but seeing little Missy always having to keep an eye on him and be ready to jump away when he came near her was making me feel like we were going backwards. Whenever she tried to rest or have a nibble on some hay or a drink he would see the opportunity and jump on her. I was having to put the divider in more often just to give her a rest from him. He was also being sneaky and would start to groom her, until she relaxed, and then slowly climb on top and get a good grip so she struggled to get away. Every night I tried the trick where you rub a rag all over each bunny and then leave them up against the divider, and every morning Artie had pulled Missy’s rag through to his side and vice versa, which was a great sign!

On the 9th day something changed. He seemed to suddenly click that he wasn’t going to catch her, and so he barely chased/mounted her at all. It was only when I would go near them that he would suddenly get protective and chase her like mad again. I ended up having them together all day (minus an hour for me to get some housework done) and I had to sit in the corner and play on my computer while keeping still and quiet so they would forget that I was there. They had their dinner together that night and shared very nicely, no pushing or anything. On this evening, she decided to try and be boss, so she mounted his head a few times. After 10 seconds I would remove her and then he’d chase her and pull hair. By bedtime he was pushing her off himself and then after a 2 second chase they would both stop and relax.

On the 10th day I decided to put the litter trays together under the one big hay rack to get them eating together more, and it worked, so I replaced the 2 smaller trays with one big one. They were happy together all day but I didn’t trust them overnight still, so I set up the divided pen again. They had their dinner again from the one bowl, and shared nicely.

That brings us to the 11th day, which was yesterday. I put the 2 in together first thing in the morning and popped my head in, at first every 5-10 minutes and eventually every half hour, and they were doing great, sleeping near each other and she was grooming her lots. He barely grooms her, still just enough to relax her so he can try and mount her, but she is onto him now and gets wary very quickly. He would chase her a little bit but as soon as she ran away he would give up and not try again for a while. I got my housework done, and even went to the shops for half an hour. When I got back they were sleeping in little bunny loafs near each other. Last night I decided to leave them together for the night, as I had read a few articles saying that once you have had a positive day with no fights (they have never had an actual fight anyway) that you should try them overnight. I barely slept, but I also barely heard a peep from them. Heard a rattle at 5am and checked to see them just pushing apple sticks around. 7am I got up to crashing sounds and found him chasing her around because it was breaky time. Normally, in his single days, at about 7am he would start throwing his food bowl around and running laps of his pen until he was fed, it looks like for now the new breaky time routine is to chase her around. Any idea how to stop this, or will it just take time?

Overall I think the night went well. Seeing as he is so protective of his hoomins I decided I had better start spending more time in their pen with them, showing that I can give them both pats and love, and maybe he will stop chasing her every time I walk in the room, so that’s what I am doing now, typing this while sitting in with them.

So that is our bonding story so far. I wouldn’t say they are bonded yet, because they are not living in total harmony yet, but we are well on our way. 

I do have a few questions, if there are any bonding experts out there who have read my above novel and could offer some advice?

1) The mounting and chasing is still happening… at the point we are at now, should I be firmly telling him ‘no’ every time I see him try? So far this hasn’t done much (but he know his name, and when chewing something he shouldn’t, the ‘Artie, no’ works well….)

2) They have a wooden house, but I don’t want to give it to them until I am sure he won’t use it to corner her and terrorise her. I think the only reason they’re happy living together right now is because she can always run from him if he chases her. Should fully bonded bunnies be fine with houses (I have read that some will always do the occasional chasing and mounting) or should I add a back door so she can get out if needed?

3) Free ranging. Artie normally has free range of the lounge area in the evenings when we are watching tv etc. I am going to leave them in their pen together for at least 2 weeks to cement the bond, but after that, do I slowly introduce them to the lounge with a small pen, or should they be able to to just go straight in? It’s a pretty small lounge room.

Thank you to anyone who read my story, the whole thing has become a bit of a blur, due to so much bunny sitting and not much else, so I may have mixed my days up a bit, but you get the drift. Any advice on ANYTHING I have said would be much appreciated. 

[Mikey]

Thank you for adopting them both!
First thing first, you stated that Artie is neutered but never said whether or not Missy is spayed? If not, he very well could be smelling her hormones, causing him to act like this more often than not

1) Mounting is fine, chasing is not. When he mounts her, pull him off after about 10 seconds and place him next to her, then pet them both for a few seconds. It allows him to “be the alpha” without irritating her or stressing her out too badly. For chasing, youll want to try a few different methods and see which works best. For my boys, placing a dog toy stuffed animal in front of their fallow path would distract them from the chasing/fallowing. For close(aggressive) chasing, you might need to intervene. Some people use an oven mit to block, then use their other hands to redirect by petting. Im not sure on other tactics, so hopefully others here will give you ideas on how to redirect chasing, but the mounting is pretty normal. Even bonded buns will mount once in a while to make sure their totem hasnt been messed with

2) You make the house sound small. Both of your buns should always have a place to run if the other decides to chase or start a fight. Make sure the house has open areas for them to run, not too many corners to block/corner the other into, room for them to be away from one another, ect. If it doesnt fallow this, it could lead to very bad fights in the future, which can limit or force a stop to any bonding between them. If the house is not going to be a cage, and only a play place inside of a room or pen, then i would more than definitely add in another door or two (the more the better, while still giving them spots inside to hide in). You dont want them to feel trapped anyway, as stress is hard on a rabbit and can lead to death if not taken care of right away

3) Youll have to work on bonding in every pen and room you plan to have them share. If they are bonded in the pen, it doesnt mean they will be bonded in the room. Most people bond in pens first, and slowly make the pen bigger until it cant fit very well in the room any more. Itll allow them to bond in the room without realizing it, and theyll be getting their scent on everything making the room feel as though theyve already shared it together when you start to really bond them in the room. After a month or two in the big pen, make the pen smaller and leave it open so they can explore the room as intended

[Anna]

Thank you for reading my massive post and replying!

Missy is spayed. 

When he mounts her, it is only a split second before she jumps out from under him, and then he will either follow her and try again, or stand there and look disappointed.  When I say ‘chasing’, it’s more like ‘following’… he looks like he is following her with interest, rather than chasing her. He is never aggressive about it, but the very few times he has ‘properly’ chased her, she has run for a second and then stopped and thumped, and he has gotten the hint and stopped. There were a few times earlier on where I had to redirect him by putting my hand out and stopping him and then petting him, and he would either have a crazy look in his eye and be frustrated that he was stopped, or would relax.

When I said house, I meant the little hidey house they have to sit in. Artie never went in it, he liked to sit on top. It is big enough for 2 buns to go inside of, but I will add a side door in case anything happens so neither of them feels trapped. Their actual home is a medium size play pen about 1.6m square (and I will extend it as we get better. I think it extends to 2m square. Big enough to binky and stretch out, Artie even zooms around it. I tried to attach pics to my original post but they didn’t show up.

Okay, when I start to take them into the lounge room I will start out with a pen and increase the size gradually, then make it small and leave the gate open. 

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Anna on 8/15/2016 1:25 AM

….I tried to attach pics to my original post but they didn’t show up…..

Hi Anna

Ive fixed that up for you. It was just a matter of a final step you had missed. Once the files have uploaded, click on the “Insert Image” icon next to the file name and they will appear in the body of your post. 

[Anna]

Thank you!!!!!!!!

[Anna]

The first 2 photos are from the rescue, where we did our bunny dates.

[Mikey]

Ah, ok. When you said house, i was picturing a wooden hutch. I would add another door to it anyway, just so there is no feeling of “being trapped” by either of them Plus, they might find it fun to zoom through

Fallowing is better than chasing as well, and is pretty normal in nearly bonded buns once in a while. It sounds like he wants to meet her, get to know her, and of course, be the alpha over her. It sounds like shes not too keen on the idea of him being the alpha, but she doesnt really want to fight back about it either, which is why she just leaves the situation and thumps. I would continue trying to block him and pet him when he fallows her and she is obviously stressed. But if she doesnt seem too stressed out, try and let them figure our the mounting and fallowing. When they agree who is the alpha and who is the bottom bun, the fallowing around and mounting should die down if it doesnt fully stop

[Mikey]

Also, theyre both super adorable!

[Author]

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