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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 Any tips for my situation?

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    • sarahthegemini
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        I have 2 sibling bunnies, male and female, both coming up to 16 weeks. They get along wonderfully, snuggle up to one another and Buttercup (female) will often groom Peanut. They’re currently separated, although up until a few days ago they shared a hutch, were free roaming together throughout the day and would share a pen overnight. They now have their own hutches in the lead up to their neuter and spay surgeries. Buttercup is being spayed in 5 days and Peanut is being neutered on the 13th. Their hutches and pens are close to one another so they can see each other and smell each other, there is a gap between the pens though so no mating through the bars. I’m also putting a little of each other’s soiled litter in the opposite one’s litter trays daily (I change the litter trays every day but leave a little soiled litter in there usually but now I’m also adding a bit of Peanut’s soiling to Buttercup’s and vice versa) to keep each other familiar with their scent. 

        Anyway, so far there has been no signs of aggression , no territorial behaviour , no spraying of urine from either. Nothing at all. So I’d like to introduce them to each other again once they’ve both healed from their operations. I know generally the consensus is wait a month for the hormones to die down but as there has been no ‘bad’ behaviour from either, is it okay to try once they’ve healed? It’ll be completely supervised of course, and I plan to keep them separate when I’m not there to supervise and overnight until I’m fully confident. Does this sound like a good plan? Obviously if either of them reacts badly, I’ll separate them immediately and keep them separated until the hormones have decreased. 

        Any tips you could give me also? I’ve never done this before. Peanut is currently residing in the hutch that they shared, whilst Buttercup is in the old hutch they shared before we upgraded, so essentially Buttercup will be moving in to “Peanut’s territory” Any tips for dealing with this? It should still have her scent all over it from when they were sharing and of course from the litter trays. I thought of putting a stuffed animal in with each and then swapping it over but Peanut is a chewer and might ingest the fibres or something.

        Any help would be much appreciated!

        Update: We have decided to section off the living area with their pen panels so they’ve both got half the room each. The panels from both pens are used to double up so there’s a little gap between so no bar-mating, however there’s one small part that we couldn’t double up but it’s right by the sofa so I can see at all times. They were both just smooshing their faces against it to each other and I noticed Peanut tried to nip at her? I think? What does this mean?


      • sarahthegemini
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          Another thing worth mentioning – I will pet one of the bunnies and then pet/touch the other afterwards and neither reacts in any way to the scent on my hands. This is a good sign right?


        • LittlePuffyTail
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            Some good beginner bonding info can be found here on BB in the Bunny Info Section. I highly recommend you read that. Waiting for hormones to die down is important as is making sure your starting the bonding sessions in 100% neutral territory. Start with short sessions and gradually build up the length of time they spend together. Same as space given. Start with a small space and increase as they progress.


          • sarahthegemini
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              Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 11/29/2016 6:29 PM

              Some good beginner bonding info can be found here on BB in the Bunny Info Section. I highly recommend you read that. Waiting for hormones to die down is important as is making sure your starting the bonding sessions in 100% neutral territory. Start with short sessions and gradually build up the length of time they spend together. Same as space given. Start with a small space and increase as they progress.

              How will I know when their hormones have died down?


            • LittlePuffyTail
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                Girls take longer. It’s usually recommended to wait a month after spay to do any bonding.


              • sarahthegemini
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                  Posted By LittlePuffyTail on 12/01/2016 11:11 AM

                  Girls take longer. It’s usually recommended to wait a month after spay to do any bonding.

                  Peanut’s surgery is a week and a half after Buttercup’s so if I wait a month after his surgery, that should be long enough for the two of them. I hope!

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              Forum BONDING Any tips for my situation?