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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.

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Forum BONDING Re-Bonding Two Rabbits

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    • bcripps
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        Hello! Brittney here, the mother of our two bunnies, Lucy & Castiel. Both my fiancé and I are first time rabbit owners so any and all suggestions/input is helpful!

        Lucy & Castiel had/have been bonded for close to a year now. The bonding process was easy with them, and we followed a bonding blog by “the bunny chick” which led us to try an overnight power bonding session. This worked great and they were happily together ever since!

        There have been a few changes to their habitat recently and we are concerned that because of this, it has caused them to either “breakup” or it has shuffled up their dynamic enough that we need to step in. Last month my fiancé and I moved and the rabbits got their own room rather than their previous set-up, which was free range of our condo. We transitioned them slowly and there were no issues. However, we have a border collie puppy that loves the company of the bunnies and the three will frequently squish/flop on opposite sides of the baby-gate together. Because of this, we decided to build them a large NIC cube condo for safety reasons – we didn’t want one of the bunnies to jump the gate and have our puppy think they were toys.

        We are concerned that we gave them too much new territory too soon, as this is where things went downhill. While they still spent a large portion of their day flopped together, grooming each other, etc., we would wake up every single night to Castiel chasing Lucy around. There were no confrontational fights, blood, or anything like that – strictly chasing and fur pulling. We called our vet and she said to separate them and that the chance of them re-bonding was slim. We are not ready to give up, so we would appreciate all of your ideas!

        So far we split their original condo and have been switching them every day, but they spend majority of their day either flopped together through the fence or digging at the flooring to get over to the other side (it is heartbreaking to watch). We have a large Tupperware we have been using for bonding dates throughout the day and it has always gone fine. Lucy will hump Castiel for a few seconds and then they go straight to cuddling, grooming, etc.

        Now, our biggest question – what to do next? I have had them next to me for the last 24 hours in a large Tupperware and after the initial humping/scuffles, they just did the typical loving things bonded pairs do. With the holidays coming up we are hesitant to slowly transition them to a X-pen size enclosure, and then finally a permanent condo. We are going to be gone a lot and for a few days, we were only going to be coming back about twice a day to tend to the rabbits. Would it be better to bring a small enclosure with us to watch them in, or keep them in separate enclosures as we previously did that allowed them to interact through the fence? We are hesitant to allow them unsupervised interaction, as we do not know where they will be in the next few days, but do not want to hinder the re-bonding process.

        Sorry for the lengthy response, I wanted to make sure I included as much detail as I could. Thank you all so much for any help/advice you can offer!


      • jerseygirl
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          We are concerned that we gave them too much new territory too soon, as this is where things went downhill. While they still spent a large portion of their day flopped together, grooming each other, etc., we would wake up every single night to Castiel chasing Lucy around. There were no confrontational fights, blood, or anything like that – strictly chasing and fur pulling. We called our vet and she said to separate them and that the chance of them re-bonding was slim. We are not ready to give up, so we would appreciate all of your ideas!

          Hi Brittney
          I’m very glad you don’t want to give up on their bond. I absolutely think it can be repaired. That it was only some chasing and fur pulling is promising. So this occurred when in the condo at night?

          Have you tried letting them stay together for majority of day (when you’re there) then separation at night until you can discern what is triggering the chasing?

          By the way, do you know their ages?


        • jerseygirl
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            To your question about how to move forward after 24hrs in the Tupperware tub: Normally I would advocate moving them into a pen for another 24-48 hours BUT this really needs to be supervised as transitioning into a different bonding space can provoke a small set back. Not that you’d have to have eyes on them all the time, but at least be home so if you hear scuffling, you can intervene.

            If I was in you position, I would probably leave them at home over the next few days and continue popping them together when you come back to attend to them. Even if it’s only a short duration. Then continue with the work when you have some days free.

            Absolutely you could take them away with you and it could work in your favour, but if the stress just triggers more issues, then you’ve got to deal with that instead of enjoying your time with family and friends…
            I’ll be honest though, I’m about 52% leave them home, 48% take them with.

            ETA: yay for border collie pups! My sisters family have new bc pup too and I’m loving getting puppy time when I’m there.


          • bcripps
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              Thank you so much for your response! The chasing would usually happen between midnight and 2AM, and we are not sure what triggered it! I have tried staying in there throughout the night with them, but they seem to only do it when my fiancé and I are not around rather than when they know we are in the same room. I have been letting them out into the rest of the room (together) during the day when I am able to supervise and there is never any issues, they explore, binky, and flop together without any problems. They are both around a year and a half! As well, they’ve been spayed and neutered since we began bonding them the first time. 


            • bcripps
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                Thank you so much for your response! I think we will leave them at home (separated, but still able to interact through a fence) if things continue to improve, but will bring them in their tupperware to our parents homes for a few days and just give them a few hours per day of playtime if they seem to do better in the tupperware rather than separate enclosures. They have a room at my parents house that they have frequently stayed in, but I think the tupperware + supervised playtime would be better than constant unsupervised access to a space they have previously inhabited together?

                It’s great! We love him, and the bunnies (surprisingly) happen to love him as well. Probably because he hasn’t reached his crazy adolescent phase. Yay for new puppies! 

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            Forum BONDING Re-Bonding Two Rabbits