very stressed out

[Valley]

Hi there, I didn’t know where else to post this so I’m doing it on this forum. I would really like some help trying to decide on what to do (this might be long). I currently have 3 rabbits, 2 females 1 male. One of the females is bonded to the male and the second female lives by herself. The bonded pair were adopted by me separately and bonded over the course of 2 months. My second female, Lila, was an unexpected but lovely surprise. On August 2016, my boyfriend’s friend’s (then) girlfriend invited us over to her house and I saw that she had an extremely disgusting rabbit cage, she then mentions that she needs to find her rabbit a new home because she doesn’t want her anymore and that she was going to sell her on Kijiji. I was surprised to know that there was a poor rabbit living in that tiny cage (she is a 6lb rabbit) that was covered in her waste. When I asked to see the rabbit she lets her out and poor Lila’s nails were so long she couldn’t even walk properly! I asked this girl about Lila’s story and she told me that she got her from a lady on Kijiji who also didn’t want her. She also let me know that Lila was about 2 years old, she had no idea if she was spayed and she only fed her hay and pellets from a really crappy brand. I felt so bad for this poor rabbit and I thought I could give her a better life so I told this girl I would take Lila home.

 After a week of letting Lila settle in I took her to vet and they told me she is a very healthy bun but she wasn’t spayed yet so I got her spayed. She was definitely a very shy, anxious little girl. In the 6 months that I’ve had her she has come out of her shell. She lets me touch her more but I can tell she still doesn’t fully trust me which is fine I understand where that comes from. She also loooves her veggies and has binky a few times.

I have tried multiple times to bond her with my already bonded pair and it is not looking good. They go straight to fighting as soon they are in the same cage, fur flying everywhere. A couple months ago while in a bonding session, Lila and Cherry (the other female) started fighting. I tried to separate them but Lila had a strong grip on Cherry’s fur and she wasn’t letting go, she ended up pulling a lot of fur and Cherry screamed which absolutely terrified me. I immediately checked her for any serious injuries but it was just a couple scratches (which are fully healed now). But ever since then, Cherry does not want anything to do with Lila, she is constantly thumping and growling. I can tell she is under a lot of stress because even when the male approaches her by surprise she gets scared. And that puts me under a lot of stress too because I want to give them both a good life. I am at the point of losing hope and admitting that they are probably never going to bond.

Lately, I have been thinking about surrendering Lila to my local humane society and I feel so guilty and awful just thinking about it because I made a commitment to her. She has been through so much in the short time she’s been alive. Both Cherry and Lila deserve to live a happy life and I don’t think I can provide that to both of them if they keep living in the same house. I’m thinking of going to the shelter instead of posting an ad online because I don’t want people like this girl to have Lila again. I love all my rabbits so very much but I am in a difficult situation and I dont know what to do. Have you guys gone through anything similar? Any advice?

[Yoyo]

Awe, Valley I’m sorry, but, I have no solid advice to offer you, since I haven’t ever been in that situation, but,.. I so proud, and pleased, that you not only rescued Lila from a deplorable situation, but, also got her fixed! – World needs more ppl like you!
As far as the bonding with your other two buns went,.. at least you tried,.. I’m sure, some others here, could possibly give you some better advice… sadly,.. I clearly don’t know anything on that topic,.. but, even if rehoming Lila would help her,.. as long as its to a good home,.. I surely wouldn’t think anything bad on you!

[Mikey]

First off, stop bonding them. Second, why do you have to bond them? If they happily live part, keep them apart

What prebonding did you do? for how long? Was the cage neutral? After their first big fight, how long did you wait before trying to bond again?

[Valley]

After that incident when Cherry screamed I did stop bonding them. I waited two months after getting Lila spayed and then I started swapping them in each other’s cages for 2 weeks. The first time a started bonding them I set up an x-pen in my garage where none of them have been before and they went straight to fighting. I tried to end it on a good note but it was pretty much impossible so i stopped and did some more cage swapping for another month and a half. I tried again and they went straight to fighting again and this is when Lila made Cherry scream and I haven’t tried since then. The only reason I can’t keep them living apart is because my rabbits live in the spare bedroom. I split the room so do they can each have their own space until they were bonded. Ever since that incident like I’ve said before Cherry will not stop thumping and growling. I tried to cover the separator with blankets so that they wont see each other but they were both going crazy to the point where I had to actually remove Lila from the room and set up a cage in the living room. I live in an apartment and to do this I had to move some couches and things around to fit her in. My parents are not happy with this and they keep nagging me to do something about it but I do not want to bond them again because I dont want to put them through this again.

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