Suggestions on Bonding a Scaredy-Bun?

[styxlethe]

Hi folks, we’ve had our mini lop Bayley for nearly two years. At the end of February, after going on several speed dates, we adopted our new bunny, Poe, as a boyfriend for her. He was very outgoing at his foster home, but now, at our place, he has become a scaredy-bun (very easily scared). After a month, he’s opened up a little, but still gets scared very easily whenever he’s outside of an area in which his his comfortable, which makes bonding very difficult. Any neutral area that we put him in, he balls up into a corner and won’t come out of it; if Bayley moves too fast in his vicinity, he nips her – literally only if she moves suddenly toward him or too close to him. Otherwise, he’s perfectly happy burying his face in her side.

Any suggestions on how to make him more comfortable in neutral territory to aid bonding?

[SeeShmemilyPlay]

Is there any way you could ask the foster parents how long it took for him to get comfortable there? That should give you a good idea about how long it’ll take him to feel more at ease.

[styxlethe]

They said he relaxed in about 2-3 weeks, which he has as long as he is comfortable with the territory (e.g.: his enclosure, the couch, the bed – places where he spends a lot of time), but whenever we take him into neutral territory where he doesn’t spend a lot of time he balls in fear.

[tobyluv]

You may just need to let Poe settle in for another month or a few months, before attempting bonding. It can take some rabbits several months before they feel at ease in a new home.

I have bonded several pairs of rabbits over the years, and I find that using an x-pen is a good method. My husband and I get into the pen with the rabbits, to break up any fighting that might occur or excessive humping. Being inside the pen together forces the bunnies to be near each other, but they can still have some of their own space too, and you are there to hopefully make sure things go smoothly.  If Poe enjoys petting, you can stroke him while in the pen to calm him and make sure that Bayley doesn’t move too fast in his direction.

[styxlethe]

So, very interesting development. I tried something new a couple of days ago, and it seems to have helped a great deal. There is a towel that we have in the exercise area that both bunnies like – they tend to dig at it a lot and Poe likes sitting on it. Anyhow, I had washed it a couple of days ago and thought to try putting it down in the bonding area to see if that might help, now that it didn’t necessarily smell of either bun. I must say, I was quite pleased! He went from balling up in a corner to exploring the area, thumping, and mounting. This has been pretty consistent for the past couple of days (I even caught him clumsily grooming Bayley today). Still a long way to go, but this is progress!

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