please help!!!

[rubyandnutella]

My name is Lisa and I have a huge bunny crisis, I have a 1 almost 2 year old male rabbit that I am trying to pair with a 13 week old female rabbit, the male is neutered. When I first put them together it was fine they snuggled and were happy but now ruby, the little one, is scared of nutella, the male, he chases her around the pen that I put them in and when I break it up he ignores her for a bit which is good but then he aggresivly pulls out her fur while chasing her which, I immediately stop and seperate them back into their hutchs. I am so confused and scared about if this pair will work. Please help me.

Lisa

[Luna]

How long did they go through pre-bonding sessions before they first met when you put them together? I wouldn’t feel defeated just yet . Bonding can take a long time, and sometimes you have to go slowly and in small steps. You might have to restart the process by having non-contact play dates between the two, and then acclimate to introductions in a neutral location (ie. bathroom).

[sarahthegemini]

At 13 weeks I assume she isn’t spayed?

[Bam]

I think it’d be best to keep them separated (but in the same room, so they can see and hear and smell each other), until the girl can be spayed. After a month or so of healing, actual bonding could be resumed.

[rubyandnutella]

I did not do any pre-bonding sessions because I didn’t know what that was. By non-contact playdates I assume you mean having them in a room with a barrier so they can’t get through but can see and smell each other, should I use the bathroom as a location if that is where I have been having them bond. Another question I have is where can I find out about pre-bonding. and thank you for your advise.

[rubyandnutella]

No she isn’t spayed.

[rubyandnutella]

I have them in seperate hutchs but in view of each other, but should I relocate them to a room.

[Mikey]

You can only bond fixed rabbits. Since she is not spayed (too young) they cannot bond yet. He is attacking her because of this

[rubyandnutella]

Thank you for pointing this out to me.

[rubyandnutella]

luna, I tried out the non-contact playdate idea and it was going good at first ruby put her nose through the bars and sniffed him, he ignored her. And then she went to the back of the pen and they ignored each other for quite a while. She put her nose through again but then went back to the corner. He put his nose through the bars several times after which I thought was good, and then ruby came up and when she got there they had noses touching for a second and then he started to try nip her and made this grunting noise and tried to chase her. It happened again, but instead of chasing he pushed the barrier trying to nip her, I split them up after that for it had been around 15 minutes. what should I do?

[Luna]

I agree that bonding might have to be put on hold until Ruby is spayed since her and Nutella used to get along, but now are fighting. For now, separate hutches will work, but keep them far apart enough so that they can’t reach each other’s ears/noses through the bars. When you let them out to play, it will have to be one at a time or each in a separate room playing. Maybe other BB members can weigh in, but I think they aren’t supposed to play near the area where the hutches are? I know it will be hard to keep them physically separate from each other since they used to snuggle together, but it’s best for everyone’s safety, plus fighting could inhibit re-bonding in the future.

[rubyandnutella]

thanks for your help I’ll try gather fixed as soon as possible.

[Bam]

As Luna says, they must be prevented from biting each other through the cage bars. They can really hurt each other.

[rubyandnutella]

I have the hutches seperate about 5 cm.

[BanditCamp]

Separate the hutches for about 10-15 cm to prevent biting. If the holes are bigger move to 20cm you want them to be able to get close and sniff eachother but not harm

[rubyandnutella]

Ok thanks, will do.

[Author]

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