Bonding without neutral territory??

[Deleted User]

First off, I am trying to convince my husband to get a second rabbit. He doesn’t want to, because our bun is SO good and he thinks that another bun won’t be as well behaved and that they will turn into heathens with diabolic plans of chewing up everything… (not his exact words but you get the point lol). He thinks that we got “lucky” with Ophelia and that we won’t find another rabbit so well behaved. I am currently looking into rescue buns because some of them have foster families so they will be able to tell me about the temperament of the bun, litterbox habits, and any destructive behaviors. I think that with that information, I’ll be able to tell if this new bun is going to turn out to be a problem.

I want to get her a companion now that she is spayed. I understand she will need recovery time and time for hormones to subside, so I was not going to plan on trying to find a bun for at least 4 weeks. My husband and I both work 40 hours a week, and while I do spend 2+ hours with her a day after work, I feel like she would still benefit from having a companion throughout the day while we are gone. My biggest concern is that since she is free range, I have no neutral territory to introduce them on. My bathroom is very small, so it is not suitable for an introduction and they may run around and hurt themselves on the bottom of the counters. What can I do in this case? Should I try to bond or will it just result in my present female being too territorial for it to work?

[tobyluv]

You can fashion a neutral area of sorts in any room in your house. Get an x-pen. If it has housed any rabbits before, make sure that you wash it down. place a sheet or several large towels under the x-pen to mask any scents in carpets or rugs. Carry both rabbits into the x-pen. You could even drape some sheets over the sides of the pen to block out any familiar scenery.

I have had a lot of success using x-pens for bonding. My husband and I get in with the rabbits, to break up and fighting or excessive humping if needed. And we’re also there to comfort a rabbit that may feel overwhelmed with the situation. Thankfully, we’ve never had to deal with that and all of our bonding attempts have been pretty easy. There may be some scuffling and/or humping, but that is natural. Start out with a few minutes then increase the time together each day.

Some people may use a cage or carrier or the bathtub or a closet to bond rabbits if they don’t have a specific neutral space, but the x-pen has always worked well for me. I have bonded 5 pairs of rabbits over the years, and it only took a few days each time. It can take weeks or months, though.

Most rabbits love being with their own kind, but you need to be prepared for the rare situation of your rabbit not being able to bond with another. In that case, they would need to be kept separately forever.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the suggestion! The rescue says that the buns can be brought back if the bonding is unsuccessful, because they of course don’t want to encourage you to just dump bun in a field if it doesn’t work out. I found out that they will do “speed dates” for buns, but I don’t know how good of an indication that is that they will get along. My bun is very, very sweet and calm (as calm as a 6 month high energy binky machine can be lol). The bonding is for her sake, not my own, so if she doesn’t want a companion then I am ok with that! I just want her to be happy and I’ve read a lot that pairs can be happier than a lone bun.

[Deleted User]

What about the cage situation? She is free range and she HATES being stuck in her cage. I have read that you should place their cages several inches apart to allow them to smell each other, but I don’t think she will tolerate being in the cage for long. Should I just do it in sessions a couple hours at a time? And keep the new bun in my bedroom and not let her in there when she is out for free roam? I bought her a huge cage so I really don’t have room for another large one, so I would need to get something smaller that can be temporary for the other bun.

[ThorBunny]

Thank you for this thread! I am in practically the same situation, free range bun, trying to convince my husband that another rabbit is a good idea to try I talked to our shelter and would also be able to take one back if Thor failed to bond, but I like the idea of her having a friend while I am gone at work.

I have my eyes on this wonderful bun that has been at the shelter for ages… sigh…

[kirstyol]

we had no neutral territory either so we took the xpen and bought a brand new blanket, moved the pen from its usual position and put it somewhere else with the blanket. as they started getting on we moved it gradually back to where it usually goes then started letting them play outwith the pen for a while. to be fair though their bond was ridiculous they were lying down together within an hour so I’m maybe not the best person to ask

[tobyluv]

Posted By BunNoob<3 on 6/26/2017 1:44 PM

What about the cage situation? She is free range and she HATES being stuck in her cage. I have read that you should place their cages several inches apart to allow them to smell each other, but I don’t think she will tolerate being in the cage for long. Should I just do it in sessions a couple hours at a time? And keep the new bun in my bedroom and not let her in there when she is out for free roam? I bought her a huge cage so I really don’t have room for another large one, so I would need to get something smaller that can be temporary for the other bun.

If Ophelia is used to being free range, don’t start caging her now.  Let her continue to be free range, and keep the new bunny confined.  Of course, you will  need to let the new bunny out for play and exercise each day, but you can do that in your room, with the door closed. You should limit a rabbit’s space the first few days it is in a new home anyway.  Then just let the new bunny and Ophelia meet in the bonding area every day.   You do need to let the new bunny get used to his or her new home for about a week before you try to put them together.   If the place where you are getting the new bunny doesn’t spay or neuter them until they have been adopted, of course you will have to wait a few weeks before starting bonding.   If you did happen to house the new bunny in a room that Ophelia has access to, make sure that there is a barrier between the bunny’s cage and Ophelia so that they can’t nip each other through the bars.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for that info!! I was also going to ask how long I should let new bun get settled in. I was actually considering keeping them separate for a bit and bonding myself with new bun before trying to bond him to Ophelia. I was thinking I could keep him in my room for a few weeks and let him warm up to me. My logic is that if I don’t have any bond to him it may just be a disaster for him to have this strange bun and strange hooman around. I thought maybe he would be more comfortable with the bonding if I had bonded with him first? During that time I would switch out their litter boxes/blankets/toys so they were getting used to each others scent. Do you think it would make a difference if I bonded with him first before introducing them? I am of course going to bring her for bunny dating to make sure we get a bun with a good possibility of getting along. But I fear that one we get home she might become really upset with new bun because in her mind this is her apartment haha.

[tobyluv]

It’s possible that the new bunny would be more comfortable with rabbit bonding if he was first bonded with you, or came to be at ease with you. Then he would just be dealing with one stranger at a time. But you never know with bonding. It’s also unfortunately not always a given that rabbits will like each other after they get home, after having seemed to hit it off during dating at the rescue. Any rabbit taken to a rescue is going to act differently than they would at home. They may be more subdued, even a little frightened at being in a new place with all the different smells, sounds, people and other rabbits. Or they may be more stressed or aggressive at the rescue. It’s hard to get an accurate reading when the rabbit is out of their element. I never did any pre dating with the pairs I bonded and it always worked out well, but that’s not always the case, of course. Swapping out their blankets and toys, etc. is a good idea.

Rabbits can be very territorial and females seem to be more so. Hopefully Ophelia will welcome a new companion and not feel like he is an intruder in her home.

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all the advice/info, you’ve been very helpful

[Bianca]

You have described my life a bit here.

I have had two successful bondings directly in the original rabbit’s territory. I do think I got a bit lucky to be honest though, and creating an x-pen like others have suggested would probably be a smarter option. But what I did was put the new bun in the “rabbits” area of the study, and have the original bun free range in the study. I would make sure the barrier separating would stop them from hurting each other. They could see and sniff each other, but not hurt. And they had space to move away from each other.

Worked great when Ogg was the original rabbit and Terry was the new one. They just slept next to each other by the barrier until I let them be together.

Yesterday I set that up for Terry and new rabbit Maggie. Except Terry decided he was so in love with her that he managed to jump in twice from different objects in the room. So I gave up and let them be together. Not sure if that counts to be honest!

My point is it is possible to bond in “non neutral” territory. But I still think I got lucky. I have another rabbit on hold at the RSPCA pending eye treatment. When I attempt for a trio it will be in neutral territory using the x-pen idea.

I think I saw you mention meet and greets? They can be useful, but I think sometimes the bunny behaviour will change at home, so the meet and greet doesn’t always help. But I did bring Ogg along for a meet and greet and she picked Terry as they rabbit she hated the least. They bonded in 24 hours of bringing him home. I didn’t do a meet and greet for Terry and Maggie though. I adopted Maggie because she had been at the RSPCA longer than I liked and needed an experienced home so I couldn’t resist.

Good luck!

[Deleted User]

I’m going to get an x pen and some new blankets. Ophelia is very very sweet, so I am hoping that she will welcome a new friend. The bonding process is will take a while, I know that for sure because I am picking up a mini lop buck next week and he has not been neutered yet. Don’t worry, I am keeping them in separate rooms! She still needs to recover and then he will need to afterwards so it will be a while before they meet. Meanwhile I will do pre bonding like switching litter trays and blankets/stuffies.The reason I went ahead and am getting him now is so that I can bond with him before I try to bond with Ophelia. I think it would be less stressful for new bun if he knows that he can trust me, even if he can’t trust Ophelia quite yet! I’m hoping the bonding goes smoothly.

[Bianca]

That sounds like a really good idea. You can get to know him, he can get to know you, and they can get to know each other via smell. Good luck! I hope you share photos at some point!

[Dface]

I brought home a new male to bond to my female and didnt take the time to bond with him as I thought it was better for my rabbits to have the strong relationship over me…I have realised that this was a mistake thought and I think you are very right to bond with him first!!

My poor dude started to act up, and I think it was due to everyone being a stranger and a threat and it was an overwhelming situation! Since spending more one on one time with him he has calmed down and his aggression in bonding sessions has abated

Good luck with the new bun!

[Deleted User]

Awesome! I am new to buns and therefore I have never gone through the bonding process! It took about two months for Ophelia to get used to me and now she’s just the sweetest thing. Since she got spayed, I have kept her out of my bedroom. I used to let her in but she jumps on my bed and it is just too high off the ground and I was afraid she may hurt herself while healing. Since she’s been out of that room I am going to clean it well and put new bun in there when I get him. I’ll bond with him for a bit then get him fixed and wait for the hormones to die down. So I know this is going to be a long process, But hopefully with all the time that I spend with him he will be comfortable and they will also have plenty of time to get used to each others scent before they meet. I will definitely take pictures! I want to have a photo album of the two for memories down the road!

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