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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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 Bonding help

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    • Nibbles1418
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        Alright so some background…..We recently got a second bunny, Moxie(3 years old female), with the intentions of bonding her to my Nibbles(1.1/2 female). we went through the steps of letting Nibbles date a couple rabbits, and then after she chose moxie, had her do a few more before taking her home. They were in separate rooms and did short dates in a neutral space. It went great. They were genuinely interested. Nibbles even laid completely down and they groomed each other. I put them in the same room but separated and by Xpen and they were adorable. They would go up to each other and just hangout. I then switched them and put them in the others area, to get rid of any territory. That lasted a few days. Finally I opened the gate and they started to investigate and then out of no where they started fighting. It only lasted a few seconds but I had never seen either show ANY aggression to each other or anyone. It was awful. I separated them and made it so they couldn’t see each other through the pen for a few days. Then opened it again. In less than 10 seconds they were at eachother again. Awful. 

        Now, I have no idea what to do. I don’t want to let them anywhere near each other in fear they will get seriously hurt. during the first fight when I was breaking it up i had to kneel to pick up Nibbles and moxie bit my leg (obviously not intentionally) and she broke skin through my jeans… So they were seriously trying to hurt echother. I looked them over really good and they are both fine. I just don’t know where to go from here Please help


      • Sleepy
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        190 posts Send Private Message

          I’d let them take a break from each other. I’ve heard recommendations from anywhere between a few weeks to a few months depending on how bad the fight, to let grudges fade and for them to forget the fights.

          During that time, it couldn’t hurt to give them both stuffie friends. After a few days, make sure the stuffie is covered with their scent, swap plushie friends. If they’re still aggressive towards each other, it’s a nice way to get them used to each other’s scent again and to get them used to sharing and living with each other’s scent. Continue swapping plushie friends until you try bonding again.


        • Dface
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          1084 posts Send Private Message

            If it was just a scuffle you can let them cool off before trying to go back a step to when it was still working, ie back to neutral dates. Make sure the interaction ends positive for them as well.

            Instead of allowing them into each others homes, by just opening the gate, give them a common area to chill in together. (For me a common area was my sitting room-both my buns spent time there, but they knew it wasn’t their home, so they didnt feel compelled to defend it-but it was still not neutral and did smell like the themselves. I also only gave them a very small area of it in which to hang out, which I increased as time wore on.)
            Your buns should be showing total comfort with each other in the stage before you move on to the next. So you’d want to see Moxie and Nibbles happily grooming, or just relaxing together with no fighting in a neutral zone before moving to a common area and the same thing in the common area before letting them into a ‘home’ environment for one or the other.

            If it was a big fight, you’ll need to give them a good amount of cooling off time like Sleepy has said, and then let them start from the very beginning again.

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        Forum BONDING Bonding help