I will try to keep this concise! The main point of this article is to be careful when deeming your bunnies “bonded”. I thought mine were bonded (and this was confirmed by a house rabbit rescue volunteer), but 5 months later there were two serious fights and they had to be separated permanently.
The bunnies:
Bertha, a widowed ~6 yr old spayed female, and JP, a 2 yr old neutered male that was born at the local rabbit rescue.
The bonding process:
We took Bertha on some speed dates at the rescue a couple of weeks after her previous mate passed away. She seemed very comfortable around a very timid rabbit, she even gave him a few grooms on their first date, so we decided to give him a shot. After several dates at the rescue, we decided to bring JP home and complete bonding ourselves. Here we made what I believe was our first mistake: we didn’t allow JP enough acclimation time at home. He was very scared of everything, but, my instincts were telling me that until he was bonded, he wouldn’t be able to really settle in to his new home. In retrospect, I believe we should have waited a while.
We tried some shorter dates first in the bathtub, which were uneventful. I tried car rides once, but they started fighting in the carrier. I noticed that each date always started the same, which fighting, but ended peacefully. I felt that JP was always so stressed at the start of the date from being handled and moved, that he was always on the defensive at first. Berth was constantly asking to be groomed, but he wouldn’t do it, so then she would lunge at him. Due to this pattern, I opted to try the marathon method.
Started the marathon in a large cardboard box. They scuffled at first, but settled down after a while. After 24 hrs in the box, with no scuffles for the last 12, I moved them to a small pen in the kitchen. No real scuffles. Long story short, I gradually increased the size of the kitchen pen. Throughout this process, there was no serious scuffling after the initial times in the box, and little food aggression. Bertha would occcasionally groom JP for a split second, but you could tell she was dominant it almost seemed like she was taking pity on him. He never groomed her, and they didn’t snuggle or share the litter box (but both are pretty big rabbits).
After about 8 days of living together 24 hrs a day in the kitchen, with no scuffles, we (myself and the rabbit rescue volunteer), decided they were as bonded as they were going to get. Even though there weren’t any snuggles or grooming, the volunteer seemed pretty convinced that their relationship would grow and develop. In some sense, this was true, but I believe this was the second big mistake: I do not believe they were fully bonded. Even though they were not fighting, I should have waited to see more positive behaviors.
They moved into their permanent condo without incident. Over a 5 month period, they were pretty good about sharing food, would sleep near each other, and occasionally would snuggle a bit. But no grooming, and very little snuggling. No litter box sharing either.
When it all went wrong:
I posted about this elsewhere and thought it was resolved, but they basically got in two serious fights within a week. Like, locked on to each other, kicking, biting, fur flying kind of fights. Both occured with very little warning, except for a slight increase in food aggression from Bertha leading up to the first one, and the fact that we got home late so they were getting their dinner a bit later than normal. We broke up the first fight with the vaccuum, and they both went back in their condo and acted like nothing happened. After the first one, I took them both to the vet. JP had a bite which was healing fine on its own, Bertha had no injuries. At this point, I made the 3rd mistake: I should have separated them given that JP had sustained an actual bite. I had read that when rabbits fight, the bond can be broken, but, after we returned from the vet, they seemed better than ever so we thought things were going OK. They seemed more relaxed around each other, and I saw more positive behaviors, so I assumed that the vet trip had served as a stress-bonding session and had helped them sort out their differences. But, I was wrong.
1 week after the first fight, a second fight broke out, with no obvious cause (they had already eaten breakfast). JP was OK, but Bertha sustained an injury to her lip which exposed a nerve and required stitches, pain meds, antibiotics. We have a studio apartment, so keeping the rabbits separate really isn’t an option, so we had to take JP back to the rescue.
My interpretation of all of this:
In retrospect, I believe that they were not fully bonded. I never felt fully comfortable about their relationship they way I did with Bertha’s past mate, but I had heard that ever bond is different, so I didn’t want to force something that wasn’t right for them. Even if they were bonded, I should have separated them after the first fight. I am so thankful that we were home for both of these fights, otherwise they could have been much much worse.
I believe that JP was so scared when we brought him home, that he acted differently during bonding. As he warmed up to us and his new home, he decided to change the terms of his relationship with Bertha.
Overall, in the future, I will be sure to:
– Allow the new bun to acclimate to it’s new home
– Be sure not to rush the bonding process (and really wait for positive behaviors, not just lack of negative behaviors)
– Trust my gut over whether the bond is solid!
We are so thankful to have a rescue in town that was able to take JP back (they actually seemed happy to have him back, as they kind of think of him as their bunny), and we are so thankful that neither rabbit sustained life threatening injuries. Bertha has recovered and is enjoying single life again. We plan to see how she is doing in a couple months. If she seems lonely (as she did after her previous mate died), we will likely try bonding again, but will move much more cautiously!
***EDIT below, added 2 years after the original post***
One of the points I brought up was that I made a mistake in not letting the JP settle in long enough. I think this is still partially correct, but in my case, JP was very scared and skittish, and probably would have need MONTHS of time to adjust to his new home and learn not to fear me so much (he only started opening up a tiny bit after about 5 months… and who knows, adding in bonding sessions he might have closed right back up from all the handling and stress). Adding a week or 4 wouldn’t have accomplished anything. For anyone getting ready to bond their buns who comes across this post, I think the key is to learn to read your bun’s behavior. At each step, the buns should be behaving somewhat “normally” before proceeding. Granted, with a new bun, it can be hard to know what “normal” is… but I think it’s safe to assume if a bun is acting very scared and spooking at everything then you should wait a bit. I think in my case that the bond between JP and Bertha was going to be a very tough bond no matter what, and maybe not possible at all. The way most rescues bond doesn’t involve any pre-bonding or settling in at all, but they have the benefit of lots of neutral space to work with, and people that really understand rabbit behavior. I do think that it’s good to allow the new bun to settle in, but I think the key is to gauge how your rabbits are doing at each step, and slow down when needed.
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The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.
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