Bonding Questions

[Kayla&Ozzy]

Hello!

I recently adopted a spayed female (Kaytee) to bond with my neutered male (Ozzy). It’s been about a month and I’m just looking for some advice to ease my paranoid mind.

Right now, the two are living in the same room separated by x-pen fencing; they can always see each other and sniff through the fence. After about two weeks, I put them together in the kitchen (neutral area) and Ozzy made it very clear that he didn’t want Kaytee in his face. She would go in and put her head down for grooms and he would honk and nip (not sure if it was a nip or bite? There’s never been blood, thankfully) her, which I’m sure was him telling her that was too much too soon; me, being the nervous nelly I am, would interfere whenever that happened. I realized after a while that I should let them sort it out and eventually when he nipped she would just hide her face in his side. No humping or circling, just the same thing every time: Kaytee would go right up to him for grooms, he would nip/honk/bite and then she’d just hide her face in him.

Ozzy is a very nervous rabbit, so even leaving their room stresses him out an incredible amount. I’m wondering if him being that scared may be an issue for bonding, and in that case, is there something I can do about it? Once Kaytee has been ‘dealt’ with via the nipping, he either tries looking for an escape or will just sit there breathing quite heavily until they’re face-to-face again and the whole thing repeats.

Anyways, after a few sessions, nothing changed. It was just the same cycle every time and I wasn’t seeing progress, so I stepped back and gave them another two weeks of just living with the fence between them. There has been no aggression between the fence at all, they’ll sniff each other every now and then and that’s about it. I only just read about switching litter boxes, so I am starting that this evening. I did try and put them together again tonight and it was iffy. Kaytee actually groomed Ozzy and he took it, but he would go to bite her after whenever their faces got close. When he did that, she just buried her head in his side like she did before. Kaytee seems like she’s happy to be submissive (this was the first time she went to groom him, she did it twice this session), but Ozzy just doesn’t seem to care and still gets on her.

I’m wondering if I should keep going with the daily bonding sessions now or give them another week or so with the litterbox-switching before going for a consistent schedule of bonding sessions. I just get so nervous when he has a go at her, he’s pulled fur a couple times and it makes me nervous when he goes anywhere near her face. Is there any sort of ‘guideline’ for when I should step in during sessions?

[Mikey]

Kaytee is the alpha. She is trying to get Ozzy to submit. When she puts her head under him/into his fur, she is demanding that he, the underling, groom her, the alpha. He is honking and nipping (nipping is acceptable) to show her that he doesnt want to be the underling. But, on the plus side, hes not actively showing he wants to be the alpha, either. Kaytee is fine grooming him, as long as he does so in return. When he doesnt, and he nips her instead, she presses into him to show him that he will bow down to her. Its a stalemate until Ozzy submits, basically. I would be surprised if Kaytee submits in the end since she is so headstrong about being the alpha of the two.

Fur pulling is a problem though. Youll have to find a way to stop him from pulling her fur. Some users use a water spray bottle.

I would give it two weeks of litter box swapping, then continue bonding how you are. Theyre going well so far, although neither seem to be budging in their stance yet. Thats common, though. The plus side is that they do not hate one another and that they keep trying to communicate when they are in their bonding sessions

[Kayla&Ozzy]

Ahhh, wow! I wouldn’t have figured that was what’s going on, but it makes sense now that you mention it! It doesn’t surprise me either, she’s a very confident little lady- quite a character. This information is super helpful, though! It puts me at ease knowing that this all is normal. Ozzy and I are alike in that we’re huge worriers.

I’ll have to get a spray bottle and see if that helps with the fur pulling.

Thank you so much for the advice, I really appreciate it!

[Mikey]

Its often that the females are the alphas in the bunny world. They can be very stubborn while the males are usually more laid back They sound like a promising bond, though! With time and patience, I think they can work it out

[Bladesmith]

Men. They just don’t get it. lol.

[Author]

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