Oliver_and_Company
New Member
Hello everyone! I'm new to this particular bunny site, I hope you guys can help me out with some issues I'm having bonding / some behavior issues.
Buckle up, this is a long one.
I'll start from the beginning. Once upon a time I had Oliver (a now 4 year old Netherland Dwarf neutered male) and Charlotte (a ? year old lion head mix spayed female). They were a match made in bunny heaven. Unfortunately, Charlotte passed away a few months ago. I guess she was older than I thought. Oliver was devastated. He stopped eating, hiding in the back of his cage and being sad.
Enter Gus. I was not planning on getting a male bun OR a young one at that. I knew it would be harder to bond them with the age difference and otherwise, but I fell in love with Gus when I met him and knew I had to bring him home.
I attempted bonding them before Gus' neuter seeing as it was going to be about a month before my vet had time to get him in. This did not go well. So I waited.
Fast foward to now, it's been a week over a month since Gus has been neutered. I've been swapping cages. Oliver and Gus live side by side with just enough room between them to keep them from nipping each other. I've tried some bathtub sessions but neither one wants to back down and give dominance. Furthermore, Gus seems to be a little terror. He's very affectionate, when he wants to be. But he's easily set off and will lunge at you, honk, and even chase after you if you walk by too quickly. I've never had a rabbit be this aggressive before. He has calmed down a little in the past week. But is this normal and just part of the "teenage" bun phase? Oliver was not like this (I had him since he was a wee baby).
I've been working at bonding the two (sessions in the bathtub that is) for a couple weeks now and it has always ended up with vicious biting, fur pulling, chasing, flipping over, and so on. I try to stop it as quickly as possible but it's hard when they've really got one another. Gus normally is quick to hump Oliver, which I've let happen a few times just to see if it will establish dominance. But he does it to the point of pulling out his fur and then it ends up in biting.
My optimism is draining. I want them to be friends so bad. I wish I could make them understand that being friends will improve their quality of life tenfold. But I just don't know what to do anymore.
So here are my questions, in short.
1. Is Gus' aggressive behavior normal for a young rabbit? Is this something he's likely to grow out of?
2. From the information I've given, is there hope for the two of them to bond? Some people have said "every bun will eventually bond" but one of them is going to have to give...
3. When should I know it's time to give up?
4. Is there something else I should try with bonding? I've taken them outside, in the bathtub, in the living room, on the floor in the bathroom, tons of neutral places. All end up pretty similar.
5. Could it be possible that getting a female, bonding her to Oliver, then using that as maybe a way to bond Gus also? Would that be something that could work?
I'm sorry for this being so long... I'm just very sad that this has been 3+ months of little to no progress...
Thank you in advance!
Buckle up, this is a long one.
I'll start from the beginning. Once upon a time I had Oliver (a now 4 year old Netherland Dwarf neutered male) and Charlotte (a ? year old lion head mix spayed female). They were a match made in bunny heaven. Unfortunately, Charlotte passed away a few months ago. I guess she was older than I thought. Oliver was devastated. He stopped eating, hiding in the back of his cage and being sad.
Enter Gus. I was not planning on getting a male bun OR a young one at that. I knew it would be harder to bond them with the age difference and otherwise, but I fell in love with Gus when I met him and knew I had to bring him home.
I attempted bonding them before Gus' neuter seeing as it was going to be about a month before my vet had time to get him in. This did not go well. So I waited.
Fast foward to now, it's been a week over a month since Gus has been neutered. I've been swapping cages. Oliver and Gus live side by side with just enough room between them to keep them from nipping each other. I've tried some bathtub sessions but neither one wants to back down and give dominance. Furthermore, Gus seems to be a little terror. He's very affectionate, when he wants to be. But he's easily set off and will lunge at you, honk, and even chase after you if you walk by too quickly. I've never had a rabbit be this aggressive before. He has calmed down a little in the past week. But is this normal and just part of the "teenage" bun phase? Oliver was not like this (I had him since he was a wee baby).
I've been working at bonding the two (sessions in the bathtub that is) for a couple weeks now and it has always ended up with vicious biting, fur pulling, chasing, flipping over, and so on. I try to stop it as quickly as possible but it's hard when they've really got one another. Gus normally is quick to hump Oliver, which I've let happen a few times just to see if it will establish dominance. But he does it to the point of pulling out his fur and then it ends up in biting.
My optimism is draining. I want them to be friends so bad. I wish I could make them understand that being friends will improve their quality of life tenfold. But I just don't know what to do anymore.
So here are my questions, in short.
1. Is Gus' aggressive behavior normal for a young rabbit? Is this something he's likely to grow out of?
2. From the information I've given, is there hope for the two of them to bond? Some people have said "every bun will eventually bond" but one of them is going to have to give...
3. When should I know it's time to give up?
4. Is there something else I should try with bonding? I've taken them outside, in the bathtub, in the living room, on the floor in the bathroom, tons of neutral places. All end up pretty similar.
5. Could it be possible that getting a female, bonding her to Oliver, then using that as maybe a way to bond Gus also? Would that be something that could work?
I'm sorry for this being so long... I'm just very sad that this has been 3+ months of little to no progress...
Thank you in advance!