I'm trying to get some feedback as to how things are going so far, we've now had 3 bonding sessions. Background:
Gizmo - been with us 1 year. 3 year old spayed female lop. Spoiled, pretty lazy and chill rabbit.
Had 2 dates with Nova, both successful where Nova groomed, although Gizmo sat there frozen most of the time. No fighting or aggressive behavior.
Nova - adopted her 8 days ago, gave her 6 days to settle in with us before starting sessions. 1 year old spayed Lionhead.
Both rabbits are currently living in separate rooms, as this was advice from the shelter we got her from, they advise separate living rooms for both rabbits while starting bonding. I know other forums say to have them in the same room, separate cages...I'm not sure what's best?
Bonding sessions 1: A little bit of light chasing done by Gizmo, I'm not realizing she's doing it to try to mount Nova. During session 1 I broke up the chasing by lightly putting my hand on Gizmo, and it stopped. Nova groomed Gizmo a little bit
Session 2: Both rabbits ignored each other for most of the time. Gizmo groomed herself, and flopped for a bit. Nova again groomed, but only for a couple of seconds at a time.
Session 3: Chasing again to mount, this time it wasn't aggressive chasing, so I let it go on for a bit. Gizmo did mount Nova, and after about 5-10 seconds I broke it up. Nova is running from it, but then once Gizmo mounts she just sits there. I had to break up a couple of other mounts right away because Gizmo mounted Nova's head. Again light grooming from Nova to Gizmo, just for a few seconds here and there. Gizmo did flop, and put her head towards Nova to be groomed, but Nova didn't groom at that time.
I'm not sure if I should move the rabbits into the same room (keeping separate cages of course) or if I should keep them in separate rooms for now? I *think* bonding is going okay so far. We haven't had any biting or severe chasing or anything like that. Or should I just continue with the sessions for now and keep them in separate rooms? What do I do next?
Gizmo - been with us 1 year. 3 year old spayed female lop. Spoiled, pretty lazy and chill rabbit.
Had 2 dates with Nova, both successful where Nova groomed, although Gizmo sat there frozen most of the time. No fighting or aggressive behavior.
Nova - adopted her 8 days ago, gave her 6 days to settle in with us before starting sessions. 1 year old spayed Lionhead.
Both rabbits are currently living in separate rooms, as this was advice from the shelter we got her from, they advise separate living rooms for both rabbits while starting bonding. I know other forums say to have them in the same room, separate cages...I'm not sure what's best?
Bonding sessions 1: A little bit of light chasing done by Gizmo, I'm not realizing she's doing it to try to mount Nova. During session 1 I broke up the chasing by lightly putting my hand on Gizmo, and it stopped. Nova groomed Gizmo a little bit
Session 2: Both rabbits ignored each other for most of the time. Gizmo groomed herself, and flopped for a bit. Nova again groomed, but only for a couple of seconds at a time.
Session 3: Chasing again to mount, this time it wasn't aggressive chasing, so I let it go on for a bit. Gizmo did mount Nova, and after about 5-10 seconds I broke it up. Nova is running from it, but then once Gizmo mounts she just sits there. I had to break up a couple of other mounts right away because Gizmo mounted Nova's head. Again light grooming from Nova to Gizmo, just for a few seconds here and there. Gizmo did flop, and put her head towards Nova to be groomed, but Nova didn't groom at that time.
I'm not sure if I should move the rabbits into the same room (keeping separate cages of course) or if I should keep them in separate rooms for now? I *think* bonding is going okay so far. We haven't had any biting or severe chasing or anything like that. Or should I just continue with the sessions for now and keep them in separate rooms? What do I do next?