Bonding questions

[ljamos]

Hi all, I have some questions about behaviors during introductory bonding sessions. This is my first time bonding bunnies, and I've done a lot of reading but have lots of questions about how my bunnies are doing. We have Trixie, a spayed female rabbit who used to have a rabbit companion in her previous home. Yesterday we met Oscar, a neutered boy who was in need of a new home and used to have a female companion in his old home. When his previous owner brought him over he was very scared of the new environment, so I let him become more comfortable before I had a short "date" in a completely neutral location (the bathroom) to see how they got along. There was no fighting, biting, etc. At first they were indifferent to each other, then they approached each other to sniff each other. After that, he did mount her several times; at first she would sit and not move but then she started running away whenever he would do it. Whenever he would mount her I let it go for a few seconds before I separated them; once she started running away I separated them as soon as she started running. She did mount him once towards the end of the first session; he ran away from her pretty quickly when she did that.

Our second session last night and our morning session today were pretty similar. Trixie hates to be picked up, so when I picked her up to take her to the neutral spot she huddled against him at first. After that, she pretty much hid behind the toilet. Oscar sniffed at her, groomed himself, and came out to sniff around, but she just stayed behind the toilet to hide. He did keep coming back to try to mount her and she was having none of it. As soon as he tried, she started running and he wound up chasing her around the toilet. I separated them, she went back to hide, and then the cycle repeated itself.

Also, Trixie has a multi-level NIC cage in the corner of our living room with a NIC playpen around it for overnight and when we can't supervise her out around the house. Oscar is living in our spare large pet store cage until they are bonded and he can join her in the NIC cage. Right now I have his cage very close to her cage, so it's within the playpen area, but the cages aren't close enough for them to get to each other. When I let Trixie out for her time out of her cage, she will go to his cage and try to chew on the bars - she doesn't try to bite him; it almost seems like she's trying to get to him to see him. But, when I let Oscar out for time out of his cage, if he approaches her cage she starts scrabbling at the grids and floor of her cage. I can't tell if she's trying to get to him to fight or to see him.

My question is, are these behaviors normal for this stage? Are there any new things I could be doing or anything I could do differently to help the process?

Thank you!

 

[lovelops]

Yeah it sounds normal to me and it sounds like the sessions are going better than mine with two females, Lady a Holland Lop and Brooke a big looking Californian type bunny. They are still trying to bite each other. The fact that they are not biting, and being over aggressive is a good thing. I've had mine since November of 2013 and they are still in different areas of the house.

I mean they aren't at the grooming each other stage yet, which will take a bit of time, but will come, but they ain't killing each other and trying to bite and attack and that is a good thing. I say over all it's very positive.

Vanessa

 

[ljamos]

This mounting is killing me! I just had to end their session because they each want to mount the other and that seems to be the sticking point. I tried doing it in the bathtub this time so they can't just hide behind the toilet or chase each other around the toilet in circles (and so I can break them up easier if needed). There were some good things: each of them groomed themselves next to each other, but not at the same time; Trixie flopped down next to Oscar; they rubbed their noses against each other; they explored together a little bit; and they were each presenting their heads to each other for grooming (but neither will groom the other). But, every good thing was stopped when Oscar or Trixie decided it was time to mount the other.

Trixie still runs every time Oscar tries it, he chases her, and she starts to get upset. Oscar will let it go for a second before he gets upset and runs off. At first I could get them separated and they would chill for a few minutes before they would start doing something else for a while. Eventually I had to grab her and take her out of the tub because I separated them and they both turned right back around and tried to run back at each other. When I took her out, there were a couple of tufts of her fur in the tub that he had pulled out during the last encounter.

I don't want their sessions to just turn into mounting/fighting sessions. What can I do?