Baxter! and Bab's bonding not working?

[juliew19673]

Firstly both of my buns are fixed. So its not that.. Just tp get it out of the way.

I've bonded feral cats to other cats; dogs to cats, bunnies to cats; but 2 bunnies seem beyond my reach?! Bax and Gab (aka Gumdrop, aka Gabbi) every single time I try to get them together "I" get bitten and they get irritated with each other. They also can just "LOVE" each other through the bars of Gabs Xpen.. Not sure why the bars give them so much security - as the minute they see each other outside - they/Gab's starts to circle and become very aggressive if they both are not under my hand.

I have more knoweledgable bun people over to my home to"show me" how to bond them, and their whole approach is sitting with each bun "head-to-head" for 15 minutes then putting them away.

Then you wait..

Try again..

I've done this a few times on mine own. Tried for the next time to let them "Romp About" (as I assume we have made progress) and then they both turn into "Sumo Wrestlers?", and hate each other for the next 48 hours..

I've read the bonding process on the boards library and am thinking its ME? Not sure what to dne bun Loves me (Bax the first) Gab's likes me but is not sure and she is the one that is the "Holy Terror" during bonding sesssions. I think she feels dominant but is the one with the most "restrictive space" (lives in an Xpen in the living room - gets time out every morning and night but watches the other animals run past her pen - can't even imagine what she's thinking)..

I'm sure its me- but tell me what I'm not picking up on or it can just can take this long.... Lord help me.

 

[Pipp]

Well girls are usually more territorial. And Baxter! has you and may not be willing to try as hard.

How long do the sessions last before 'issues' develop? It is recommended that the sessions end on a good note.

Have they done damage to each other aside from hair pulling?

Have you tried car rides? A visit to a friend's apartment for some totally neutral territory?

Are you feeding them together? Sometimes its a good distraction, although my mini-lop seems to think its the time to really get aggressive with her 'mate' and she humps him until he runs away from the food plate. Although he's so food aggressive, I don't blame her.

Sherry (NDx) and Dill (mini-rex) bonded in three weeks -- sort of - and that was after being free-run together for probably two weeks. Dill made Sherry hop at least three feet behind him during that time frame, if she got closer he'd chase her off or jump on her and slap her around. I never expected them to bond. Suddenly one night there was love in the air. And on the couch. But I don't think they could have stayed in the same cage together. Dill would still beat her up if anything mad him mad, even things totally unrelated to her. (I was going to put him in a wife-beater with a beer in front of the TV).

Darry (the cranky mini-lop) is barely bonded to Mister Bunny, the mini-rex. They're more like roommates than lovers. But Darry was pretty tightly bonded to Radar before she was widowed, although she'd push him around, too. (Its interesting that after two years of living side by side abandoned in an old shed, Darry and Dill never did or would bond).

But Sherry and Marvin are very tightly bonded, I don't even recall how it happened. onder:

Anyhoo, I'm rambling! Suffice to say everybunny is different, but chances are you will end up with some sort of a bond soon. Maybe the 'any port in a storm' method will hurry things along. Put them together when they're stressed (the car ride, etc) or lonely (put both of them on 'ignore').

Of course you can always just give up and just find each of them a friend that's more compatible. Four bunnies is my idea of a good time. :biggrin2:

Seriously, sometimes having them be free-run together unsupervised and sharing meals is doable even if cage-sharing is not. You have a good advantage with the free-run status.


sas :goodluck:

 

[kahlin]

I'm going to say it's not you at all. Bunnies are so different. I've had seven in total, and have done a few different bonds. Some are *way* easier than others. And some just don't work ever.

I hope that's not the case for you. Maybe they need a break? I don't really know...

A while back I was working on bonding Finley to Teagan. Unfortunately, there was a nasty fight and they just couldn't get beyond it. Then we ended up moving their cages to a new room and we saw some progress. We were about to start up again...but then we lost Teagan.

I don't want to end this post on a sad note though....and since then I've bonded my Fin-a-lyn to Behr and I'm now working on a Fin/Behr/Zayne trio.

 

[juliew19673]

My "sessions" last about 10 minutes then I let them try each other out. Maybe this is the mistake I'm making. Maybe I should just put them back into their respective spaces.

Hmm and girls being more territorial makes sense as to Babs behavior. I just can't wait for the day when I have no Xpen set up anywhere in my home... Lofty ideals I believe.

Thanks for advice!

 

[elrohwen]

I would try stressing first - take them on a car ride, or in a laundry basket on top of the washing machine. The idea is to have them snuggle together under stress and most bunnies will not fight in this situation. If you do it enough times, they will associate each other with snuggling.

Next step after snuggling would be to pet them side by side, as others recommended to you. Just don't let them free right away. I would do at least two weeks of just stressing and/or forced snuggling with you petting before you let them free with each other.

Also, where are you doing the sessions? If you're not already, I would have them in the bathtub when you're doing forced snuggling and finally letting them free together. It's a small enough space that they shouldn't be able to claim territory.

Good luck! I don't think it's you - each pair of bunnies is unique and different things work for different pairs. I would try to read about others' bonding experiences and see what techniques they used. Try different things! Some things may not work for your buns, but something else might provide a breakthrough. Just get creative.

 

[Pipp]

I guess the question is how long are they on their own before they start fighting? Do they hang out for awhile and then it starts or is it as soon as they see each other (without any human interaction)?



sas :clover:

 

[juliew19673]

It really happens pretty quickly; its a couple of face sniffs and then they realize they are not being separated by the safety of the Xpen and then Babs lunges - bax jumps back - Bab's lunges again and then its a chase Babs after Bax until Baxter stops and turns around as if to say "Hey this is MY house" and try's to stand his ground, which then Babs gets a mouthful of his hair from his behind area and then Bax darts off and then the whole lil dance begins again.. Or until I get my hand inbetween them and then Babs just bites me..

 

[elrohwen]

How big of an area are you doing the bonding in?

 

[juliew19673]

Well its rather large - its my living room.. Maybe this is too much space for them to handle?

 

[slavetoabunny]

juliew19673 wrote:

Well its rather large - its my living room.. Maybe this is too much space for them to handle?

You should use a smaller area. I would use the bathroom or the x-pen. The bathtub is a good choice. It is slippery and stresses them a little.

 

[elrohwen]

I would move to the bathroom. Many bunnies have issues in such a large space because it allows them to be territorial and chase.