Bonding Help Please

[honore]

This must be the slowest bonding process ever. Each bunny claimed one bedroom and started hanging out under "their bed". After a while they would occasionally switch and swap beds. I feed them together, they eat side by side, then hop off each to another part of the house. Charlie continues to explore the house and discover new favorite spots. I would find a different bunny relaxing at a different spot throughout the day and for longer naps find them under the two beds. Charlie continues to chase Clementine, who hops off when he advances, but the speed of the chase has slowed down quite a bit.

Last morning at 6 am both bunnies hopped into my bed simultaneously but each from another side. As I was petting them, they both slowly came closer until nose touched and.... THEY STARTED GROOMING EACH OTHER!!! That lasted a couple of minutes and then they hopped off in opposite directions again. But it was def a break-through.

I am hoping that as Charlie's hormones (aka interest in Clementines backside) subsides, as Blueeyed suggests, Clementine will be less skittish around him. He doesn't try mounting her, but she doesn't like him sniffing and getting into her ladyparts . But at least they appear to like each other.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

That's awesome that they started to groom each other! I hope all goes well. I'm no expert at bunny bonding so I'll just keep up with this thread and hope for the best!

 

[Troller]

Sigh...if only I could get such a breakthrough. Congratulations and enjoy it but just in case be ready for the step back.

 

[honore]

Fingers crossed... so far it's been slow but definitely steadily improving. This is a pic from this morning.

 

[honore]

I think that maybe it's been a slow process but without any aggression because they are not confined to a small place together. There is plenty of space and opportunities for each one to retreat when they want. On Monday I will take them both in the carrier to the vet. They are both healthy but never have been to our new vet, so I figured I'll take them to get a quick look-over. It'll be a stress bonding with a purpose, I guess, so the vet knows them if ever there is a problem in the future and has their normal vitals on file.

 

[MILU]

Awww - this morning's pic is so cute! I hope it works!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Cute!

 

[honore]

I wouldn't call it a love affair yet, but definitely a blooming friendship.

They now hang out next to each other most of the day with just a few moments of mutual retreat. All chasing has stopped completely and they have started to "synchronize" all their bunny activities: grooming themselves, grooming each other, eating, drinking, exploring, and napping.

I have learned so much by watching them interact these past weeks. I am just amazed at how intelligent these animals are and how complex their communication process has been. I think a lot had to do with Clementine learning to trust Charlie, and to come to an agreement on her being the boss (which they both agreed on).

It helped to have the space they needed to slowly get to know each other with plenty of opportunities to get away from the other one when they needed alone time. Also, whenever I left the house, I separated them with a gate. I was there during all times when they had contact to prevent any escalating of disagreements, so neither one ended up harboring bad feelings (Clementine is the queen of grudges), because there really were no bad experiences or events that undermined the trust building process.

I'm adding a pic from this morning. They are chilling under the kitchen table together .

 

[honore]

It has been over a month and a half that we brought home Charlie from the shelter. After initial difficulties, thumping, mounting, growling, poop and pee wars, both are now completely bonded. It is a joy to watch them together and to see how happy they make each other. I have seen a big change in our "old" bunny since then. She seems much more active and her personality has come out even more. The two eat, nap, and play together, but they also keep some independence from each other. And Clementine still loves her humans and is affectionate with us, which I was concerned would stop, but didn't. She has enough love for her rabbit and her human friends and she seems much happier now.

What I learned from this experience is that rabbits need to have lots of room to move and explore in a save environment, and that they are much happier in pairs than alone, even if we spend much time with them. Bonding was more complicated than I had anticipated, but with lots of patience and small but consistent steps, it could be done and was worth the additional expense of cleaning supplies