Bonding On Carpet

[dbrocks]

I have been trying to bond my two (neutered) male Netherland dwarf rabbits. Booker, the uncle, is almost a year and a half. His nephew, Galileo, is approaching a year.

The bonding is going on four weeks, and they have been upgraded to running around on the kitchen's linoleum floors. They groom each other, and get along splendidly... until I try putting them on carpet.

For some reason, anytime I try allowing them even a little bit of carpet, havoc ensues. Galileo suddenly forgets his potty training, and will nip his uncle who ends up hiding from his nephew. Is there any tips to get them to be friendly on the carpet?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ilovepets]

are they litter trained? before my spayed rabbit was litter trained, she would occasionally pee on my floor. it is natural for animals to pee on absorbent surfaces. if they are not litter box trained, try it. start with putting the box in their pee corner with some hay to eat. once they use it with no accidents, move it to a room and see if they still go in it. when i bring my rabbit upstairs (she has her own room in the cellar) i bring her letterbox up and set up a "cage corner" with her box, water, and hay. when i first bring her up, i will herd her into her box to remind her where the box is and sometimes she goes pee, which is the goal before she goes running around.

once they are litter trained, try introducing soft surfaces and carpets slowly, maybe you have an extra piece of carpeting. it will probably take some trial and error. if they do have an accident, i recommend vinegar- it works wonders!

 

[dbrocks]

Both rabbits are litter trained, and the carpeted area is a neutral space out of sight from the cages (which are placed next to each other).

My goal is to eventually not need to cage them, but this sudden dislike for each other on carpet has been the largest road block so far.

 

[whiskylollipop]

By "neutral space", do you mean neither rabbit has EVER gone there before? This is important, because once one of the rabbits have been through an area, even just once a long time ago, they may still consider it their territory and defend it against the other. You would then have to let both rabbits out on the carpet, one at a time, for several days until both have established their scents there and they slowly get used to their mixed scents in that territory.

 

[JBun]

It has to do with being introduced to a new area causing a surge of marking and dominance behaviors, especially if you are allowing too much space too soon, as this can sometimes lead to more squabbles breaking out with some rabbits.

Are your buns fully bonded, living together full time and getting along well in their normal area? And if so, what is there current living area like? If they aren't fully bonded yet, is there a particular reason why they haven't bonded at this point?

 

[dbrocks]

whiskylollipop: I will try mixing the scents. One time, a while back, I let Galileo out on that segment of carpet once. I wiped it down and it has been a while since he was in there (for around 10 minutes), so I didn't think it would effect the neutral area.

JBun: They are currently not bonded, and haven't been bonded yet because I got them in September and had to wait until January to get them neutered (the vet was on vacation, and no one else in the area would do it for under $300 each). They get along well in their normal area and they each have their own hutch that is two tiered and large enough so that one could house both.

 

[JBun]

What is their 'normal' bonding area? Is there a particular reason the bonding process has taken 4 weeks? Were there issues or anything? How often are you doing bunny dates and for how long? Have you tried to finish the bonding process in their normal bonding area?

If the carpeted area is considered neutral, I wouldn't be letting either of them out there yet, especially separately, unless you are going to do the rest of the bonding precess there. You don't want them scent marking and claiming that as their territory until they are fully bonded, as it could make it harder to introduce them both to that area once they are a pair. If you do move the bonding dates to the carpet, then just know that moving the rabbits to a new area can set the bonding process back some, as you have seen when you tried it. And if you do move to the carpet, you should start out limiting their space with an xpen, then gradually expanding the area as they sort things out and are getting along.