Hello,
I have wrote before prior to bonding my two male buns. Since then, I have started the bonding process with my Lop Gucci and Netherland Dwarf Kenzo. For months (in that time while kenzo recovered from his neutering), they were in indoor hutches opposite each other and had turns being outside their hutch while the other was in their own. After Kenzo had fully recovered we began the process properly. We went outdoors in a play pen that was neutral territory for both boys (as they are indoor rabbits and had roam of the whole house including the walk in shower haha!) and initially things went really well. There were a few little snaps but after a few days, Kenzo was grooming Gucci and they began sitting closer to one another. After maybe the 5th day, a massive fight broke out between them unexpectedly (thankfully neither of the buns were injured, I had quite a bad injury to my hand when separating them but that was no biggie). I have attached photos of this process the first time around so you can see how they were with one another. We gave them a few days where we did not do the bonding but resorted back to the opposite hutch thing for those days so they were still in one another areas and seeing each other. We then started the process again and from advice from a friend for the first two days had Gucci on a lead, they were fine so we took the lead off and continued. This time there was no grooming, just bashing of heads together and being stubborn. It was not as good as the first time where they would both relax near one another and Kenzo had stopped grooming Gucci. Once again, after a few days another big fight broke out which was squashed a lot quicker than the first. I am at a loss for what to do now, neither boy had injuries but it is still not ideal. I feel as though it is Gucci instigating a lot of the fights by snapping at Kenzo... Should I try a different technique rather than the play pen? Does anyone have any recommendations? I know Kenzo cares about Gucci very much, during his time out of his hutch he always sits beside Gucci's hutch and watches him in everything he does, copying him almost. I am just not sure where to go with it now, I know that they can get on, just not sure what I can do different.
Thanks in advance,
Amber x
I have wrote before prior to bonding my two male buns. Since then, I have started the bonding process with my Lop Gucci and Netherland Dwarf Kenzo. For months (in that time while kenzo recovered from his neutering), they were in indoor hutches opposite each other and had turns being outside their hutch while the other was in their own. After Kenzo had fully recovered we began the process properly. We went outdoors in a play pen that was neutral territory for both boys (as they are indoor rabbits and had roam of the whole house including the walk in shower haha!) and initially things went really well. There were a few little snaps but after a few days, Kenzo was grooming Gucci and they began sitting closer to one another. After maybe the 5th day, a massive fight broke out between them unexpectedly (thankfully neither of the buns were injured, I had quite a bad injury to my hand when separating them but that was no biggie). I have attached photos of this process the first time around so you can see how they were with one another. We gave them a few days where we did not do the bonding but resorted back to the opposite hutch thing for those days so they were still in one another areas and seeing each other. We then started the process again and from advice from a friend for the first two days had Gucci on a lead, they were fine so we took the lead off and continued. This time there was no grooming, just bashing of heads together and being stubborn. It was not as good as the first time where they would both relax near one another and Kenzo had stopped grooming Gucci. Once again, after a few days another big fight broke out which was squashed a lot quicker than the first. I am at a loss for what to do now, neither boy had injuries but it is still not ideal. I feel as though it is Gucci instigating a lot of the fights by snapping at Kenzo... Should I try a different technique rather than the play pen? Does anyone have any recommendations? I know Kenzo cares about Gucci very much, during his time out of his hutch he always sits beside Gucci's hutch and watches him in everything he does, copying him almost. I am just not sure where to go with it now, I know that they can get on, just not sure what I can do different.
Thanks in advance,
Amber x