valleybelow
Active Member
Can I please get some opinions on how bonding is going for my rabbits?
I adopted a new rabbit, Jack, about three weeks ago to bond with my existing rabbit, Sugar. Sugar is about a year old and Jack is about a year and half. Both are fixed. Jack is about twice as big as Sugar. Jack spent a week at my apartment and they both he and Sugar spent two weeks at his foster home so his foster mom could help with bonding. They are now back at my apartment sharing a pen split down the middle.
Yesterday I decided to devote the whole day to bonding. I put them out on my porch (neutral territory), where they have plenty of room to interact or ignore each other, with their toys and litter boxes. The pattern of behavior I am seeing is that Jack will chase or lunge at Sugar, and she always hops away immediately. These incidents last only a few seconds at the most so I don't interfere. I only saw fur pulled out once. They also ignored each other a lot. They do ask for grooming a little, but I have to put banana on their heads for this to happen.
So my question is (finally!), does it sound like Jack has established his dominance (or is in the process of doing so)?
Thanks!
I adopted a new rabbit, Jack, about three weeks ago to bond with my existing rabbit, Sugar. Sugar is about a year old and Jack is about a year and half. Both are fixed. Jack is about twice as big as Sugar. Jack spent a week at my apartment and they both he and Sugar spent two weeks at his foster home so his foster mom could help with bonding. They are now back at my apartment sharing a pen split down the middle.
Yesterday I decided to devote the whole day to bonding. I put them out on my porch (neutral territory), where they have plenty of room to interact or ignore each other, with their toys and litter boxes. The pattern of behavior I am seeing is that Jack will chase or lunge at Sugar, and she always hops away immediately. These incidents last only a few seconds at the most so I don't interfere. I only saw fur pulled out once. They also ignored each other a lot. They do ask for grooming a little, but I have to put banana on their heads for this to happen.
So my question is (finally!), does it sound like Jack has established his dominance (or is in the process of doing so)?
Thanks!