Bonding, when to give up?

[Rachy1412]

You’ll have to bare with me while I ramble here, I’m desperate for some rabbit bonding help! I’ve recently been trying to bond my two rabbits together for about a month now and making very little progress. To give you a little bit of background Spodge is a neutered male, 6years of age and he’s previously had two companions. The first female companion was easy to bond as they were both babies and Spodge was the new rabbit not the current resident. When his first companion died I tried him with my other single female, it took a lot of face to face time through wire before Spodge stopped attacking her, even then when we let him out with her he would chase her around and around trying to bite her. Thankfully his companion never fought back and they settled down. But then she also passed away so I made the decision to adopt another female for him.

Marley is about 18months old and spayed. For the last month now I’ve been bonding them every day in a neutral territory. To start with it was just a massive bundle, fur flying and lots of little bite marks which I’ve had to keep an eye on. Most of the time they ignore each other, they remain on either side of the pen and either groom themselves or lay down; but as soon as they come nose to nose a bundle ensues. It seems to be caused by Spodge who nips and bites at her causing her to go all out and attack him. Up until a couple of days ago I’ve always had to separate them as neither rabbit would back down. The other day they’d bundle, separate and then go off to groom themselves and then bundle a bit more. But yesterday they would just fight and fight until I separated them. Spodge was in an absolute foul mood yesterday and would not stop grunting and thumping the entire time I was bonding them, his moody behaviour carried on for the rest of the day and he spent it sulking in his run. Has Spodge just had enough of all this bonding, after all this is his third companion now? He seems content on his own but it would be nice for him to have another companion. When do you know that a bonding just isn’t going to work? I don’t want to give up too soon but at the same time I don’t want to stress Spodge out!

 

[elrohwen]

Have you tried any stress bonding? For a pair like this, I think a long car ride, time on the washing machine, or something similar is your best bet. They need to spend some positive time together without a scuffle.

 

[plasticbunny]

A good fight, especially early on, can set back the bonding process significantly. You may need to take a break from bonding for awhile. I'd keep them housed side by side for a few weeks (at least) without any more bonding sessions. Keep them close enough that they can see each other, but not close enough to fight through the bars. After a few weeks, I would re-introduce them in a completely new area than the neutral spaces you've already tried. Those areas will bring back memories of their previous fights. Add hay and greens to the space, between the buns. Eating is a social activity for rabbits and I've actually bonded a fighting pair through them sharing a salad!

The most important key in bonding will be you. Familiarize yourself with the signs of a fight about tohappen (position of ears, circling, general body language), and intercept before a fight breaks out. If they have another fight, it will set the bonding back even more. If you catch the behavior right away, speak soothing words and stroke both bunnies, then gently push them away from each other. Or, you can push them together so they're noses are side by side, and pet them together. They will learn to associate being near each other with pets. I also like to end each bonding session this way, so their last thoughts of each other are pleasent.

Ignoring each other is a step up from fighting. Let them ignore each other for as long as they need... Don't think of it as not making progress, they are just sizing each other up. I like to keep the bonding space I choose small enough that they can't get away with ignoring each other much, but large enough for me to sit with them as well. When they get curious about each other, try to evaluate who is the dominent bunny (who normally initiates chasing, or the one that nips first, in your case it sounds like Spodge). I find that if I spend extra effort soothing the less dominant bun, then the dominant one can mount or show other signs of asserting their dominace without the submissive bun fighting back. The sooner bunnies discover their heirarchy, the sooner they'll get along. I also like to keep initial sessions short, about 5-10 minutes.

Don't worry... I truly believe that almost any altered rabbit pair can bond. I think the reason your pair hasn't yet is that they were able to get into a few scuffles when they first met. I think that as long as you're able to stop any fights before they start, and are realistic about how long it can take (up to a few months with very stubborn buns), I think you can have a great bonding process that ends in a beautiful friendship.

Good luck