Bonding

[Slide and Splash]

Hi, my bunnies are siblings and were bonded before we had them spayed and neutered 2 weeks ago. We have had their cages 6 inches apart since 3 weeks before they were fixed.

They are now staring at each other and biting at the play pen and one is biting at her cage. (we take them out of their individual cages for 24 hours each to play in the playpen.

It just seems like they want to be together. Can we begin the bonding process? What would you recommend we do to start this process?

 

[hunnybunny254367819364]

The bond may have been lost from keeping them apart before the surgeries. I would honestly keep them apart for 6 weeks to make sure that all the hormones are full in check. At least 4 weeks. At 4 weeks maybe they can have supervised play time to jumpstart rebonding. But then at 6 weeks they can be fully bonded again or begin living together again if there’s no issues

 

[Binky4eva]

Have a water bottle ready when u do start the bonding process. Sounds mean, but gives chance to stop bad aggressive behavior such as growling, nipping, mounting etc. As soon as one does this to the other, gently squirt it with water and separate them. Allow them to interact around 10_20 mins a day, intervening if behaviour gets aggressive as this can dangerously affect any future bonding or liking. Easier if u can have 2 people involved and make sure is on totally neutral territory for the first time where neither bun has claimed as it's own. Should be easier once desexed. Once their hormones settle down. But takes time and patience post surgery and for the bonding process. But we'll worth the effort for both things.