Marie Hetherington
New Member
Hi,
Am new to this forum. I have two buns Basil and Sassifras (small dutch). Mr B. came to use from a shelter, he was about 2 years old but had been living outside during the winter for some time. Wonderful neutered boy, loving, happy go lucky, more loving .... Ms S. came to use from a shelter, age unknown, spayed and under nourished but with loads of energy and plenty of personality, very smart girl.
The initial bonding, I went about it all wrong. So I had them separated for almost 2 weeks i.e. they did not see each other at all. Then I went to see a bonding expert, despite being schedule for an hour, he spent less than 19 minutes and told me they would never bond and walked away before I could get any more details. So I went at it alone.
We are now at the point, where they can spend long periods of time together (up to 4 hours) in a neutral space (3 days now) but Mr B. has no interest in Ms S. so he ignores her. Ms S. was so insistent on being groomed she would stick her head under his paws when he was grooming, a couple of times he did groom her but then went on to nip her. Then he started nipping her when she approached for grooming. Now both sit on either side of the neutral space ignoring each other. I do take them on a car ride in a crate, they will snuggle a little if scared (either he with her, or her with him and NO nipping, no requests for grooming). The car ride can be anything from 20 - 40 minutes. I am wondering if that is just not enough. I have thought of driving down to my daughters ( 6 - 7 hour drive) spending the weekend at her place bonding and then driving back. OR having them in the neutral space overnight to see what happens.
There is so much conflicting information on the internet with regards to bonding and I have come to realise, the way in which bonding occurs is so dependent on my things, your rabbits, your setup at home, your energy level and patience ..... BUT I am asking for suggestions and ideas as I would like to push past this stage.
Am new to this forum. I have two buns Basil and Sassifras (small dutch). Mr B. came to use from a shelter, he was about 2 years old but had been living outside during the winter for some time. Wonderful neutered boy, loving, happy go lucky, more loving .... Ms S. came to use from a shelter, age unknown, spayed and under nourished but with loads of energy and plenty of personality, very smart girl.
The initial bonding, I went about it all wrong. So I had them separated for almost 2 weeks i.e. they did not see each other at all. Then I went to see a bonding expert, despite being schedule for an hour, he spent less than 19 minutes and told me they would never bond and walked away before I could get any more details. So I went at it alone.
We are now at the point, where they can spend long periods of time together (up to 4 hours) in a neutral space (3 days now) but Mr B. has no interest in Ms S. so he ignores her. Ms S. was so insistent on being groomed she would stick her head under his paws when he was grooming, a couple of times he did groom her but then went on to nip her. Then he started nipping her when she approached for grooming. Now both sit on either side of the neutral space ignoring each other. I do take them on a car ride in a crate, they will snuggle a little if scared (either he with her, or her with him and NO nipping, no requests for grooming). The car ride can be anything from 20 - 40 minutes. I am wondering if that is just not enough. I have thought of driving down to my daughters ( 6 - 7 hour drive) spending the weekend at her place bonding and then driving back. OR having them in the neutral space overnight to see what happens.
There is so much conflicting information on the internet with regards to bonding and I have come to realise, the way in which bonding occurs is so dependent on my things, your rabbits, your setup at home, your energy level and patience ..... BUT I am asking for suggestions and ideas as I would like to push past this stage.
