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New Brighton, MN
Hi, my name is Rita and I have recently poted about bonding my two female dwarf rabbits. My husband and I have tried to bond them doing everything in the book but they are still very aggressive with each other. I had considered returning the adopted bunny back to the Humane Society but I just couldn't do it. They are both sweet when seperate and for now we have been alternating letting them out of their cages but would really like to bond them so they can be out together at least when we are around. Does anyone know if there is a person or service who helps out with bonding rabbits for an hourly wage? If we had some help we might be more effective in the bonding process. Thanks, Rita
 
Bunny bonding services are very common here in the UK, I’m not sure how common they are where you are from. But I’m sure that they do exists. I would just google ‘rabbit bonding near me’ or something similar and find one from the list that comes up.
Your local rescue may bond your bunnies for you also (that is what I will be doing when the time comes)!
Good luck!
 
I've not come across any bonding services in the US. Rescues will bond rabbits that they have in order to adopt them out as pairs. They also allow people to bring in a rabbit to find a potential bondmate. But the bonding is always done by the owner when they bring the potential rabbit home.

If you are able to find anyone willing to bond, they normally (at least from what I've heard in the UK) will take your rabbits and bond them at their own place. The true test comes when you bring them back to your home. The bond could break then if either or both of the rabbits try to defend their perceived territory. (This could be more likely in your case since both rabbits are already familiar with your home.)

Do bear in mind that not all rabbits will bond. If yours are consistently aggressive and not making progress, they just may not be suited to each other. Some will insist on forcing such a bond, but if they do, the bond will always be precarious and subject to break at any time down the road.

Only you are in a position to decide whether or not these two have a real chance. If not, then the decision will be yours as to how to proceed -- keep them both separate, exchange the 2nd one so she can have a chance in a different home (perhaps with a different bondmate), try a different rabbit to bond with your original...
 
I just read through your previous posts, and I'll quote some of your comments here:

"There was head to head fighting constantly. If we did not separate them they would have really hurt each other."

"they locked teeth we could not get them apart for a few seconds. My female Boo had a head tilt for twenty minutes afterwards....Every bonding session has been fighting."

"The new rabbit has not experienced bonding with another rabbit and probably had minimal human contact."

Also, I was very surprised to find out that you have only had this new bunny for 5 weeks and started bonding after only 2 weeks, and that your existing bunny had only lost her male bondmate a month before bringing in the new bunny.

So your bunny was stressed from losing her mate, is possibly still grieving (you don't mention how hard she took the loss), the new bunny has little experience with humans and new rabbits, and is in a brand new place, doesn't even know if this place is temporary like the shelter, the smell of the previous male is probably still pretty fresh all over the house, and you're trying the hardest bond (female-female), and between dwarf bunnies, who are often more high-strung and territorial. Try to put yourself in these bunnies' paws and see why you might be having trouble bonding them :)

Blue Eyes has given some good advice, and also gave you the names of two good rescues right in your backyard. I would contact them to see if you could swap your new bunny for a more compatible one. I know that's difficult to do, and I've never been able to do it myself, but it's easier to do at 5 weeks than later on down the road.

I would definitely stop the bonding efforts for a month, at a minimum. If you continue trying to bond them now despite all this serious fighting, you risk even more dangerous injury, or traumatizing both bunnies to the point where they will have difficulty bonding with anyone.

If you do want to try to keep both, I would recommend the following:

1. A thorough deep clean of the whole home to get rid of any smells of the male. You will have to ask yourself if your existing bunny still takes comfort in having those smells around (as some of mine have). Maybe keep a few items with his smell on them just in her cage.
2. Checking whether the new bunny has indeed been spayed. Did the Humane Society do it, is there a Spay Certificate, is there a tattoo or scar, or did the people who surrendered her just say she was?
3. Focusing on socializing the new bunny with her new humans and in her new space until she seems thoroughly comfortable with and trusting of both, with NO bonding sessions with the other bunny in the meantime. Her fear and stress level has got to be lowered. This may take weeks, or months. Building trust is crucial, and the sessions you're doing are working against that.
4. Read the bonding document at this link and follow their advice: Bonding Rabbits: A How to from Georgia HRS | House Rabbit Society. This is the best guide I have ever found, from a rescue near me that does have a bonding service and has bonded hundreds of rabbits. They don't believe in stress bonding (which is what you have been trying).
5. Ask yourself what you meant when you said "My husband said maybe we just keep both and keep them separate at all times but I really want the bond." [emphasis added]. Is it just for convenience (being able to have one runtime instead of two), or do you want to see the grooming/snuggling/lovebugs type of bond? If you never got a bond, would you be disappointed and not enjoy the bunnies as much? What does "the bond" mean to you? The answer to those questions may help guide you as to what to do. Also ask, why the hurry to get it.

(Any questions above are just for you to ask, I'm not asking for an answer here)

Now, some of my experience:
I've bonded two dwarf bunnies before (several times), but always male and female, and still none were quick bonds. I distinctly remember my first ever bunny, a female dwarf, after she lost her first husbun of 6 years. I brought in a baby boy dwarf, thinking he would not be threatening to her and her maternal instincts would kick in and she would immediately groom him. Uh, no. She attacked him. They eventually ended up snuggly, but it took a while, especially since I started them off on the wrong foot!

The only female-female bond I had was that same female dwarf who lost her third male partner many years later and then became closely bonded to my 12-pound single girl (!) that she had previously attacked through the fence. They were only bonded for 1-1/2 years, since the dwarf girl died at almost 14 years old, but they were inseparable. Watching a 2-lb and 12-lb bunny snuggle is something! But they had both been living with us for years, and in the same room, so were very comfortable and familiar with each other and their surroundings.

When the dwarf girl died, the big girl grieved so badly we thought we'd lose her, so I went searching for a new partner. I found a male lookalike to her former partner, thinking that would make it easier to bond them. Not so. I think it just confused her. They never did bond, though in retrospect, another 1/2 year to a year might have done it, since their fighting was mostly pulling fur and they did loads of mirroring. But the dwarf boy was getting depressed, so I got him a new dwarf girl of his own. That was a pretty quick bond (only a month or two).

By the way, the two times the big girl and new dwarf girl got out together by accident, it was a trip to the vet for the dwarf girl with a deep wound each time (one narrowly missed the jugular). When two bunnies don't like each other, this is the risk you take even if you keep them separate, or if you have a forced bond.

I had two young (unneutered) brothers who were bonded while at the shelter, but we took them home 2 weeks apart, which broke their bond. They fought through fences for 9 years and wouldn't rebond. The one that knew how to approach females had 2 female partners over those years (one of them my lonely big girl). I tried bonding the single brother to another rescue male who desperately wanted a friend (any friend). I gave up because the single brother started becoming withdrawn and losing weight and changing his personality due to my trying to bond him with someone he didn't want to be with, even though the other bunny groomed him eagerly every time they were together.

After 9 years, when the two brothers were old and a bit arthritic, and both single again, I tried bonding them one last time. Within a few weeks they became inseparable, grooming and snuggling constantly. It was very rewarding, though they only had 8 months of that before one died and the other followed the next year. So it can potentially be done -- if you have enough time!

That friendly bunny that always wanted a partner and has groomed everyone I've put him with (and always been rejected) is now 8 and still single. I've been trying to bond him with a larger female that I rescued 5 years ago because she was unadoptable (too aggressive!). She has come a long way -- I no longer fear that she will kill him -- but last night he groomed her flank and then snuggled up next to her right before we ended a territory swap, and she reached around to nip his nose. She might have done more if I hadn't had my hand on her shoulders. He was not hurt physically, but visibly hurt at the rejection. I am considering looking for someone who will love him back, but that would get me back to 3 rabbits (or more), when I was so happy to be down to 2 from 6 at one time.

Note that I ended up with 6 rabbits mostly due to trying to find partners for existing ones, and not wanting to (or being able to) take any of them back. A cautionary tale!
 
Thank you so much for all the information in your thread. I initially hurried on getting a new partner because I was told that if my grieving Doe was left too long alone she could possibly go off bonding with another rabbit altogether. Bad advice but it made me worry. The reason I want the bond in addition to enjoying watching them all the snuggle and groom each other is I want them to be happy. We do not mind swapping the two out every few hours but I fear they are lonely. They do choose to lay next to each other when one is out and the other is in the cage. Both do this and I was hoping it was a sign that they were comfortable and liked the company. I know how hard bonding rabbits are. I too got a little one (my female Doe I have now) for my older male who recently died. They would get along and then she would go after him and we would have to separate them for awhile. For the past year things went pretty well between them and I do miss seeing bunnies bonded. I will take into account everything you have shared with me and come up with a plan that takes into account everyone's comfort and happiness. Thanks again. Rita
 
They do choose to lay next to each other when one is out and the other is in the cage. Both do this and I was hoping it was a sign that they were comfortable and liked the company.

Sometimes this laying near each other is quite the opposite of liking each other's company. It can just as easily mean "this is the border of my territory and don't even think about crossing it." -- just something to bear in mind.
 
They do not lunge at each other through the cage and sometimes they groom themselves side by side with the cage inbetween. You don't think that denotes some comfort? Rita
 
Grooming themselves is often seen as a good sign, or it can mean "I don't care about you and am deliberately ignoring you." Now, if they groom each other through the fence, that's a different thing. Does the one that is out pee or poop in front of the other's cage? Do they stick a nose through the bars to ask for some grooming? Notice any other signs that might help you understand what they are trying to say, also note body language. And be careful if they do stick noses through the bars -- easy to get bitten in a very sensitive place!

By the way, having one out while the other is caged is not recommended, since it can lead to resentment. Then lying beside the cage could mean "Ha, I'm out and you're not." The pen setup in the GHRS document is best, or I have put a fence down the middle of a room and let each bunny have half.

Bunnies are sociable and I do think they like the company when they know it's "safe." All my bunnies that have bonded have started by lying side by side with fence between, but so have almost all the bunnies that I could never bond! So I don't think it says much about willingness to bond. My two have done that for three years now, although only the eager boy grooms the girl, and she never grooms back. Not a good sign. Even if they ever could be out together, he would still be frustrated and rebuffed by her lack of reciprocation. He wants "true love," Hallmark-style 😀

The other signs I see with mine are:
- the big girl pees and poops along the fence (I have human bed pads cut in half and lay them underneath the fence so it's easy to clean up)
- the big girl sometimes goes upstairs and stays upstairs for days at a time (she has another living area there, where she first lived). He seems to miss her, but she doesn't seem to miss him.
- when in the boy's territory (in a swap), she will pee on his sleeping and food areas

So in my case, the boy wants to bond and my girl just wants to assert her Queenship and boundaries, like Blue Eyes said. But yesterday I didn't latch the fence completely, and one of them pushed it open and they swapped territories without my being in the room and without fur scattered around, and even with the fence still open, they were both flopped on their sides in each other's territories, fast asleep. So that is lots of progress -- after 5 years 😀

The signs that are more promising for future friendship, in my experience, are:
-mutual grooming through the fence, with no aggressive grooming or nipping
-lying not side by side, but each perpendicular to the fence so they can groom the maximum amount of nose (though at the start, they should not have any access to noses!)
-doing a bliss roll beside the fence after the other bunny comes over

The fact that you had to separate your bonded boy and girl occasionally may mean that your girl didn't have a very deep bond with him, and therefore is not grieving much and more likely to bond with a new bunny. But it may also mean that she likes her alone time and independence, and may not like a new bunny intruding on that! So many things to consider!
 
Thank you for your reply. Your comments about Boo (my female Doe who lost her mate) makes me fear that she will do the same to all the bunnies offered for bonding. In which case I take your suggestion and split the room in half or give June (the adopted bunny) back to the humane society and leave Boo as a single Bunny. Your right in I have a lot to consider. Thanks again for your insights, Rita
 
I made comments about several possibilities for Boo. Fearing that she might do the same to other bunnies and finding out whether she does are not the same. You won't know until you try. It's frustrating and discouraging, I know, that she hasn't immediately fallen in love with the first bunny you've brought in. I gave you several reasons that might have happened, and suggestions to overcome them. You did say that Boo seemed interested but that the new bunny seemed too anxious (understandable after just 2 weeks in a new home). Let the new bunny settle in a while, digest all the information you've been given, and see how your relationship with the new bunny and their relationship with each other progresses, without any more face to face bonding sessions.

Call the rescues that Blue Eyes posted and see what they can do to help you, whether that's arranging some dates, exchanging a bunny, or helping bond the two you have. They may be willing to take your two into a new environment and see how they interact there, and let you know their prognosis for that pairing. If the prognosis turns out to be so-so, Rabbit Rescue of MN has two very eligible bachelors listed (Herbie and Hershey): Rabbit Rescue of MN | Available Buns
They may also know of other bunnies available, maybe even someone in the same situation as you who is looking for a more compatible bunny for theirs. Swapping your new bunny could potentially make 4 bunnies happy.

And read the bonding document I recommended -- it will tell you why it's difficult but worthwhile to give Boo a partner, and how to go about it (with lots of pictures!). It will give you a much better understanding of what's going on. It says only about 3-5% of bunny pairings are love at first sight, for instance.

Your bunnies have some signs they might work out, and some signs they might not. Your original question about getting help with bonding was a good instinct, but you need to ask the closest and most experienced people now, which is the rescues.

I hope you and Boo and June Bug will find the best path. Keep us updated. And focusing on the problem at hand, I've forgotten to say how very sorry I am that you lost your 9-year-old male bunny. You must be grieving too, so take it slowly and listen to your heart ❤️.
 

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