Introductions problem - help??

[Rosiesmom]

I have a 3 year old unspayed female hutch bunny, Rosie,and a 4 month old spayed female house bunny, Butterscotch, who lives in my breezeway. A week ago I finally could afford an exercisepen and put it up forButter. Before that she was in a cage buthad run of the room when we were home. I put up the pen because she was chewing up the baseboards, and also so that I could bring Rosie inside also.

So for two days now Butter has been in the pen and Rosie in the cage outside the pen, except when I let her out,thenRosie had the run of the rest of the room outside Butter's pen. This has caused Butter a great amount of upset. :cry2 Yesterday I made the mistake of being in her pen when Rosie was running around outside it. I reached for a piece of cardboard near Butter and she bit me HARD and broke the skin. Then this morning my dd was in the pen with her and Rosie was outside the pen running around and she bit my dd. Luckily not as hard and didn't break the skin. But she also has been pooping all over the pen, and somehow getting poops to roll outside the pen. (I'm imagining her back up to the wires and shooting poops as hard as she can.) THis morning there was also a tiny spot of pee along the pen wires. She also growls and lunges whenever Rosie gets near the pen. I've only let Rosie out for very short periods because of this. Then I let Butter out into the outside area this morning and she wasn't nearly so aggressive, she sniffed at Rosie's cage, no growling. Her ears were perky and interested. These two bunnies have groomed each other outside in apen, so I was surprised at how aggressiveand upset Butter has been.

My options are... I could move Rosie to the other side of a 3 foot bookshelf in that room so that when she's out of her cage, Butter can't see her but can hear her, for a while. Or I can put her back in her hutch, which I really, really hate to do, although I think she would be happy there. We live next to woods and the misquito's are ungodly. I really have always had the goal to get her inside. I can't bring her in the house because my dd is highly allergic, which is why they're in my breezeway. I can keep the allergens confined to this one room.

So should I just let them get used to each other? Or should I back up and move Rosie somewhere else?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...

Judy

 

[Flashy]

This all sounds very hormonal on Rosie's part. you might find getting her spayed helps with this.

As far as she is concerned Butter has invaded her territory big time and so she needs to make it clear that it's not acceptable to her that Butter is there.

I think it's going to be a case of being very aware of what you guys smell of. Rosie probably attacks you because she is in a tizz about Butter and also sometimes if you smell of Butter and she won't necessarily distinguish between your hand and a rabbit, she just knows the smell.

I think my first port of call would probably be a spay and then go from there in terms of swapping their cages around (like the contents of the cages, swap the rabbits, etc) so that they get used to one another more.

 

[Rosiesmom]

Actually, its the spayed female, Butter, that's doing the biting, but she's only been spayed 12 days so maybe she still has hormones in her?... the unspayed female, Rosie, actually is MUCH less aggressive... but I do have plans to get her spayed in the fall when I have the money. I'm only working PT over the summer and am broke til then...

 

[Flashy]

Sorry, I got my Butter's and Rosie's in a muddle and misunderstood some bits. My bad.

How long have you had Butter?

Butter still may be feeling rough after her operation because it is obviously a big one.

I'm not sure whether or not you know Butter's complete history but i wonder if she has had bad experiences either being in an eclosed place or with another rabbit in her territory.

I would be very careful with her when she is in the pen, but make an effort to swap the buns about as much as possible, as well as their contents to get her used to the smells.

 

[Rosiesmom]

I've had Butter since she was 7 weeks old. She came from the nest with her mother and littermates. She seemed to be the dominant one of her litter, was the biggest, most lively bun. And she's very funny, full of life, binkies a lot, inquisitive... so maybe she's high strung, and yes, maybe it was too soon after her surgery. She seemed like her old self again so I maybe mistakenly thought she was feeling better. The only other contact she's had with other buns beside her littermates has been Rosie, in the outdoor pen, and one cage switch I tried, but that was back in May.

So I'm gathering from your replies that I should keep getting them used to each other. Maybe I'll keep Rosie's cage where she can see it, and then when I let Rosie out, I'll have her go on the other side of the bookshelf for her play time for a while, so that Butter doesn't feel so threatened... then switch things up... thanks

 

[Flashy]

As long as they can't get to each other and hurt each other through any bars or anything then I think it's ok to let them see if they can get through this (which they may not).

Another thought though was if you intended to bond them then it may be worth keeping them completely separate for now and maybe try having them near each other again at a later date because this is probably not ideal ground work for a bonding (although that doesn't mean it won't work).

 

[Rosiesmom]

Well, today they sniffed each other through the pen bars repeatedly and Butter only growled, or grunted or whatever that noise is, once. So I'll give it a couple more days and if they keep improving I'll leave it this way, and if not, I'll move Rosie again. I just hate to keep moving her, she seems to get rattled and is slow to adjust. A couple times she has been laying in her cage shaking. I did switch their water bowls today.

 

[Flashy]

Is it possible Rosie is ill and Butter is picking up on that?

 

[Rosiesmom]

I thought she was shaking because she was scared... there are plenty of other times that she isn't shaking and seems happy and enjoys poking around the room... but will have to get her checked out...

I'm so new at this...

 

[Flashy]

Owning a rabbit is just learning as you go along and that's all you're doing.

You're doing a good job They are just extending your knowledge somewhat at the moment

She may be fine, but it just occured to me it might be an oversight if it was not mentioned.

 

[Rosiesmom]

I had no idea the land of lago's was so pockmarked with mountains and canyons and the language so tricky! haha...

 

[Richard0600]

A trick i always thought worked really well when introducing rabbits to each other is put them both in a laundry basket or small cage and take them for a drive... most rabbits are terrified of the unsteady movement, and the slippery surface... and they'll be force to rub up against each other..use each other for support and bond... works like a charm...