Hi all. Well' it's been six weeks and zero improvement in getting my rabbits to bond. To explain we have an 8 month old mini rex male, and a 3 year old new Zealand white girl we got 6 weeks ago. Both fixed of course. Our male is just not having it. The girl is a love and even after being nipped at and charged and fought with by our male, she still attempts to lay next to him and touch noses through their pen bars. So it's not her, it's him.
I guess at this point I'm looking for any suggestions to mello him out? Will it ever get better or is this a lost cause? There's a clear sense of jealousy with him. I've asked the rescue i got her from for guidance and after feeling mildly shamed (which really offended me), all they've said is do more stress bonding. Which is fine but the minute those sessions end, things go back to just the way they were. They said they will board them and try to bond at their facility for a fee, but when i said "great, let's do it!" they tell me to wait a while. Personally I think they know this isn't a match and they don't want to have to take her back. I haven't been impressed. Or maybe they know something i don't and anticipate things to magically change or get better?
The real frustrating part is that the new bunny is such a love! We would all hate to return her but I also really don't want to deal with bunnies that won't get along for the next 10 years either! And no, I am not willing to give up my little guy either. He's being a jerk, but he's my love.
So any suggestions please. They live side by side in separate pens. They get individual play time. During play time one bun gets upstairs and the other downstairs. Our male was free roaming before we adopted our female. I am going to ramp up some stress bonding sessions again because little guy has been more aggressive than usual lately and I need to do something to see if i can get him over this hump of jealousy and terror.
I know its only been 6 weeks but it feels like an eternity. Is it a matter of just diligence and time? Or am i fighting a battle that's already been lost?
I guess at this point I'm looking for any suggestions to mello him out? Will it ever get better or is this a lost cause? There's a clear sense of jealousy with him. I've asked the rescue i got her from for guidance and after feeling mildly shamed (which really offended me), all they've said is do more stress bonding. Which is fine but the minute those sessions end, things go back to just the way they were. They said they will board them and try to bond at their facility for a fee, but when i said "great, let's do it!" they tell me to wait a while. Personally I think they know this isn't a match and they don't want to have to take her back. I haven't been impressed. Or maybe they know something i don't and anticipate things to magically change or get better?
The real frustrating part is that the new bunny is such a love! We would all hate to return her but I also really don't want to deal with bunnies that won't get along for the next 10 years either! And no, I am not willing to give up my little guy either. He's being a jerk, but he's my love.
So any suggestions please. They live side by side in separate pens. They get individual play time. During play time one bun gets upstairs and the other downstairs. Our male was free roaming before we adopted our female. I am going to ramp up some stress bonding sessions again because little guy has been more aggressive than usual lately and I need to do something to see if i can get him over this hump of jealousy and terror.
I know its only been 6 weeks but it feels like an eternity. Is it a matter of just diligence and time? Or am i fighting a battle that's already been lost?