yet another one of my bonding questions

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manda

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:mad:well, im not going to post any more new threads regaurding bonding. any of my questions i will just post right here. i feel like iflood the forum with my bonding questions. surely you guys understand how aggervating it is to be bonding two rabbits for 5 months now, and they never even really fought! thank you guys for being so cool like that! anyway...

i have heard to never end a session on a bad note. well today, the first 20 mintues of bonding was rough, but after a while they ignored each other for the rest of that hour. there time was up so i gave them a treat and put them away. is giving them a treat everytime they are together leaving on a good note? because they dont get any treats unless they are in a bonding session. was i suppose to wait for them to get close again without nipping etc? because that could make there session last all day. they also get lots and lots of pettings before i put them up and i never put them uprightafter nips or chases
 
It doesn't matter if they get a treat or not, a good note simply means you end the session when they are not showing aggression towards each other. If you separate them when they fight, often times they need to start bonding all over again because the territorial issues can arise again. They think, "hey! If we fight, we get our territory to ourselves again". When I bonded mine, I never used treats.
 
Forgot part of what I was going to say. A good note is when no aggression is shown, that includes if they choose to ignore eachother completely for a while or if they go over to eachother and there is no aggression.
 
I think it would help. It tends to break up their sense of territory. If you wanted to, you could start by just switching their litterboxes.
 
i've tried that before and neither of the rabbits would use it. they went in the floor right next to it. LOL

so if i did switch the cages each rabbit would have its normal litterbox.

i was worried that them smelling each other in there cages would cause them to fight during tomorrows bonding session
 
Switching cages helps the rabbit to establish the fact that no territory is their territory. I've never heard of it making things worse so I would guess it's fine to switch them. Plus, the sooner you do it now, the easier it will be later.
 
good idea, will start tonight. and do it everynight. oh, should i do it everyday, or let them spend a couple of days in the other buns cages?
 
Have you taken them for car rides?

This was the breakthrough for me a couple weeks ago. I had to take both Misty and Charlie to the vet - so I had them in separate carriers, facing each other in the backseat.

Then when we got to the vet, I stuck their cages face to face again in the waiting room, and on the car ride home.

Later that day,I noticed Misty lounging beside Charlie's cage which was unusual, so I let them get nose to nose and they started licking each other.

Before the car ride - Misty and Charlie were trying to bite and claw each other's face off, but after - it's like they were always friends.

Try to stress them out a little before your bonding sessions with a quick car ride, then have your bonding session. Hopefully they will look to each other for comfort and security.

___________
Nadia
 
they have went on a car ride to the vets in seperate carriers once, but i want trying to bond them yet. i have heard to put them in the same carrier, or in a box and take them on a ride, since they are not trying to kill each other anymore i might just let them run around the back seat while my partner drives around for about a half hour.
 
today i had them out for 1 hr 20 minutes. today was a wierd session. Ryo was constanly trying to groom Alex, and wanted to snuggle him, but Alex would circle and pull hair. two times they almost went in to one of those latch on fights. i was just bragging about they havent pulled hair in a looooooong time, but today Alex was really giving Ryo a hair cut. i have checked them for wounds, there wasnt any.

now Ryo is in Alex's cage and Alex is in Ryo's. they dont look like happy bunnies at all being in a strange cage.

tomorrow i will try having them out for 1 hr 45 mintues. and just gradually increase it to where i was before. but i am still thinking of suddenly making them spend the whole day together. like maybe 12-14 hours.

Ryo still wants Alex to groom her, but i think mainly she wants Alex to let her groom him a while. Would it hurt the pecking order if i put something on Ryo for Alex to groom off? you know, since Ryo is the groomer not the groomie
 
can i skip a day of bonding? yesterday they got along near perfect with lots of grooming and over an hour of snuggles! but today i am wore out for some reason. will it undo anything if i skip today? or will it be better for me to just get them out together for about a half hour. thats alot less than usual, yesterday they spend 2hr and 20 mintues together
 
Skipping a day when you need to won't hurt.

Since they have a history of aggression you'll need to go slow. Keep switching their cages and doing bonding sessions as normal. If they are consistently friendly and loving with no aggression for a good amount of time, say maybe a week or so, then try them in a non-neutral area. If you can, have a second person there in case they fight again.
 
just wanted to tell everyone after two days of posting that they are still getting along great. almost imediatly grooming each other and snuggleing for the whole complete session (usually 2 or 3 hours)

however sometimes Alex would rather lick the carpet all around Ryo and under her then actually groom her.
 
That's great! I waited until I could leave my bunnies together for 8 hours before I put them on non-neutral territory and once I put them on non-neutral territory, I cut the sessions back again and then worked the time up again. Once they could spend8 hours together on non-neutral territory, I did bonding sessions in the hutch.
 
well before i try non nuetral territory i want them spending 14 hours a day together for about a week! that may sound like much but i have had lots of problems with them in the past.

nothing wrong with taking my time is there? i just want to be on th safe side
 
Nope, nothing wrong with that! You can even work up to leaving them together for 24 hours if you can, as long as you try to stay near.
 
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