The wrong way to bond two adult rabbits
I’m sorry, Bun. Will you forgive me?
In late November I introduced Bun, our female rabbit, to another adult female rabbit. My dream was that the two rabbits would instantly become best rabbit pals.
Rabbits are social animals and can actually become depressed if they don’t have the chance to interact enough with other rabbits or their trusted caregivers. As Bun’s primary caregiver, I am always feeling the pressure to be everything to her. I let this get the best of me when I jumped in feet first to adopt Parsley. I mean, what could go wrong?
I wrote briefly in a previous post about Bun’s unwelcoming reaction to Parsley. Here’s more on how I could have been so eager and misguided.
Misstep 1: Thinking that a pet is a pet
I assumed our experience with our other animals would somehow give me the requisite skill for bonding bunnies.
We are comfortable with dogs. Ella, the dog, lives with us and accepts most visiting dogs onto her turf. We understand how dogs play and can break up fighting dogs with the best of them. We’re cautious at first when new dogs encounter Bun and make sure an option for Bun’s retreat is available. She usually prefers to be out front.
We know what to do with a cat in the mix. One son often brings Miss Claws over to play. Miss Claws is fascinated with Bun and will watch her patiently, carefully reaching her paw to stroke Bun on the face. Bun’s reaction is sphinx like.
Over the 10+ years we’ve kept chickens, we’ve introduced numerous hens to our flock with confidence. The method we use for introducing new chickens into our flock depends on the age of the hen. We keep the chicks separated until they are at least ¾ of the size of the others. We add adult hens to the coop at night. Chickens can’t see well in the dark and will usually awake the next day to “Oh, don’t remember that one. Or do I? Not sure. Where are the pellets?” Bun remains indifferent to the chickens even as they might get riled up at the sight of Bun.
Misstep 2: Dangerous overconfidence in my understanding of the mysterious rabbit
One day at the vet, I mentioned how challenging it was for me to understand Bun’s behavior. The vet tech said: Yeah, rabbits are weird.
One thing I learned early on about rabbits is that they’re prey animals and, as such, are essentially terrified of everything. I thought of rabbits as passive creatures, reacting to their fears but not taking action.
Don’t approach a rabbit from behind, because that’s how a hawk approaches to catch a quick dinner
Avoid loud noises around the fearful bunny
And don’t make big moves
There might be a germ of truth in these statements, but to consider a rabbit as passive is false. As with any animal, they’ll do what it takes to survive a threat.
The procedure that I will never follow again
I’d done my hours of rabbit research before and after acquiring Bun, so I thought I was golden with introducing rabbits. Bring on Parsley! Except I must have paid only scant attention to the lesson about introducing adult rabbits. The part of the lesson that emphasized neutral territory especially didn’t sink in.
I set up Parsley’s exercise pen on our screened-in porch that doubles as Bun’s deluxe condo. I put Parsley in a closed pen and let Bun out of her pen to get a closer look and smell through the fence. Chaos and aggression erupted. Even though they were separated by the xpen, they started fighting. Lunging and pawing with no sign of stopping. These were not passive animals.
We returned Bun to her area and closed her gate only to see Bun in a fit of hyper vigilance that didn’t quit until we moved Parsley indoors. Every time Parsley moved, Bun patrolled the perimeter of her exercise pen.
Before moving Parsley inside, we tested swapping exercise pens. It seemed okay? However, the volume of Bun’s poop balls outside of Parsley’s litter box — a marking technique — was a sight to behold.
I decided to give them an extended break from each other. I brought Parsley inside and left Bun free roaming the porch, including Parsley’s xpen. Bun — the little stinker — spent time in Parsley’s pen, urinating, leaving poop balls, generally wreaking havoc.
I finally got the message. I was doing all the wrong things and too fast. An essential component for introducing rabbits to one another is hosting them in a completely neutral area: two exercise pens in a room neither rabbit has marked up.
That method, of course, doesn’t guarantee successful bonding. Female adult rabbits are especially challenging to bond. Easier combinations are one male/one female or two young rabbits. I’m not going to know if it could have worked with Parsley and Bun because I needed to give Parsley to a new owner for a different reason. I can’t say I’m not slightly relieved that I don’t need to continue my crash course in rabbit psychology. But still … I miss Parsley and don’t like to quit not having figured out the puzzle of the unbonding rabbits.
Now you know how the other woman feels!
Hmm... two alpha females...