They're ready to meet face to face...how can you help? How can you support the process so there is the best chance of a beautiful relationship?
You might get lucky, and have rabbits that bond within minutes. Or you may have rabbits who require months to truly bond. It is ultimately up to them, but you can increase the chances that things will go smoothly.
First and foremost, remember that your own frame of mind is important. Make sure you are feeling calm, relaxed, and positive. Summon all your patience, and get ready to watch all the details.
Try some “Bunny Magic”! Edie Sayeg, bonding counselor for the Georgia House Rabbit Society, describes it as putting the rabbit next to each other and stroke them on foreheads, just the way they like to be stroked. Edie suggests this is a great exercise to break the ice at the beginning, after a game of chase, or a terrific ending to a date. She uses a technique she calls a “Skritch” – using one or two fingertips on the bunnie’s foreheads in rapid movement so that it seems to mimic the tongue of rabbits grooming each other, and gives them both a sense of well-being. It may even lead to them grooming each other and at the very least they are bonding with you!
During the bonding process, most likely one or both of the rabbits will begin to request grooming from each other. Rabbits can be stubborn little rascals, though so we can help the good feelings along. If you see one rabbit duck his or head in a grooming request but the other rabbit does not respond, go ahead and stroke those foreheads yourself. You’ve just made things more pleasurable for both rabbits and avoided a possibly annoying insult.
Set reasonable goals for the dates. Start out with just a few minutes – not a lot of pressure. Everything going well? OK, let it continue. Seeing signs of stress or annoyance? Time to stop for the day.
Try to end on a high note. If you see signs of annoyance, but think the rabbits will move away from each other (even just a few steps in the opposite direction), then let that happen before you end the date.
There are no hard and fast rules about how long to stay with a date, or how many times a day dates should occur. That all depends entirely on how well the rabbits are responding to each other, and what your own frame of mind is like.
Just be patient, and be receptive to all the moods and emotions present. There is no need whatsoever to push the agenda. We don’t like being forced to like someone, and neither do rabbits. In fact, forcing the issue too quickly can damage the entire process.
Between dates, don’t forget to swap spaces EVERY DAY! Keep that exchange going, to maintain the presence of the other rabbit’s smell.
Remember each rabbit is still going to need play and exercise time outside their pen each day. A rabbit who has had a chance to run and play in the larger space is a more relaxed and happy rabbit. Rabbits who are bored or antsy from lack of exercise will be harder to bond. Just give them turns in the larger area – one out to play, the other still in a pen. Remember that they can’t have the chance to fight through the bars, so place barriers around the inhabited pen. You will see an increase of poo pellets out in the larger room at this point – the rabbits are each claiming the area. They may also pee, so you may want to protect any carpets or wood floors that could be stained. We call this the “Pee and Poop Bonding Wars.” Once your rabbits are happily bonded and sharing space this will go away.
Well that all sounds so easy, right? But what do you do when there's a rabbit throw-down? Next up!
Many thanks to Edie Sayeg of the Georgia House Rabbit Society for contributing to this series!
