Bonding Rabbits

Locke (picture on the left) and Samus (picture on the right) are officially bonded!  This is a huge relief to CJ and I because we wondered if Samus would take to Locke since she has an aggressive side and it is also a relief because now we can keep them in the same cage which means we only ever have one cage to clean.

Even though everything seems peachy now, we didn't get off to a great start.

Day 1: The first time Samus and Locke met at Locke's previous owner's apartment he walked right up to her and licked her on the nose.  We thought this was a good sign because he obviously liked her from the beginning and she didn't attack him when he walked up to her.  A few minutes later told a slightly different story.

Locke continued to like Samus and he wanted to be around her and he was very interested in mounted her but it didn't take long for her to realize that she didn't like any of that which is when she started mounting him and growling at him (yes, rabbits kind of growl) and nipping at him.  No long term damage (or even short term damage) was done.  CJ and I knew from all of our bonding research that first meets don't always go well and that is not a sign that the rabbits will never bond so we took Locke home with us.

When we got home that evening we decided to put the rabbits on a "date".  That basically means we put both rabbits in a room that neither are familiar with (so one doesn't feel more territorial than the other) and let them figure each other out.  This first date did not go well.  Hair quickly flew all over the room and we had to quickly separate the two, which ended the date.

That evening we set Locke's cage up in Samus's room but on the complete other side of the room (its the room over the garage, so its a good size room) where she wouldn't be able to see him very well but might be able to start getting used to his sent.

Day 2:  CJ and I went about our normal work day while we left Samus and Locke on their different sides of the room.  I set up vet appointments for both rabbits - Locke needed to be neutered and Samus needed her yearly check-up.  When we got home we let each rabbit out separately to give them some exercise but had to be careful to keep the one that was out away from the other in its cage (Samus tried to nip at Locke when he came close to her cage).


Day 3:  Locke and Samus did not enjoy their car ride to the vet (rabbits notoriously hate car rides, it is one way you can bond them - put them together in a situation they both don't like so that the lean on each other for comfort).  Samus's check-up was quick and Locke spent most of the day at the vet's office having and recovering from his surgery.  Again, for their exercise, we let them out one at a time.

Day 4:  Instead of letting them each out one at a time for their evening exercise we set up the fence in a manner that left a no man's land between the two rabbits.  This way we could let me out at the same time (more exercise for each rabbit) plus they could get close enough to each other to see and smell each other clearly without being able to nip at each other - which was particularly important for Locke because we didn't want him getting hurt while he was still recovering from his neutering.

Day 10:  By this time Samus had progressively gotten used to Locke being on the other side of the fence and Locke was recovered from his surgery, so we moved Locke's cage to be closer to Samus's - right next to Samus's - but just at night.

Our intention was to get them spending more time close at night.  In the morning when I would feed them I'd move Locke's cage back to the other side of the room to give Samus some break time.  We left the no man's land set up up for when both rabbits were out of their cages.

Day 11: This was Samus and Locke's second First Date.  CJ and I were very worried that it would go like their first first date but we were very pleasantly surprised that it went very well.  There was a little trouble at first with Samus still feeling territorial and aggressive for which she got sprayed with water.  She learned pretty quickly and started running away from Locke when he would get close to her for which she received praise (running away is a lot better than being aggressive).

When Locke wasn't annoying Samus they spent a good deal of time ignoring each other, exploring their surroundings and pooping in order to mark their territory.  I think we planned to only have them in the same room as each other for about 20 minutes (which is was we read was recommended) but it went so well I think we were in there for close to 40 minutes.

Spraying with water for discipline was new for all of us when we brought Locke home.  When it was just Samus in the house we would just clap loudly or thump on the floor and say "no" when she did something wrong but we figured with two rabbits in the house, if we did the same thing the one who wasn't being bad might think that they were being bad.  We decided that spraying water at the bad one would keep that distinction for the good rabbit to know that they weren't doing anything wrong.

Day 12: Samus and Locke's second date went even better than their first, I don't think either rabbit was sprayed with water but the territorial pooping continued.  Samus was becoming much more patient with Locke, allowed him to get close to her a few times, and she even laid down and made herself comfortable (a very good sign).  The laying down didn't always last very long though because Locke would come up behind her and start sniffing her butt, which she clearing didn't appreciate (and still doesn't) so she'd get up and move.

She also figured out that there was a box that she could jump on to get away from him because he couldn't quite make it that high.  After a while it seemed like she would jump up there just to say "nanny nanny boo boo I can make it and you can't" which we thought was a good sign that she was being playful with him.

This date was also planned for about 20 minutes but ended up lasted about an hour and 20 minutes.

This was also the night that we decided to keep their cages right next to each other during the day as well as at night.

Day 13:  While I was trying to catch Samus for their third date CJ was teaching Locke that he could jump up on Samus's box.  He's put Locke on the ground, then pick him up and put him on the box then put him on the ground then pick him up and put him on the box.  Locke figured it out quickly and by the time Samus jumped up on the box to tease him, he followed her right up.

The rest of their third date was very similar to their second and they seemed to be doing really well together.

Day 14:  CJ and I decided to stop the official "dates" (which we thought would end up taking a week or two) and just allowed the two rabbits to have their exercise time together in their room while being pretty closely supervised.  They spend a good deal of time in each other's cages eating each other's hay and food but never seemed to both be in the same cage at the same time.  Everything went really well.

Day 16:  We let the rabbits have their exercise time together in their room (and the loft area) with significantly less supervision while CJ and I watched TV.

Day 18:  Samus and Locke spent their first night together.  This was something else that CJ and I were worried about because over the last few days they hadn't spent much time together in the same cage.  We spent the night in the loft area so we could hear if anything went wrong.

This is the best picture I got of their first night together.  When I went in to check on them before I went to bed I found them cuddling but didn't want to take a picture a disturb them.

They only spent the night together, the next morning when we gave them breakfast we put Locke back into his own cage for the day.

Day 22:  Everything was going so well that we decided to leave Locke in Samus's cage with her while we left for work.  When we got home they were both in one piece and didn't appear to have any injuries.  We decided that this would be their regular routine and we considered them officially bonded - about 2 months sooner than we guesstimated.