Two bunnies can't be that much more work. Right?
The Story of Gracie.
So things were going along fine with Baby and us. She was happy, we were happy. Then my sister told me her sister-in-law's daughter had a pet rabbit they were trying to find a home for. The bun was going to end up at the local Animal Shelter - Chicago Ridge IL where I had gotten Baby just under 2 years ago if they couldn't find it a home. That Animal Shelter does a very good job considering the sheer volume of animals that go through it's doors. So I thought about it. How hard could a second rabbit be after all. Not that bad and Baby would have a friend for when I wasn't home. Found out more about the little bun. Another dwarf, another female like Baby and it was a lion's head (whatever that meant).
Then I started to read online about introductions between rabbits --but not too much out there then. Ordered a movie to watch on Bunny Bonding and still not much to find out. But they did caution that not all rabbits will take to each other like not all humans get along. But Baby is so sweet how could she not like another rabbit. So sight unseen I commit to taking this little rabbit who was named Fantasia (yes after the American Idol contestant). I made arrangements to get her fixed, get the room ready where I will house both Baby and the new bun and pick her up. Well she is beautiful. She is all black with a little gray on her paws and the lion's mane of fur that frames her face is quite exquisite. She is a beauty alright. So off to the shelter the next day to get altered. The following day back home to her forever home with us.
Gracie (that became her name, she never knew her name previously) recovered from surgery, we began to try to bond Baby and Gracie. Now bonding will have it's own section but you must slowly introduce rabbits to each other and you must let them determine if they want to be together or not --no a human cannot determine this - the bunnies must determine this. They have to establish who is dominant who is submissive. Submissive bunny will do alot of grooming (kissing or licking of the other). Dominant will be top bunny and will nip the other bunny if it gets out of line or if the dominant wants to be groomed.
So we started to introduce them slowly - 5 minutes the first day. Loose in a secure penned area with a few distractions like toys and boxes where they could see each other but couldn't easily hide or escape. We gradually went to hour sessions and then much longer. But these two rabbits didn't like each other from the beginning. Gracie wanted to be dominant and Baby was okay with being submissive until Gracie started to nip Baby. Now they will pull out tufts of fur when they nip and I think it really has to hurt - no question - it hurts. Since we were inexperienced, we counted on all the research we did heavily and they said to keep trying to bond, they will eventually get along. We did car rides with them in a box to stress them to get along (sorta like I'm scared and you are scared so lets huddle together to be safe). We put them in a box on top of a running clothes dryer (another stress idea). But nothing worked. We changed bonding rooms, bonding areas, bonding toys and no luck. We put them in the bathroom, in the bathtub and in almost every room we have and still no luck. During this whole time we had rearranged a bedroom to house both of them in it with a divider down the middle to separate their areas. This was suppose to help - for them to see each other and get use to each other and watch each other.Oh they were watching but more like glaring of hate in their eyes. But it never happened - the bond it is. At one point they broke security while we were at work at tore both sides of the bedroom apart. There was fur everywhere. We were so lucky that neither one was hurt --they were both in their cages, huddled and frightened when we came home. This was the turning point for Baby - she was afraid of Gracie up until then and still is to this day but she became a fighter after this and the relationship was really doomed. We tried to bond them for about 2 - 3 months which is all documented on a great rabbit website called binkybunny.com.
Here is the link to bonding 2 females by bunnymama
They just don't like each other and never will and have been moved into separate bedrooms and lead pretty separate lives.
I've since been told that dwarf females are extremely territorial and high strung. Being a dwarf and being female could be the issue. I wish we had stopped trying to bond after about 3 weeks when we really never saw any encouraging signs. We just didn't know any better.
Gracie is a really pretty and sweet little rabbit. She never seemed as smart as Baby (who amazes me with how bright she is all the time). But since Gracie got married (okay bonded) and she is much more intelligent than I ever gave her credit for. She always intrigues me with how she fanagles her way with her hubby and yet knows how to groom him like nobody's business. Gracie is my black bunny!
Hey Gracie -What's Up?
