Konijnen STRESSVRIJ binden in een week met behulp van de desensibilisatiemethode
Lorina demonstrates how she bonds her two rabbits Ella and Charlie using the Desensitisation Method. She runs the sessions in her bathroom – a neutral space, which allows the bunnies room to run around and interact. In the room, she sets up a litter tray, hay and grass to encourage the bunnies to feed together which is a positive bonding experience. She acts as a chaperone for the bunnies, watching their behaviour carefully and intervening with pats and pressure on the head before any negative behaviour can occur. Lorina watches for a tail up which is a sign of territorial behaviour.
Ultimately, Lorina wants the rabbits to be able to groom each other and to encourage this, she puts both of their heads together and pets them at the same time. This effectively tricks the bunnies into believing that the other bunny is grooming them. One of Lorina’s bonding tricks is to put a bit of banana on the rabbits’ heads to encourage them to lick each other.
When the bunnies get comfortable in the neutral space and are no longer aggressive towards each other, Lorina then moves them back into their pens without a divider so they can explore each other’s spaces, making sure to supervise them.
Lorina notes that bonding is a boring job and requires lots of patience. But all the time you are spending with them also desensitises and bonds the bunnies with you! After running the sessions for a couple of hours a day, Ella and Charlie are newly bonded in a week.
00:00 Intro
00:51 Bonding Day 1 – Letting bunnies explore
08:22 Bonding Day 2 Session 1 – Repositioning heads
13:58 Bonding Day 2 Session 2
14:16 How to pick up your rabbit
15:15 Rabbit behaviour
20:03 Bonding Day 3 Session 1 – Banana grooming trick
23:47 Bonding Day 3 Session 2 – Using cuddles to distract
29:29 Bonding Day 4
31:10 Bonding Day 5 – Sharing a pen
33:15 Bonding Day 6 – Bonded!
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All great tips but what do I do when 1 bunny hates to be pet? Or both dont like it? Then what? How do I calm her down?
I have a question.
Still watching the video, so far it's been wonderful.
You mention you need to be comfortable picking up a rabbit. I'm currently trying to bond a middle sized Lionhead rabbit with a French lop looking rabbit.
Picking up the Lionhead is no issue, but the French lop is twice as heavy and as big, I've been struggling to pick it up, and I've been even advised to not try and pick up the big bunny, do you have any suggestions?
I wish my buns would get along. They go into a tornado fight instantly. The male bit my little girl hard on the cheek, and she was screaming! It was horrible!! That was 4 months ago, and now they live in a bedroom separated by an X pen. They lay next to each other and sometimes groom each other through the fence. I am terrified to try bonding again. I think they're both too aggressive. They are spayed/neutered, and I'm at a total loss as to how to bond them. Rabbit screams are heart-wrenching. I put them in neutral areas when I tried, and they went straight for each other as though it was all that mattered.
I wonder if this method wouldn't work for me since one of my buns doesn't like me to pet her…much less be picked up! I've had her for a couple of months, and ive gotten her to tolerate my petting her, encouraged by the pellets she eats from my lap. (The other bun loves being petted.), but she gets moves away as soon as the pellets run out. I really want to try this method, but do you think I should instead go for a method that is not so hands on?
To confirm- we should combine their current spaces into one when they are at the tail end of bonding? Or do we need a new neutral space for them to share?
Loved the video ❤
Could this work for 4 bunnies? We’ve got 4 rescues, 2 original ones (that were bonded for a few months but not fully). We thought adding another one would help the dynamic, but then we ended up saying yes to another rescue 😅 so now we have 4. 2 are bonded, but one of them showing aggression towards the other 2 that went bonded
This is a great bonding video. I thought humping and chasing was okay because that is how they establish hierarchy. I’ve seen this in so many other videos. I really liked your approach! Calm, gentle, and I liked that you were very involved at first.
This is the best rabbit bonding video on You Tube! Everything else I’ve seen is full of misinformation.
With 8 rabbits of my own currently, & a whole history of successful bonds, learning something new from someone this experienced was a real treat. Good work!! ❤
This has nothing to do with the video but that rug i though it was uncommon but appearantly its so common.
I have two male bunnies that my husband got for me for Christmas. They have been good buddies since Christmas but they do chase each other and mount each other on occasion. They both get neutered next week and I was wondering, because they were close before neutering, is it more likely that they will rebond easier? Or is it like starting from the beginning again? I plan on keeping them separated after the surgery but next to each other.
Ho no! Don’t give them Kale!
It’s not good for bunnies 😢
I would love to hear your opinions on introducing a third rabbit to an already bonded pair! I took in a new rescue and they had never seen him but they smelled him on me and fought a little. Nothing too bad but now they are split in their room. They get along great outside of their room but cannot live back in their old home together. I try to rebond them in one small area of the room. Male nips at female, usually lightly, it feels like "look at me" nips. He grooms her but she never grooms back and he gets annoyed. Should I keep allowing these light nips as it seems like his way to communicate or stop them/cuddle him for a bit like you showed. I do try the treat on head method which works for a little bit sometimes. I think he just really wants more grooms.
Plan is, once new bunny is neutered and healed, they will meet him one on one neutral area and see how that goes. He seems extremely submissive (according to my friend who rescued him, he was with another male and would groom him all the time) so I am hoping he will put my other male at ease. I am a bit worried about bonding all three together once we get to that point. Really don't want injuries!
Any tips appreciated!
I have a friend who tried to bond three fixed rabbits and although they seemed to bond quite well initially, their relationship has since turned south and they are in an all-out fighting mode! Luckily no injury has occurred.
So would this method be appropriate to use for bonding 3 rabbits at one time instead of just 2?
So to confirm, you do 3-4 sessions a day for 30 mins to 1.5 hrs each time, depending on how well they’re progressing. Is that correct?
And as the days progress and they become more comfortable with one another, you begin to do the longer, 1 and 1.5 hr sessions. Is that correct?
I REALLY love this non-stressful bonding method! I think it’s much more kinder to and for the bunnies! I’ve been hesitating on bonding my spayed rescue girl for fear of fighting and not knowing how to progress through each step. But seeing your method and how to do it IN DETAIL, I’m now more confident about trying it!
The info you provide along the way is also very helpful.
This is the best rabbit bonding video on You Tube!
How long were your daily sessions?
May I ask if is it okay to bond 2 adult male bunnies they are 2 yrs old? Both neutered but one bunny is only 1 week neutered, thank you.
Thank this has been very informative.
I have a similar rug, but mine is about 2 by 1.5m, and my bunnies really love to lay on it.
Thank you so much for the wonderful video. I just have one question for you – Is this done after doing table bonding for sometime or did you go straight to this method?
Thanks Lorina, lots of new ideas to try on our buns 👍🐰❤️
Thank you so much for showing us the process.
Very helpful! Ty!