Boop and Strawberry are a neutered male and spayed female pair. They are both about 9 months old. They have very different personalities and are hopeful they will make a great bonded pair.
Their original meeting was 30 minutes of entirely ignoring one another in a bathtub.
Then, they lived in x-pens within a foot from each other but unable to touch (had a physical barrier, but they could see each other). They each get time out to free roam daily and over the past month they have gotten much less aggressive over defending their own space when the other is out free roaming (we do block the bottom of the pens so they can’t make physical contact but they would charge at first and now they just watch each other).
Due to life and a vacation, it took 3 weeks for me to be able to commit to having hours a day for bonding. We are on day 4 and here is where we are:
Boop wants Strawberry to be his submissive girlfriend. He tries to lay with her. He nudges her. He flops next to her. He asks her for grooming. He grooms himself. He eats. He sometimes mounts her or chases her (like 2 feet then he stops, he doesn’t nip or circle).
Strawberry doesn’t seem to want to be dominant but isn’t willing to submit. She will lay in the corner even if he lays next to her but will ignore his demands for grooming. She will eat, after a while. She thumps once if he chases her, which is when he stops. She has groomed herself once.
I tried banana on Boop’s head. Strawberry did NOT fall for it. 🤣
Anyone have any ideas? Do I just have faith? Let it ride? I think it’s mostly good, I just wish Strawberry would accept Boop’s love!
by afishinaforest
2 Comments
What you described here is exactly how bonding my first 2 buns went. My male, Jigglypuff, was constantly seeking my female, Venom’s, attention and trying to snuggle with her but she just ignored him all the time. He would groom her all the time but I could never get her to groom him, even with the banana trick. In the end, my girl Vemom ended up being the dominant bunny. She will groom Jigglypuff every once in a while, but not nearly as much as she receives it.
So, just have faith and let it ride. Be patient and let them figure it out, they will eventually!
It sounds like it’s going well.. They’ll figure it out