Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice because I’m struggling with a bonding situation and I’m not sure how to proceed.
About a week and a half ago I adopted a new bunny from a shelter to be a companion for my current rabbit. My girl is a 5-year-old spayed lop, extremely sweet and calm. Her previous bonded companion passed away a few months ago, and I didn’t want her to stay alone.
The new bunny is a 2-year-old castrated male lionhead. He has never lived with another rabbit before. I adopted him mainly because the shelter said it was an emergency case, and I don’t want to support breeders.
Since arriving, he’s been housed separately in his own room to settle in. He’s clearly very scared and anxious, though there’s been slow improvement day by day. He still bites my hand when I give him food, but he tolerates being petted — I’m not sure if that’s trust or more of a freezing/submission response.
I’ve started short bonding sessions in a small neutral space. My female is relaxed, friendly, and never bites (she truly never does). She seems very keen to be with him. The problem is that he keeps biting at her. She doesn’t fight back or move much, which makes me very uncomfortable letting things “work themselves out,” even though I’ve seen that advice given before. What you see in the video is already the 5th attempt and so far I can see only small improvements, if any.
I’m wondering if anyone has seen this kind of fear-based, defensive behaviour before and whether it can improve with time. Should I pause bonding completely and focus on socializing him first? Are there alternative bonding approaches that might work better here? And realistically, is there hope for this pairing, or are these red flags?
by Exciting-Bid4424