Does My Small Pet Need Company And What Does Bonding Entail?

So I could type a massive Essay on this topic, having professionally bonded buns for a number of years but that would bore you to tears and I really just want to get across key points and dispel some myths and lies. So firstly- such a common question I get asked: does my pet need a friend? Well if we are focusing back on guinea

pigs and rabbits then the answer is yes.

For rabbits: they are naturally social animals and companionship is important to them. In the wild, rabbits live in family groups which can reach up to 30 in one warren! Mammal Society. If they are kept alone, they may begin to show some abnormal behaviour, especially if left without company for long periods of time. It’s the same for guinea pigs who need friends because they are social animals that thrive in the company of their own kind. Keeping guinea pigs in pairs or small groups mimics their natural behaviour and helps them avoid physical and mental health issues that can come from isolation.

Are there exceptions? Yes, however many bunny rescues and vets slightly disagree on this subject and you will find that strong experienced opinions still differ. So, I’m putting this next section in red as this is the most vital section of the article. The general consensus in the world of bunny and guinea pig bonding is that there is a well matched partner out there for every unbounded bunny and piggy. And that multiple failed attempts at bonding is NOT an excuse to give up and leave your bunny alone for their rest of their days. If you have been unlucky and bonding just doesn’t seem to be working then it’s probably worth rethinking your methods and trying a changeup rather than giving up altogether which should be a rare last resort. As the bunny angel’s network so simply put “there is a suitable partner for every bunny out there, no matter their behavioural issues”. This often involves seeking out the most highly experienced bonders in the country who might be able to help your pet bonding succeed, where it has so far failed. However it’s important to fully understand before you even become a bunny or piggy parent that you are committing to a great deal of time and energy, especially in regards to bonding or future re bonding when one of your pair dies. But this IS required if you truly want to give them the best life and welfare standards.

Now, for the flip side of the coin, why some leading voices in the industry will not break from this rule and frown upon any bunny or piggy owners who have a single unbounded pet, there is in my view and from personal experience, a tiny percentage, less than 4 percent of cases where bonding is not a option. Note, this takes extreme circumstances, examples: such as a rabbit with severe behavioral issues which means that they are aggressive towards all other bunnies and will not bond. Or complex medical conditions, mainly neurological conditions or brain damage  which means that they are regularly at vets for treatment, causing disruption to a bonded pair’s behaviour or preventing that pet from behaving naturally. Lastly, if many bonding attempts have been made and the rabbit or pig in question then becomes seriously ill through the stress of bonding, then it may be deemed cruel to continue trying. Note that this decision would not be taken likely and should only be decided upon with the help and guidance of your specialist exotic vet. If your vet and one other experienced professional both agree that your pet is getting too sick then it may be better to stop all together. However while bonding is a stressful process regardless of the method you use to try to minimize the stress on your current pet, it is very rare for the stress to make a pet so sick that any future bonding attempts are deemed too risky. But I do know of cases, so it’s not impossible, hence why I sit on the fence with the whole “every bunny should be bonded statement”. It’s also vital to stress that the big issue here, often is not even the pet but the human owner who may grow stressed or fed up of trying bonding with multiple bunnies or may not want the responsibility of a second rabbit or pig. Therefore many owners will use this as a caveat (or an excuse) to not bond them or rebond them after losing a partner.  The welfare of the pet should always come above your own feelings towards the process and if you don’t feel you can cope with it anymore then you should seek advice and support to get your pet a home with someone who is willing to go that extra mile and get them bonded.

Therefore In short, I do not agree with black listing bunny owners who don’t have a bonded pair, as their pet may be in that tiny majority where re-bonding is not working or causing them severe illness. HOWEVER, I get very frustrated as a huge majority of owners often claim this is the case when it isn’t and in fact, their pet could be bonded without trouble.  A quick example from real life of bunnies who were deemed not suitable for any more future bonding attempts – if they become so stressed that they stop eating, leading to gut stasis or other conditions such as bladder stones due to lack of drinking because of being so stressed. THIS IS RARE, but it can happen.  Sometimes it might be possible to wait a period of recovery time and then attempt again, however if a similar response happens again, resulting in veterinary treatment and even surgery then calling it quits may be the only sensible option left. Or a rabbit contracting EC or other conditions from the pet that they are attempting to be bonded with (this is a problem that is hard to avoid in rescues where EC is not normally checked as a standard step before bonding is commenced). So,  What we need to do is keep putting the word out there, that bonding should be standard practice and to never give up finding the right partner for your pet, inless they are in that rare small percentage zone where multiple experts also agree with you to cease trying.

It is my job to stress again that it is a LAST resort to cease bonding attempts and never a light decision to make and should only be taken when you have exhausted every other possibility with expert input. Also I stress that re-bonding a small pet after their partner has died, especially with rabbits is far more complicated than it looks and you should always seek professional bonding guidance. If you try by yourself and it doesn’t work, it may be because you are not doing a certain step so professional input is really important before you throw in the towel. There may be other reasons why you can’t rebond such as health or behavioural issues. Even in small pet charities, whilst they always try to re-home buns or pigs in pairs, there will be the odd case where for reasons related to the individual pet, mean that they must be re-homed alone. So not every pet will fit that ideal box norm.  

So in short, there is no excuse to have a rabbit or guinea pig alone in less for the rare situations stated above, or you are re-homing a pet from a charity and they state why they must be kept alone ( such as severe behavioural issues). I know for a fact that money grabbing breeders and certain large pet store chains do sell buns and pigs by themselves without any real cause…if you see this happening, please do not buy from them. Go to a charity where there will be plenty in need of loving homes, you’ll be helping to break a unjust cooperate chain but also helping yourself, as often the pets in these stores are stressed and sickly due to cheap breeding and inappropriate care and diet.

One of my pets has died, what do I do now for the other pet? Well firstly your pet will pine, they will need extra support through this period while they adjust to being one. It can hit rabbits in particular far harder then guinea pigs. You will know your pet’s personality and you will see quickly how they cope. I’ve had so many little personalities over the years, some are soppy and really do need to have company all the time, others won’t seem that bothered at all and like their freedom and independence until you can get them re-bonded. You will be grieving too so only you can be the judge of when to take the next step and look for a new friend for your pet. A few months to 6 months seems to be the most common period of time before owners rebond according to bunny stats. However if you can get the ball rolling sooner for the bonding process to start with your existing pet, then do, every pet is different. Some pets may be fine for a number of months, others may seem very low and even stop eating in which case, you will need to seek vet guidance and get cracking with finding a new friend pronto. One thing you can do to act as a comfort blanket until you can get a new partner for them is to give them a soft teddy or toy. Of course it’s not the same and you need to make sure the toy is safe, with no bits that could be swallowed or dangerous if chewed, however the feeling of soft fur can still mimic a  real partner and feel reassuring against their body, especially if it’s the same sort of size as a fellow bunny or pig partner. Note, this is NOT an alternative to getting a real partner for your pet, it’s just a method of coping to help with the pining until you can get them a new real friend.     

So what is bonding and how is it done? Now I’ll be honest, bonding small pets is a bit of mine field. Part of the reason why I stopped bonding bunnies was because of just how stressful it was. Most folk have no notion about this process- I can’t tell you how many people I have had who say….they just went to the pet store and picked up another bun and pig and took it home, only to be shocked and surprised that they were fighting and then had to be split up. Yep the so called fluffy harmless bunny rabbit is well, not so harmless when bonding and in some severe cases, if they don’t get on and are not split, severe injury or even death can occur. Now for guinea pigs it’s a bit easier- it's actually not so common for them to not get on, pigs are easy going by nature and as long as you’re not trying to introduce two unneutered males (good luck with that one!) then 80 percent of the time, it goes well. But even with pigs, it is possible that they just don’t get on and you may need to try a different pig or rethink your plan of action.

The general rules/guidelines for bonding are the same for pigs and rabbits:

- Separate at first. Start by housing them with a mesh barrier between them so they can communicate and swap scents and look at each other. You can try placing one in a run next to the other's hutch, or two runs next to each other. 

 -Move them closer. After a few days, move enclosures and runs closer together so they can see and smell each other through the barrier. 

-Meet in a neutral space. Once the pets seem to be communicating positively, move them to a neutral space to meet, like an outside run or spare room. You can use a barrier in the neutral space to start with so they can see and smell each other, before removing the barrier and attempting open bonding or what’s commonly known as the 24/7 approach. It’s important not to have a space that is too small otherwise this can be very stressful for the pets to be forced together however too large and they may stay well apart and no bonding will happen. That’s why I was saying that bonding is more complex than it first appears, it’s a slowly slowly softly softly approach…not a case of just buying a pet and assuming they will be cuddling up and kissing by night fall. Bonding can take weeks and weeks or if you are super lucky and they get on, then just a few days. It varies a lot but you need a lot of time if you are going to attempt it yourself. Remember that a neutral space is needed, that means NEUTRAL! If they have any toys or items that they see as belonging to them then they may fight over it.    

-Be patient and reward interactions

-Make them feel comfortable

       -Lastly provide enough space. Don’t cram them into two tiny pens or a bathtub, you need to find what works for them and you- remember too big and they will stay well away from each other, too small and they may fight and feel stressed, leading to illness so you need to be flexible and adjust as needed.

Not all introductions will be successful, so you should have a plan in case they can't live together. I have a number of clients who have to keep their small pets separate as they never managed to get them to bond but then were unable to take the other pet back to where they had bought it from. This is another leading cause for pets being re-homed or abandoned, because the owner bought a pet but then could not get them to bond with their pre-existing small pet. Now if you have bonded before and had success then that’s great and you will probably feel confident enough to try it yourself again. However, often folk struggle and will need professional guidance. Some charities offer a bonding service which takes all the stress away from you, fab! Others will provide you with strict guidelines and expect you to do the leg work at home and there are also independent bonding services out there who can be paid for their time to bond. Most of these services will take back a rabbit or pig if the bonding has been unsuccessful. But remember to always check out any service before you leave your pet with them. I’d also stress that even folk who have professionally bonded for years don’t always have success- I know from personal experience, it’s really down to the personalities of the pets and while some jel really quickly, others can be challenging and the bonding process can become hard going very quickly.

There really isn’t any magic answer but the guidelines above are what all bonders use. Bonding rabbits is much much harder than pigs (speaking from experience) and also takes considerably longer.

         The other reason why seeking professional help may be needed is because when you first introduce two rabbits into the same pen area…..you have to be acting as a mediator, watching all the time, observing and not leaving the room. I’ve heard of some heart breaking cases where a pet owner has attempted to bond themselves,  put them together as it seemed to be going well with a shared pen,  left the room for some lunch or a phone call, only to come back to discover rabbits fighting and ripping fluff and skin out of each other. It is very alarming indeed but is a perfect example of the fact that bunnies are anything but, simple uncomplicated little creatures. They are indeed complicated and even for the most experienced experts, sometimes you're left scratching your head and thinking….I was so sure that pairing would work wonderfully. It is pretty normal in the bonding process for some biting and knocks to each other- it’s judging when to jump in and split them and try another rabbit another day or to let it continue which is the hard part. Jump in too soon and you may wreck it when in fact they were just testing each other to see who the dominant one was and who the submissive one was. Jump in too late and you may have a seriously injured and traumatized pet on your hands.

This is a breakdown of the common methods used for bonding:

(1)- The 24/7 method, this is the method listed above and tends to be the most popular among the rabbit and small pet rescue community of experts. It also has the highest success rate with bonding. This entails placing both rabbits or both pigs into an enclosure together which is a neutral space. Big enough to eat and move around and do all normal behaviours but not so big that they don’t have to meet at all. They then remain together 24/7 while being supervised and monitored by a pet expert most of the time. This can be for anything from a few days to a whole week or longer depending on how long it takes for the pets to bond totally. This tends to be very successful however at the start, constant monitoring is required in case they don’t get on and need to be separated.  

(2)- The Dating method or split mixing method: This can differ slightly from rescue to rescue but the basic rule is that the pets are split by a fence line and so can see each other and smell each other but not fully touch. It remains this way until they are used to each other’s scent, before then having the fence line removed and having short periods of time where they can interact. However they only have short periods together before the fence line is put back in place. This process continues until the animals show signs that they are bonding and can safely remain in the same area together without being split by the fence line. If any setbacks occur then the split fence can be put back in place and the steps restart from scratch. This process can take days to weeks just like the 24/7 method but very much depends on the pets and if their personalities match well or don’t.  

(3)- Stress bonding methods: so I’ll say straight out that I don’t like this method and don’t agree with it as I think it’s very stressful for the pets and makes it more likely that they’ll get sick, secondary to the stress of it. However some more old fashioned rescues still use these methods so I’m telling you about them anyway. Stress methods involve placing the two pets in a tiny area together so that they are forced to be right next to each other. The theory behind this being that they will bond quicker by being so close and having their scents on one another- however out of all the methods, this one has the lowest bonding success rate. Nevertheless, it can still work but I don’t tend to agree with its ethics. Common ways in which it is used: placing the bunnies in a bathtub together or a tiny enclosure or being placed in a tiny pet carrier together and taken for a car ride or a walk, whilst in the carrier, to force the bonding progress to occur quicker.

So to sum up- bonding is a process that can’t be rushed and needs your undivided attention. You need to be experienced enough to know when you need to call it quits and move on to another rabbit option or when to continue for a bit longer. If it doesn’t work the first time, don’t be too disheartened, it may just be that their personalities clashed, you can always attempt bonding again with other bunnies but let them have a break first between to avoid your pet from becoming stressed and overwhelmed and even ill. If you are not sure, seek help. There is no set amount of times you can try to bond but you do need to be realistic and remember the welfare of your pre-existing pet is priority. If your attempts have failed then seek out a professional rescue in your area that offers a bonding service and has a good track record for successful bonding, their skill may be what is needed to make a match. Remember that in most cases, there is a perfect bunny rabbit or a guinea pig match for your existing pet somewhere out there, you just need the right support to find them. And remember if you have some failed attempts, it doesn’t mean it won’t work out with a different pet, it's trial and error when mixing different personalities.   

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