A bonding question

[TinysMom]

Some of you may remember Harry, my "studmuffin" for my rabbitry that I bought last year. All of the girls love him and fight over who gets to lay next to his cage during playtime (well...they don't fight - they just chase another gal away so they can lay next to his cage door).

Only problem is.....he has the gene that throws bad teeth. So....he can no longer be used in my rabbitry for breeding. I'm ok with that...

But I love Harry - and I'm going to be having him neutered this spring to keep him as a pet. My question is....

Harry loves the girls....and I'd like to also neuter Hyacinth (she looks a lot like him) and have them live together.

Now - Harry and Hyacinth have been bred together before - and she is currently bred to another buck...so my plans would have to wait until she has her litter and weans it....

But they are currently side by side in their cages and they sleep NEXT to each other - as close as they can. In fact - Harry had been really restless and I finally moved Hyacinth so she was next to him again - and he settled right down - as did she.

Do I need to go through all the various steps in bonding them (using the bathtub, etc) or can I just let them be together? I want to buy them a larger cage and I thought about just moving them both into the larger cage together after they've healed from neutering and had time to not have sperm (Harry), etc.

I guess what it boils down to is - if two rabbits are used to each other and snuggle together as close as possible through their cage bars - how should I go about bonding them?

Peg

 

[naturestee]

Your rabbitry floor is used for exercise by a lot of the buns, right? You could try them there first, and then switch to a completely new area if they have problems. There's no reason to go through every step if they already get along well.

You know what this means? New pictures! I haven't seen a pic of Harry since last summer.

 

[TinysMom]

naturestee wrote:

Your rabbitry floor is used for exercise by a lot of the buns, right? You could try them there first, and then switch to a completely new area if they have problems. There's no reason to go through every step if they already get along well.

You know what this means? New pictures! I haven't seen a pic of Harry since last summer.

ROFLOL - yes, I guess I will have to take more photos. I just got done giving every bunny hay....and now Harry and Hyacinth are trying to groom each other through the bars. They are so cute together and of all the does -she has always been his favorite. I think it is because he realizes that they look very much alike (and very different from my other lionheads). She is a British import and he is 2 generations from British Imports...so they have wide faces (and butts) and big ears.

My problem is - I fall in love with my rabbits and want to keep them as pets when they retire. I can see it now, "Peg's home for Retired Lionheads....listen for the roars!"

I'm thinking of doing the same thing with Sugar Bear (who HAS bad teeth - never used him for breeding as he was bought to be a pet) and Unicorn. Unicorn is a blue-eyed white single mane doe that lost her mane. She has wonderful "type". I keep meaning to sell her because I've decided to not work with that color. Only one problem.....she and SugarBear and "bonded through the cage wires" if you know what I mean. When I take him out for trimming his teeth - she comforts him and nuzzles him through the cage bars when he returns (it doesn't hurt and he knows it...but he loves her attention). When she goes outside to play - he paces inside his cage and misses her so much. I've seen him binky in his cage at her return.

So....sucker that I am - instead of selling her- I'm gonna neuter them both and bond them and let them have a nice big cage too.

Oh well....they are so loving - with each other - and with me.

Let me guess...more photos of Sugar now? And Unicorn?

Peg

 

[naturestee]

:yeahthat

 

[TinysMom]

naturestee wrote:

You know what this means? New pictures! I haven't seen a pic of Harry since last summer.

I'm about to post some of Harry & Hyacinth in my lionhead thread under the bunny blogs area.

Harry is NOT pleased about his retirement at all.....I told him we wanted retirement photos and he said he isn't TIRED...let alone RE-Tired. Ha ha. He only agreed to let me take photos if he could submit them to "Stud Muffin of the Month" calendar....

Peg