Alyssa's Bunny Blog!

[April LD]

You're doing amazing. It will work out. Once they are both flopping, grooming, it's a pretty done deal, especially since there isn't a lot of nipping. Bugs will need to get accustomed to sharing ALL of his space, but he will get there. Remember that there will be some scuffs, even later on, my two scuff periodically then love up on each other. Bugs has made your room his...and he like the attention from another bun but he will be somewhat defensive sharing all of his space. Just make sure there is enough room for them to get away from each other in the cage...it will work it's self out, but keep an eye on them. They are super cute!! Reminds me of my Binks and Mrs. Bon-Bons.

 

[A & B]

I do think that they are ready to be moved in together. Bugs is nippy and doesn't seem to want to share his space as he will nip her if she comes near him sometimes. It's like a 50/50 chance that he's either going to nip her or not react at all/groom or snuggle with her. I'm worried that if they are moved in together now, there will be a scuff and one will get hurt. Just now, Evie sniffed his tail and he jumped up. He didn't nip her, which is good progress, but I want him to be completely relaxed around her. (Don't mind the pile of dirty clothes in the background of this picture)

I forgot to add that they will be spending all today together and I won't be in the pen. I will be in the room or have my door open so I can hear them.

They don't ever sit in the litter box together, even though there's more than enough room. Is this normal for pairs?

 

[A & B]

Ugh, Evie chewed my Xbox controller. Now I'll have to tell her that instead of spending $20 on her new toys, I have to get myself a new controller.

 

[A & B]

Bugs making sure I know Evie is his!

 

[A & B]

Happy bunnies!

We had a breakthrough today. Not a huge one, but Bugs seems to be trusting Evie a lot more than before. He had flopped into Evie, which is an amazing feat all in itself, but she got up and flopped right into him! He didn't tense up at all and let her sleep there! She is grooming him all over and he loves it! Seeing him so happy around her makes me feel accomplished. Like I did something right. I've wanted this for him his whole life and I'm finally able to make it happen. At first, I couldn't get him a friend because I wasn't in the correct head space, then I couldn't simply afford another bunny, or I just didn't have enough time to actually bond them.

 

[zuppa]

Ugh, Evie chewed my Xbox controller. Now I'll have to tell her that instead of spending $20 on her new toys, I have to get myself a new controller.

Well, that's brutal. Can you just fix it with tape? Soldering would be better of course but even without it would work for another 30 years.

 

[A & B]

Well, that's brutal. Can you just fix it with tape? Soldering would be better of course but even without it would work for another 30 years.

It's one of those extremely cheap cords that stopped working after she took only a bite out of it. Tape may work, I'll have to try that. For it to work, I have to hold the controller upside down, which makes the game almost impossible to play. It's not a big deal to me. They have a vet appointment on the 29th, so I'm going to refrain from spending any unnecessary money until after their appointment.

 

[A & B]

Bugs's gotcha day is today! That means my forum join anniversary is in about a month! I've learned so much in this last year about rabbits obviously, but also about myself. Rabbits sure do like to test our limits!

Mr. Nips-a-lot won't stop living up to his name. No matter what I've tried (different bonding areas, sizes, adding things like veggies to associate her with good things, pressing his head to the ground to teach him "no", and forcing them to snuggle immediately after he nips), nothing stops him from doing it. I know with time this will stop, but it doesn't seem like he's trusting her more after every session like he should be. I've thought about spraying him after he nips so he learns not to, but I want him to be comfortable around her, not the opposite.

They have flopped into each other and are snuggling! They are asleep with their eyes open staring at me and to be honest, it's a bit scary.

Edit: it seems like I'm trying to rush the process. Please know that I am in no rush to get them bonded, I just want the nipping to at least slow down. They're doing so well aside from the nipping and I don't want the nipping to mess up all the progress they've made so far.

 

[A & B]

I feel like I've been sharing only positive moments about bonding, not the frustrating things that I have no idea how to work around. They're definitely bond-able, but it's taking way longer to just get over nipping than I thought it would. The nipping is done by both equally now. Evie tried to nip him when he came and snuggled with me and she ended up nipping my head. Ouch. No wonder Bugs nips back. I don't know how to stop the nipping. I feel that at this point, I should just let them figure it out. I don't want Evie to nip Bugs and then he won't nip her back and she learns it's okay. It's hard to just let them do it because I don't want either of them hurt. I'm trying to stay positive because when the nipping stops they'll be very close to being bonded, if they aren't right after the nipping stops. I want them bonded by the time the school year starts at the end of August because I won't be able to cement the bond for 48 hours like I want to. If they aren't, it won't be the end of the world though.

 

[JBun]

Like I mentioned with the previous bond, sometimes prolonging the bonding process isn't a good thing. I would be inclined to fast bond them now and monitor and stop any major scuffling, but minor nipping and minor scuffles/disagreements, sometimes does need to be allowed to some extent, so they can work out their relationship.

 

[A & B]

I have been doing long sessions that are 2-7 hours long, almost twice a day, everyday. This session is already going better than the one earlier did. At this rate, I will keep them together all night. Evie is laying on the frozen tile and Bugs is laying next to her.

 

[JBun]

I imagine rex fur must be hotter than regular rabbit fur, because it's so dense. She seems to be enjoying that cool tile

They do seem quite happy to be together, so hopefully they can get all of the kinks in their relationship worked out tonight so they can stay together permanently. Good luck! I hope it goes well for you and them.

 

[A & B]

They just had a little scuff, so I decided I wouldn't intervene at all. They did stop after a few seconds. After they stopped, Evie did lunge at him so I put my hand in front of his face so she couldn't bite him. They are laying pretty close to each other but aren't snuggling. This time, Bugs is on the tile and she's laying near the frozen water bottle. They've been together for 2 hours already.

No promises on keeping them together all night, but I'm going to try. I'll update later when I decide.

 

[A & B]

I think they'll be kept together all night. We're 5.5 hours in and only one minor scuff. I may pull an all-nighter, just so I can closely supervise. I can always take a nap tomorrow if I need it. I want them to prove that they're ready, and I think they are. I find that they do better when I'm not in the pen. For every session, I have sat in the pen just because there would be too much nipping for me to not to. They just shared a plate of veggies and there was no fighting over the last piece like there always is. Evie is doing binkies in the pen, so a very happy girl. If they make it through tonight with no big scuffs and only the occasional nip, I'll declare them bonded. Asking for no scuffs seems like a lot to ask, but they've suprised me before. I'm happy to almost be done with the bonding process. Between Lola and Evie, I've been having multiple sessions a day, everyday for over a month, and I'm beginning to go a bit insane

Evie is also being fed the same amount of pellets as Bugs is, so now I can start to incorporate some things like red and green leaf, bell peppers, cilantro, etc into her diet. I'm sure Bugs will be happy to have his variety back as he's only been fed red leaf, romaine, and sometimes cilantro and kale since we got Lola over a month ago.

 

[A & B]

Well, I tried.

They're not ready. I tried to keep them together all night but there has been 3 scuffs (that were pretty bad) and during the last one, Evie attacked me. She drew blood (a lot of blood, there is bite marks all along my finger base. I'll attach a picture to show it. After that, I couldn't keep them together. I made them eat some lettuce together and quickly ended the session. I see why she bit me though and I'm not mad. Just shocked. In my year of being a bunny parent, I've never been bitten so hard it drew blood. She was scared and when she saw my (unprotected) hand coming at her, she lunged at it. Bugs nipped her first which made her mad, but she definitely was the more aggressive one. My sister was in my room on my bed just watching and when they started to go at each other, I told her to go get her own oven mitt and help me calm them down. I took Bugs and she took Evie to the opposite of the pen. I want to clarify that I was not in any way playing favorites, it just happened that after separating them Bugs was closer to me. After they seemed calm, I gave lettuce for them to share.

I'm sorry that this bonding experience is pretty difficult to give advice on. It goes so well until it doesn't. They definitely need more time. I think I may start back at square one (at a laundry basket then work my way up).

 

[A & B]

Well, I can't edit my post and put the picture in so I have to do it in a seperate post. Sorry.

 

[April LD]

Alyssa,

Have you thought, and I know it sounds crazy, but biting their ear when they nip/bite, then tell them "No Biting". When the "OUCH" didn't work or the squeal I just picked them up, bit their ear, NOT HARD, but enough that they felt it, then I would say "NO BITE", we give love, kisses, and snuggles here. Then I would pet them, kiss, and snuggle until they were clam and/or chomping...most of the time they would put their head under mine after the bite (that I did) and want snuggles/forgiveness. But I think this will teach them you are "BOSS BUN". This should help some so you can save your fingers/hands because they will learn NO BITE means something or BE NICE, this is what I tell my buns. 90% stops them in their tracks, sometimes I need to say it twice, and I currently have 28 rabbits.

I know many will not approve of this method - but you HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT, for this to work. EVERY BITE/NIP you would need to do this. It's is time consuming, but it works and it might help them to stop nipping each other. I have rabbits who will occasionally nip that are in pairs and 2 warrens/herds. They will occasionally have a tussle between them when I begin to hear the "racing" I will tell them STOP, BE NICE! Typically ends the tussle/chase. My biggest issue is they pee/spray each other still to show dominance, it seems like, there is one male and one female in one of my warrens/herds that do this mostly. The rest will chin their sibling/mom. (They are all fixed BTW).

Some stress bonding might also work...I know you didn't want to do that, but it might be where to go from here. A little stress make the heart fonder??

 

[JBun]

My momma bun bit me on the finger once too years ago, but hers was much worse, where they lock on and twist with intent to kill. Funny, cause she is now my sweetest bunny.

I'm sorry finishing bonding didn't work out and that you got bit. It's not going too smoothly for you is it. I wonder what the issue is and why they start out so well, then start having issues?

 

[A & B]

I think I may have found the source of Evie's trust issues/nipping. I think there's a possibility that she's blind, or has limited vision. I know it sounds crazy because she's a year old, but after thinking about it, it makes a lot of sense. She didn't bite me because she hates me. She saw something moving and went after it. She does the same with Bugs, and I don't think it's directed at either of us. She also has this adorable little quirk where when I roll a ball, she chases it. A lot like a dog. She will stop whatever she's doing if my door is opened and I have to talk to her for her to calm down because she gets scared. I've also noticed the whiter part of her eye being a shade of pink. I haven't posted a thread about it because I can't get a clear picture of her eye. Here's a line from an article I just read. "If your rabbit is not already bonded, a gentle companion could be very comforting. Keep in mind, though, that blind bunnies can be very difficult to bond because of the nervousness that arises from their lack of sight." This makes complete sense. She isn't scared of Bugs unless he's moving. Here's the link to that article. I could obviously be interpreting her behavior wrong, but that's what I've noticed. It will definitely be brought up to the vet tomorrow.

As for stress bonding, I tried it and I think that may be what helps their nipping. There was no nipping whatsoever during the 20 minute session. They were in a laundry basket on the washer during it's spin cycle. I will probably do stress bonding sessions twice a day along with their long session(s) in the afternoon.

I wish they would just get over it now. It's getting a bit annoying because I hate not knowing what to do. I will put them in the bathtub today and not move on until there is no nipping or any scuffs. They're doing well, but at the same time, they're not.

 

[A & B]

I think I'm about ready to give up. I don't know what to do or try. They just were on their sides fighting. Bugs grunted louder than I've ever heard him grunt. Maybe he's better off as a single bunny. I can't believe I've failed two attempts at bonding. As much as I would like to keep them separate, I can't. It's not fair to either of them. I'll be moving out for college in a few years and then, I can't house them separately. I feel like if I contact the rescue and tell them they're not working out, they may think I screwed it up because of how well the first date went. I really want to make this work but I have absolutely no idea how to. I'm incredibly attached to Evie and giving her up is a last resort.