Bonding

[irishmist]

As some of you know we got a new bunny, Gracie... beautiful IMO

Pez has bonded well with her and chins her everytime he gets thechance, I don't think that there is a part on her that hasnot been chinned!

Cleo, on the other hand is displaying behaviour I have never seenbefore. She had no problem accepting Pez.. but Gracie seemsto be another issue!

Her behaviour is almost dog-like. She paces Gracie's cage forhours, round and round, then she grabs onto the bars of the cage withher teeth and tries to get the door open.

I had Gracie out of her cage (on my lap) and I thought Cleo was in hercage. (apparently Cleo is an escape artist) Cleo came flying out of nowhere jumped on my lap trying to get to Gracie and of coursePez who follows Cleo everywhere was on my lap to. So here Iam with 2 rabbits on my lap and holding Gracie up in the air!Cleo is jumping up my arms to get to Gracie. I wastrapped, because I was sitting on the couch I couldn't pushCleo off of me for fear of her falling. And of course Pezbeing who he is ... is up on the top of my chest.. giving me kisses (gofigure)... I have two polar opposites.

Needless to say... I was able to put Gracie away withoutincident. When I returned to the couch.. Cleo came over to meand bit me... something she has never done before... she is normallyvery loving!

Both Cleo and Pez get lots of attention and loving.. and have free runof the house during daylight hours. I wash my hands after Ihave contact with Gracie..

So my question is...

Does anyone have any suggestions to make this process smoother? Nothing is worse than an irate bunny!

Susan

 

[Stephanie]

http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

If you follow the instructions to a tee in that link, you should beable to bond her into the herd with no problems. I did when Abbywouldn't accept Valuran and now they're best bunny buds.

Now, it took me two full weeks, doing what she said at least twice aday, to get them bonded. I almost lost hope, but keep with it andyou'll have success.

 

[irishmist]

thanks so much for that referral.. i really appreciate it and will give it a try!



Susan

 

[Stephanie]

No problem! I know how frustrating it can be.

 

[Pepper]

irishmist wrote:

As some of you know we got a new bunny, Gracie... beautiful IMO

Pez has bonded well with her and chins her everytime he gets thechance, I don't think that there is a part on her that hasnot been chinned!

Cleo, on the other hand is displaying behaviour I have never seenbefore. She had no problem accepting Pez.. but Gracie seemsto be another issue!

Her behaviour is almost dog-like. She paces Gracie's cage forhours, round and round, then she grabs onto the bars of the cage withher teeth and tries to get the door open.

I had Gracie out of her cage (on my lap) and I thought Cleo was in hercage. (apparently Cleo is an escape artist) Cleo came flying out of nowhere jumped on my lap trying to get to Gracie and of coursePez who follows Cleo everywhere was on my lap to. So here Iam with 2 rabbits on my lap and holding Gracie up in the air!Cleo is jumping up my arms to get to Gracie. I wastrapped, because I was sitting on the couch I couldn't pushCleo off of me for fear of her falling. And of course Pezbeing who he is ... is up on the top of my chest.. giving me kisses (gofigure)... I have two polar opposites.

Needless to say... I was able to put Gracie away withoutincident. When I returned to the couch.. Cleo came over to meand bit me... something she has never done before... she is normallyvery loving!

Both Cleo and Pez get lots of attention and loving.. and have free runof the house during daylight hours. I wash my hands after Ihave contact with Gracie..

So my question is...

Does anyone have any suggestions to make this process smoother? Nothing is worse than an irate bunny!

Susan

It sounds like Cleo is jealous of your new one Gracie coming into the picture.Maybe Cleo is afraid your attention is going to befocused on your newlittle baby Gracie.Maybe youjust need to give Cleo time to get used to Gracie and in time maybethey willbe buddies.

 

[Buck Jones]

Stephanie linked you to one of the best bonding sites I know of, plus, she's been there and done that. Not may bunny owners have accomplished what she has in bonding a trio, especially with two bucks. Many would have said that was impossible to do. Her success makes her an authoritative source.

I, personally, have some issues with House Rabbit Society, but their information regarding bonding is not one of them, so I rank them and their link, http://www.rabbit.org/behavior/index.html, only second to that suggested by Stephanie.

Buck

 

[irishmist]

Thanks everyone.. you have been really helpful and I do really appreciate it. We will just have to see how things go



Susan

 

[irishmist]

Since there has been difficulty with the bondingissue, I had been looking for an idea to give Gracie comfort when sheis in her cage. We tried a stuffed animal and she liked thatsomewhat, almost grudgingly. I went to the dollar store andfound pom poms made out of rabbit fur. She absolutely lovesthem and sleeps on them and she was caught grooming them earlier lol.In the pic you can just see her laying on them. Cheap priceto pay to make her happy and comfortable. Pez and Cleo sharea large cage and have each other and Gracie has her faux bunny.



Susan