Broken Bond

[MyBabyBunnies]

Arg I'm so mad at myself right now! I screwed up Mocha and Zoey's bond today.

I needed to clean the little guy's cage today and the bunnies were in the runs so I decided it would be ok to put him into Mocha and Zoey's cage for a few minutes. I didn't think anything of it because I've done it a million times with Spice and never had a problem. I neglected the fact that Mocha and Spice grew up together and are most likely used to each others scents.

Well when I put Mocha and Zoey back in the hutch, they started fighting. Mocha started chasing her and I panicked. I grabbed Mocha and put him in the run. Then I grabbed Zoey and put her in the run to see if they still fought and they were fine again. Which is odd because the little guy has been in that run as well... maybe the run is neutral territory to the bunnies?

Anyways, I'm hoping I can fix this because I'm in big trouble if I can't, I have no where to keep all the bunnies if I have to split Mocha and Zoey up. I took some bleach and sprayed the cage down, then took a towel that I had rubbed on Mocha and dried the hutch with it. I put all the floor boards, tiles, toys, and bowls in the run so they could get their scents on them again. I'm praying this works.

Arg, this is just not turning out to be a great week at all and once again I feel horrible. :sad:

 

[aurora369]

Maybe cleaning with vinegar? That is supposed to get rid of scent, better than bleach.

I think it was a good idea to rub their scent all over the cage too.

Hopefully it will work!

--Dawn

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I don't use vinegar because it eats paint/wood and has even corroded completely throughthe wire on my first cage.

Anyways, it's helping, but I'm not sure what to do yet. I may have to do a few in-hutch bonding sessions again.

 

[Haley]

I think once you get it cleaned out and spread their scent around all will be fine. Im trying to bond Mr. Tumnus with Basil and Max (who are bonded) and if Basil sees Mr. Tumnus or smells him, he will attack Max. I usually put Basil in time out (in his cage) until he cools off and then they're fine.

Just get rid of Spice's smell and they should be back to being buds.

Good Luck!

Haley

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Sorry, I forgot to update this forum! Anyways I *think* they'll be ok. I really did not want to separate them because I didn't want to have to rebond them again so I figured first I'd try to see if I could mend it without splitting them up for the night.

Well I basically let them 'duke it out' -- in other words I let Mocha sort out his dominence again. He was chasing Zoey a little but she was running away and he would back off after a foot or 2 so I didn't stop it. All I had to do if I got worried was to shake the spray bottle anyways and he would back off. He was pretty good and seemed to understand 'be good' but he's never been one to instigate a fight when I'm in his view.

Anyways, when I went inside for the night they were sitting side by side and there was no problem. So I'm just leaving my window open so I can hear any scuffles but I think it's best to not separate them.

And I can say I learned my lesson, it will never happen again!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Haley wrote:

Just get rid of Spice's smell and they should be back to being buds.

It isn't Spice's smell, it's the little lop's smell that I'm bunny-sitting. Mocha and Zoey have never been overly concerned about Spice's smell probably due to the fact that they have been around it for so long.

 

[Pipp]

MyBabyBunnies wrote:

Well I basically let them 'duke it out' -- in other words I let Mocha sort out his dominence again.

I was going to suggest this. Both my bonded pair have their tiffs -- I had a 'disagreement' with Dill the other day, and he promptly turned around and beat up Sherry. :disgust: But 10 seconds later they were the most lovey dovey couple on the planet.

And Radar and Darry have so many little scraps -- well, actually it's just Darry constantly harassing poor Radar -- I'm wondering if bonding them was such a good idea. But they still cuddle and groom, and where one goes, the other follows, so...

Anyway, as long as one can get out of the other's way, I'm sure they'll be fine.


sas

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Well I'm pleased to say I narrowly escaped disaster. They are FINE together this morning. Even though they were cuddling last night, I didn't want to jinx it but I knew if they were still doingfine by morning, then they would be alright.

So at least no harm was really done, I'll just be a little more careful now.