Bunny bonding

[Thumpers_Mom]

So we officially started the bonding process with Thumper and Peaches on Sat. when they first met and I have been doing small mtgs with them (two yesterday/one today). :shock:

I had them in the pen area today for about 10 min. At first they were calm then Thumper came her way, of course to mount and she was again not having any of that, so I put a stop to the aggressivness by sitting down and petting both of them :foreheadsmack:

I then brought in their greens and they ate on opposite sides while glacing at eachother. After a while, they started to get near eachother again (peaches ears were not in attack mode but she looked like she was going to lunge) and I started petting them and they switched places and started to eat where the other was eating before. When they finished, I gave them each a treat and more pets and then took Peaches out firstto put her in her cage and am giving Thumps some free time before I give Peaches some free time.:thud:

Right now they are also spending "time" together cuz Thumper is out. He is hanging out by her cage. They will run around (him outside, her in) around the cage and occasionally groom and sometimes nip (not hard though, I am watching). Today, they both are doing body shiver and head flick type motions and Peaches just flopped to the floor a couple of times (quite funny to see). :headflick:

I don't know if things are going well. I am sure that if I leave them be, Thumper is going to get hurt. I say him because not once has he tried to bite Peaches but she has tried to get at Thumps.:dunno

Sorry this is sooo long, I would just like some insight if possible. ThxQ

 

[Spring]

It sounds like it's going well .

It sounds like they are unsure of each other at the moment, and just getting used to each other and trying to figure out if they can trust the other bunny. That's great that you have them snacking and for the most part, ignoring each other . I would continue doing what you are doing for a few more days, then maybe extend the time they are out to 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, etc. You just have to keep it slow and steady, and when it seems that they can move onto the next step, then you can extend the time a bit.

Good luck! Here's hoping for even more progress!

 

[monklover]

It seems like bonding is going pretty well. It is good that they are interacting through the cages. When one mounts the other, just watch. Make sure they aren't getting agressive but I wouldn't take them off of eachother. They are sorting out their dominance and after awhile they will probably get bored of it.

Something that is helpful is taking them for car rides or putting them in a laundry basket on top of the dryer. Something that I found EXTREMELY helpfull, which might have actually bonded my two, is switching their cages. No cage should be one bunny's. They get eachother's scent on the other cage and use the same litter box as the other bunny. Switch them everyday.

In the beginning, they might want to nip at eachother or there might even be fighting. If it is just a little nip, they will probably correct themselves. If Thumper and Peaches get in a scuffle, clap your hands so they seperate or just use a broom to seperate them.

After awhile, you can extend the amount of time they are out.

Good luck with the rest of the bonding! :biggrin2: It is so great when they finally bond!

Megan

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Sounds like it's going well actually!

When I started to try to bond Bo and Clover - she decided she is going to eat him. She latches onto his behind and doesn't let go!! Needless to say - we've decided that they might not bond. Someone said maybe since she's a cottontail.

One day - they each had each other by the butt and they were on their sides going around in circles! We had to PRY them apart LOL!

Funniest of all - they both played together for over a year before this started. :?

 

[Thumpers_Mom]

Here are todays events:

I again took them to the pen with their greens ready. This time, they went straight to work on eating. Mainly ignoring eachother. When Peaches had enough, she went over to Thumpers side. He continued to eat for a bit then he scurried over to her. I pet them both and they just lay there side by side while I talked to them and continued petting.:woohooNo grooming though...(I'm not trying to rush things either)

Then he tried to mount her, I pet her and talked to her (I was told not to stop the mounting but to not let it go on for more than 10-20 sec.) and pushed him away after about 10 sec. After that, she turned and met him face to face and nipped him. :bangheadShe was going to go after him so I just started petting and talking some more while they both just relaxed.

Then Thumps went over to the other side. I gave them both a papaya treat, some more pets and called it a day. From what I read, mtgs should end on a good note and that definitely was a good note.:bunnydance:

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.