Caring for a depressed bunny

[Azerane]

I'm glad to hear that he's making progress, even if slight.

For those of you who've brought back a new bunny to meet your old one(s), did the territory incursion ever affect the old one(s) litter habits? Did you have to retrain them or did it just get back to normal on its own?

The litter habits will likely get messy for a couple of weeks with a new bunny because they will both wanting to be marking their territories. It should settle down again, though maybe not back to the 99% you're currently getting

 

[whiskylollipop]

Eatings beggies is sometimes twicky job.

I will say that even at his lowest points when he would just mope and not even be interested drinking or his pellets, Merlin was always willing to take a few mouthfuls of wet greens.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Merlin did a naughty.

He's been hopping up on the bed to join me (I do most of my work on my laptop on the bed) a LOT, and I was feeling lenient and thought he would be good. But he peed on it.

I can't believe this little guy. I even gave him some yummies so he could sit by me and eat and not be alone. Lesson learnt: Don't get taken in by doe-eyed fluffies.

Yeah you know what you did.

 

[pani]

Oh no, naughty Merlin! Maybe he was enjoying time with his mama so much, that he didn't want to stop to go pee.

 

[whiskylollipop]

pani: Lol he bloody better be, we had to sun our blanket! It was a couple minutes before I noticed, too...little bugger was careful to pee in the blind spot right behind my laptop so I wouldn't suspect a thing.

Merlin's date with Naja (the rescue bunny) is tomorrow morning! How exciting, I hope my little bratty bun plays nice with her. Will post photos and updates. At the very least, I'm hoping it'll cheer him up to interact with another bun. He's getting better but not completely out of the woods yet. Eating and drinking but unfortunately still quite mopey. He tears apart his toys and rumples the puppy pads in his cage. And I know rabbits don't have expressive faces but I swear I can see it in his face when he's sulking.

Urgh.

I have never bonded stranger bunnies together, or even had bunny dates before, so if anyone has any tips I'd appreciate it!

 

[pani]

Ohh, good luck! Naja is a real sweetie, and it sounds like she'd be able to hold her own against Merlin. Hopefully he'll appreciate a strong bunny lass! ray:

 

[whiskylollipop]

Today we welcome Naja Seraphina into our family! Originally named Naja, hubby and I felt she was such a regal princess that she deserved a sufficiently royal name. We're gonna call her Sasha for short.

The playdate went great. Merlin was such a good boy, and never did anything more than chase her around a couple times. For her part, Naja Seraphina was a brave little lady, almost half Merlin's size but approaching him like a reserved but cordial queen. Here's a photo of the meeting:

The carrier in the middle is Merlin's man cave on normal days, and we left it in there to serve as his "safe spot". Well, at first. Soon Sasha claimed it as her own and in silent acquiescence Merlin relinquished it to her. Such a gentleman.

She's the bravest little thing! We locked Merlin up and left her in her box so she could jump out and explore safely at her own pace. Took her only 15 minutes to decide to jump out. She can see him in his cage but they can't get at each other. Our Murly Wurly is being so chill about having a strange lady in his home. Sasha meanwhile is busy exploring. I think things are going swimmingly, better than I could've hoped!

Shoutout and big thank you to Auckland Cavy Care, and Anaira who pointed me their way!

 

[pani]

Ooohhhhh, blessssss!!

They look so cute together! Hehe she sounds so pushy and firm, like a right little princess. Your buns are like the opposite of mine - Clementine is my larger, female mini lop, and Felix is my smaller nethie.

 

[pani]

How is Sasha doing?

 

[whiskylollipop]

Sasha is doing great! She seems unsure of how to interact with people yet loves human company at the same time. But she is sooo intelligent for someone with such a teeny head. She subtly demands pets by crouching really still near you and refusing to move away until you have given her JUST as much petting as she likes, ~thankyouverymuch~. If you don't comply or stop too early, she will slowly, dramatically straighten up with the most regal you-greatly-disappoint-me-peasant look on her face.

We also had a bonding session yesterday. Gosh, it's been busy. Merlin decided to be a grumpy brat and chased Sasha around quite a lot. I wish he would be nicer, because when he's not looking Sasha likes to come up and sniff his butt. I think she's amenable to making friends with him - he's just being a grumpy old man who doesn't want to share.

I'm going to make a blog, but it probably won't be for a few days yet. I've got a busy week ahead :/

 

[ChocoClover]

That's so sad. 😞😞😞. Poor little bun.