King Kirby's Rabbit Nation 2011

[kirbyultra]

Day 5
The second date of Day 5 went really long. I kinda did what I said I wouldn't do and let them go as long as I thought they could stand each other. The thing that changed was Annie licked him real quick, but it still counts. Then she spent most of the time laying and flopped. Toby kept inching toward her then wussing out. Went on for 45 minutes.
Day 5's third and last date went on for over an hour. They ate greens actually sitting with each other at the plates, and while Annie was eating hay in her box, Toby finally got the guts to go over to her and sniff around. He didn't run away when she came to him and ate his hay. Annie does a lot of abrupt movement which scares me more than it scares him and it's remarkable how well Toby's handling her juvenile energy. I never dreamed we'd be at day 5 and bonding for hour-long dates, but after the last date they look like they've been buds forever. Not quite husbun and wifebun yet. They still do the "no you first" when their noses nudge each other but their attitude is really positive. They're behaving the way Kirby and Penny did after like 3 weeks of bonding.

Day 6
This morning Annie reminded me that she's still pretty much a baby. She had so much energy and was darting around sniffing, rubbing and bouncing off of everything. It was really unnerving to watch and it scared Toby too. She landed in front of him once and he grunted at her, which she responded by promptly bouncing away. I couldn't tell if it was a hasty binky or a desperate jump. There was too much nervous energy in the air so I separated them after about 35 minutes.

I decided it was time to swap their cages too. Since they're in my basement and their current spaces are all temporary, I figured they wouldn't mind too much anyway. They seemed to settle in just fine.

This evening their last date went a lot better than this morning's. They ate salads together, they ate hay together. They seem to just hang out and observe each other without any issues.

............

This just in: Toby groomed Annie's face. HUZZAH!

 

[kirbyultra]

LOL sorry, that post was happening live as I was supervising their date. I just finished telling my husband how boring their long dates were becoming and that's why I brought a chair and a laptop into the laundry room to watch them. A few minutes after he left, he is pretty much going to regret that he did.

Annie and Toby did their nose-to-nose thing where neither wants to be the one to groom the other. But Annie really went for it this time... she didn't give up and she landed her head beside his, which he was tolerant of. Then slowly she started to snuggle her way under his head. Toby was curled up in a ball, pretty reluctant to do anything. I gave him some encouraging pets in his head. Then he kind of just... licked her eye! He licked her eyelids and a little bit of her ear.

A minute later, he licked her eyes again and she made a little noise, was slightly surprised by the sudden affection, it seems. But she didn't move away and he continued to lick her other eye and a little of her other ear too. A little while after that he gave her a few quick kisses on her head. She laid there blissfully, her eyes looking very calm and sleepy. Toby was so nervous. He was breathing hard but steadily. Poor kid was so nervous about making his move. He really likes her. I gave him some head rubs and he immediately responded with happy toothy purrs and I felt a lot of crunching from his head.

This is a huge breakthrough. They've made great strides in just six short days. My plan is to get them more time to hang out together in neutral space. Maybe another day or two. Then I will try uniting them in their temporary cages. Since I've swapped their cages, I think it will help them acclimate to being in each other's space. And if they're totally in love in a few more days, I will try and see how they do together maybe all day under supervision. My goal is to get them solid together down in the basement before moving them back to the bunny room. The pen for them up there was solely Toby's and I don't know if he'll feel defensive about it. On top of that, Kirby and Penny are there to distract and annoy. I'm anxious to see how they react in the bunny room. But I think we are a little ways from that point. I'm going to take out some insurance and give Toby's pen upstairs all new flooring and really try to scrub it down so it's as neutral as possible. A new nest for the hopeful newlyweds!

 

[Chrisdoc]

I am so glad that these two are getting on so well, I just think they look gorgeous together and I think they will be so happy as well.

I did laugh at you preparing Toby´s old pad as the honeymoon suite but I think or, at least, I´m hoping it will be pretty soon.

I can´t believe they´ve got this far in such a short time but I am so happy for you.

 

[funnybunnymummy]

Yay for Toby and Annie! Definitely let them be together longer. If they're already grooming each other, they're already moving past the "tolerating" stage and onto the "madly in love forever stage."

So happy for you and Toby!

Rue

 

[kirbyultra]

I believe today is officially day 11 of bonding. The buns are getting on well. Our longest date was 2.5 hours. They do really well isolated in the laundry room. They basically go about their day as of things were all normal and they lived there. I brought in some boxes and toys. They play, separately, taking turns. They eat together, though.

Annie has no problem dead-bunny-flopping just inches from Toby. She has intentionally walked behind him and flopped down before. She also once flopped over and knocked into him! Thankfully, Toby didn't mind and he wasn't scared by it. I'm shocked at how he takes everything she does as if it were all normal day to day stuff. Normally when he hears strange things or if people in the room make sudden movements, he's already gone, bolted away at the first sign of trouble. He doesn't seem panicked around Annie. This evening when she flopped behind him for a nap, he had his back to her but he knew she was there. He sat quietly and did toothy purrs. He has groomed her more times than she has groomed him. She presents her head to be groomed all the time. Annie loves to ham it up. Toby is still trying to gain the upper hand in this relationship but I think it's a losing battle for him. He likes her a lot. She likes him too but there's no one she doesn't like! She does like him though. She goes to him, prefers to get his attention and prefers to sit near him.

They're a really lovely pair. I don't know what stroke of luck brought us all together. I really had in my mind a 95% failure rate already, thinking that the chances of Toby liking her were slim to none. It will still take time but I think that the feelings being so positive, Annie will be a keeper.

I tried to see how they would behave if in put them together in their own temporary pens. It was easy to just join two pens together to make one big pen. Annie bolted out the door and immediately went exploring and touching everything. Toby knew something was amiss. He was hoping to ride it out by hiding in his wooden nap time box. Annie knew no boundaries and stuck her head in there. I had a real moment of panic, thinking Toby would surely take offense to her invading on his most private spot. But he shrunk back! She hopped in and presented her head again. She just wanted him to kiss her, no matter where they were. I pulled her back out because I wasn't sure how it would end in there. If Toby pounced on her, it would really hurt and it's a very small space. Toby ran out after she exited, and he kept trying to get away from her. She bounced around looking for him and exploring. She wasn't chasing him at all but all the commotion was making Toby scared/agitated. Eventually she got upset that he wasn't playing with her and he got upset she was being pissy. He took a snap at her, and she snapped back. She managed to get a half of a bite of fur off him. I broke it up then there. I don't think they're ready to share their personal space yet. So we remain in the laundry room...

Pictures soon!

 

[kirbyultra]

Day 14
Today, we're taking another big step... out of the laundry room. We're back in the main area in the basement. I combined the pens they've been living in again and they didn't fight this time. Toby even gave her a smooch on the eyes at the beginning. She cornered him, he didn't really have a choice. But he chose to oblige rather than run away. It is going well!

Here's a collection of photos I finally dumped off my camera. They range from day 1 to day 14.

 

[kirbyultra]

Bonding pics continued...

 

[Chrisdoc]

I so love these two and am so.pleased things going so well...they.are tooooo cute together

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[MikeScone]

Toby and Annie definitely seem to be getting along - and nice pictures, too!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I'm happy those two are getting along well. They make a beautiful couple!

 

[kirbyultra]

Thank you guys for your comments! When they are smooshed together, they are very, very cute. Lately things have been fairly stagnant, not a lot of progress. They're still hanging out a lot, playing in the laundry room just fine.

The other night I made a huge mistake that allowed Annie to escape her pen. I don't know how long she was out, but we found her upstairs in the living room by morning!! She had tasted freedom and probably had a ton and a half of fun that night. By some miracle she didn't destroy anything, chew any wires nor get herself hurt. I suspect she wasn't out too long because she didnt poop or pee anywhere upstairs and I think if she spent a significant amount of time up there, she would have. And I know that once she discovered the upstairs, she wouldn't have gone back down because the upstairs is way more open and fun to run around in. She did poop all over the outside of Toby's pen, where it meets her pen. Toby bit off a few mouthfuls of her fur, likely from her head because the fur was very short. She must have stuck her head in between the bars and he must have gotten her.

I was terrified to find her out but after inspection, she seemed unharmed and neither was my house. The only thing I wasn't sure of was whether her escape and Toby's aggression set them back. Did she hold a grudge for his biting? Did he think she was obnoxious now?

I very cautiously proceeded with a date in the laundry room after I gave them about 36 hour cooldown period. They seem fine! Toby seems slightly more cautious around her. He was avoiding her a lot and acted very cold whenever she approached her, but he would just walk away. He didn't get upset with her and it was clear Annie didn't hold a grudge either. They just sort of needed some time to warm up to each other again.

In the end, I placed them near each other and pet them, and they liked it. Today at Day 16, they seem no worse off than before the incident. They haven't progressed further. I think at some point one of them will have to deal with some fighting and/or confrontation. Right now, Toby still refuses to concede and Annie keeps wanting him to groom her. She's very laid back and very relaxed and open, but she is dying for attention from him. She slips her head under his head and under his butt, or between his legs every chance she gets. Toby has been walking away from her advances mostly. But one day there will have to be a face off and one bun will be top bunny. I'm just going to keep bonding them until they figure it out.

 

[kirbyultra]

Well, folks, Toby and Annie had been going on well over a week at a plateau of progress together. Toby seems to get fairly upset after about an hour if I bond them by combining their spaces together. As long as they're in neutral space they do fine for many hours at a time. But a sane person can only take so many hours locked up in the laundry room! I had to do something to switch things up or I would soon go crazy. Lately I have been making up any excuse to postpone bonding times and the more I delayed it, the more I feared I would undo the hard work we achieved.

My husband has been nagging me to get the buns some time in the sun for a few days. The weather is getting cooler and so the backyard is more enjoyable for the buns. I have two fears though. One is in getting over a sinus infection that's been plaguing me for almost a month so I really don't want to get sick again and relapse. The other is I know Toby gets freaked out beyond a reasonable amount when he is in a pen in the yard so I'm not convinced that it would be productive.

Instead, the whipped out the funny little pet stroller that I bought way ball when I was trying to bond my first three buns together. I put the little love birds in and we took a walk around the neighborhood! They didn't like it but they didn't seem to take it as badly as I predicted. When they got home I set them up in a new pen in my dining room to give them more daylight as requested. They did really well together in this pen. So today I took them on another stroller walk them plopped them into the pen in my dining room again. They did fine for over 6 hours.

I decided to make the leap and let them stay in the pen together overnight. So far they have been a little snuggly and very nice to each other. I'm sleeping downstairs just to make sure no fights break out.

If they do well together for over 36 hours I think it might be time for me to scrub down Toby's old pen in my bunny room and move them in there. Hopefully Toby won't get defensive that it is his old spot. Hopefully by then he'll be too in love to squabble over that. I'm replacing a good deal of the woods and floor mats in the pen with stuff that he and Annie have been sharing so maybe with both their scents on the things he won't be so sensitive I'm afraid it might be a fool's errand but frankly I never thought Toby would get this far with any bunny so who knows!

I'll have to post the hilarious pics of them in a stroller soon.

On a sad note, I think this year despite the fact that I bought Annie an adorable Halloween costume already, I think if I over stress her by putting it on her it might mess up the bonding experience. Maybe I'll save it for next year. .. Hope she'll still got In it next year. At the rate she is eating she's going to be a pudgy little Princess!!

 

[kirbyultra]

Lol I have some atrocious typos in my last post. I wrote it on my new phone so many apologies!!!

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[Chrisdoc]

Glad to see it´s still going well and can´t wait to see the pics in the stroller. I´m sure she´ll fit in it next year, love seeing photos of the bunnies dressed up but not sure mine would allow it.

I do so hope these two get married soon lol. I just love a wedding :wink

 

[kirbyultra]

Well, two things happened during my sleepover with the buns in the living room and 2 things didn't happen:

Two things that did happen:
- Discovered that Annie binkies and does really adorable things every 30 minutes all night long
- Toby and Annie sat close together quite often

Two things that didn't happen:
- Sleep. For me. No sleep was had because of Annie binkying and chewing and running into things every 30 minutes.
- Fights did not break out

It was overall very successful. Toby still sits in the corner very much unwilling to move for most of the day and night but I think he would pretty much do that in any strange environment. He's just not one to deal with change very well at all. He tolerated Annie's crazy antics all night fairly well though. Only at one point did I see him run after her and I think it was because she startled him with one of her Bunny 500s around the pen. They seem to be sitting closer together more often and more naturally/relaxed than they did in the laundry room. The fact that they have been together for 24 hours is pretty good already. Tonight I'm going to sleep in the guest room so I can have a little bit of a break from the smaller noises they make. Hopefully I can sleep a little! If a huge fight breaks out I'm quite sure I'll hear it from there. But I probably won't hear it from my own bedroom.

I feel like they're really starting to get a feel for each other. Annie likes him so much, I know this already. She would make a great partner bunny for most bunnies, to be honest. She is so friendly and so needy of love. She just wants to love everyone she meets and be everyone's best friend. She's that kind of bunny! She wants so much for Toby to be her friend. He'll come around. He's accepted her into his life much more than I imagined he could. It's all progress in my eyes. I think I'll see if they fall in love some more before I move them into Toby's old pen space in my bunny room. That's the ultimate goal, to get them back into my bun room. It's a whole other challenge to get them in there because it's Toby's old stomping grounds and there are also two other bunnies who live in the same room in the next pen to distract them. I'm really hoping that they fall deeply in love while in the dining/living rm area so that by the time they get to the bun room Toby won't be too mad.

 

[Chrisdoc]

This is such good news, Annie sounds like a real sweetie but I do have a soft spot for Toby as well. I know what you mean about the noise. When I set up the new enclosure before I went away, I slept with them in the living room just in case they were spooked or got out and I didn´t sleep much, they are noisy during the night and active.

I think that´s fantastic progress and I am sure Toby is already smitten with Annie, he´s just taking a little while to really show it.

I really look forward to news on here now

 

[funnybunnymummy]

I would honestly call them bonded at this point. But I'd keep them together in the dining room for a week or so (though you should be able to move back to your own room after one more night. ), before moving them into the same room as Kirby and Penny. I just worry a bit that having Kirby there will make Toby more defensive. Could be wrong, but I'd definitely let the bond solidify a bit more before the big move.

Also, moving a girl into a boy's cage is less likely to cause a territorial problem than vice versa. Girls are the ones who tend to be territorial about space, boys get territorial about girls.

Hope that helps!

Looking forward to more updates! (and pics! )

Rue

 

[kirbyultra]

Pics that I promised!

 

[kirbyultra]

I have to just first of all express how much I detest both the new picture posting procedure and the photobucket layout where I host all my pics. I used to be able to insert an image and then be able to caption/talk about the picture directly underneath it, then go on to the next pic within the same post. Now it's like if I want to upload a bunch of pics, I have to post them all, and then write about it on a second post because I can't tell by looking at file names which pictures are posted in which order. It's a big ol' mess!

Anyway, the first picture is a hilarious picture I just had to snap when we were in the laundry room. Toby was sitting in "his spot" and Annie had been running around chinning stuff and climbing on everything for about an hour. She finally got tired and just plopped down next to him. She did this very, very often. And Toby sat with that look on his face every single time. It's like he's saying, "Women. Whaddya gonna do?" *shrug!*

The next pic is to show the setup I have for them in my dining room. It's 6 rubber/foam mats big and I fling in some of their toys. I make them share one litter box for now because two seemed excessive for that amount of space. Toby seemed troubled by it at first. The first 12 hours or so he didn't like going in there unless he HAD to go. And when he did, he made quick business of it and then hopped away. True to form, he is eating hay and once again not eating much in the way of pellets because it's a new place. He nibbles a few, but doesn't finish his portion. No worries, Annie always finishes them for him.

The next pic was taken of Toby and Annie after they took the stroller ride together the first day. They had been together only about 6 hours and already they looked cozier with each other. They're so cute together, it's almost too much.

And finally, stroller pictures! The first one... I don't know if they're turning their backs at us because they are "giving us the butt" or if they're just avoiding the direct sunlight exposure. The last pic is Toby glaring at me, as if to say, "You'll pay for this, human. You'll pay dearly." He shot me that look every time I walked over to take a look at how they were doing. They always sit with one facing front and one facing back. Maybe they're partnering to "be on the lookout"

 

[kirbyultra]

This is such good news, Annie sounds like a real sweetie but I do have a soft spot for Toby as well. I know what you mean about the noise. When I set up the new enclosure before I went away, I slept with them in the living room just in case they were spooked or got out and I didn´t sleep much, they are noisy during the night and active.

I think that´s fantastic progress and I am sure Toby is already smitten with Annie, he´s just taking a little while to really show it.

I really look forward to news on here now

Thank you Chris! Yeah, it's always hard when you leave the buns in a new place for the first time. When I tell people what I'm doing they're like... you're kidding right? No, I'm seriously going to sleep in the living room to make sure the buns don't fight each other to the death

I would honestly call them bonded at this point. But I'd keep them together in the dining room for a week or so (though you should be able to move back to your own room after one more night. ), before moving them into the same room as Kirby and Penny. I just worry a bit that having Kirby there will make Toby more defensive. Could be wrong, but I'd definitely let the bond solidify a bit more before the big move.

Also, moving a girl into a boy's cage is less likely to cause a territorial problem than vice versa. Girls are the ones who tend to be territorial about space, boys get territorial about girls.

Hope that helps!

Looking forward to more updates! (and pics! )

Rue

My goodness, Rue, thank you! That really does help. I hope it is as you say. That would save me a lot of heartache and effort

In my mind I also think that they're pretty much considered bonded. If that was their permanent home, yeah, that'd be a done deal! It's just this last hurdle. I wanted to move them into the bun room today if they did well together upstairs, but I had some stuff come up and was unable to do the scrub-down of the floors that I wanted to do in Toby's pen, so we're delayed. At this point I think I'll just leave them until the weekend. It'll give them a bit more time to solidify the bond, and me more time to get their space just right