Life with bunny monsters

[kahlin]

Lol. Definitely. This is further supported by the bunny comb that had gone missing. I had left it on the book shelf. Mr. Behr knocked it off (I guess) and hid it across the room. Silly Behr.

 

[kahlin]

I'm such a bad bunny mom. I am torturing them by making them share a room! *gasp* The horror!. I decided to take the first step in creating the equation:

2 + 1 = happy trio.

This morning I rearranged the downstairs area to make room for Zayne's cage. Once I got to the part of bringing her cage down, things got a bit crazy.

Finley chased Mr. Behr. Then Mr. Behr chased Finley. I think Finley won, because he went off and sulked in a corner while she explored the new smells.

When I finally brought Zayne into the picture I gave them all a piece of hay cube. Mr. Behr chewed his, completely unaware. Finley stole hers, to make sure Zayne didn't get it...only Zayne didn't fall for the distraction technique.

Zayne seems really interested, and not aggressive. Finley is interested...in beating Zayne up and serving her to wildlife. I've got things triple gated and that seems to be a good thing.

Mr. Behr has since found out what the fuss was about and is being really curious. This is upsetting Finley and they have scuffled a bit - not so serious that they don't respond to gentle 'hey, hey' corrections.

So, let's hope things settle quickly!

 

[kahlin]

Once all three were back in their pens, things mostly settled down. Until this morning....usually all bunnies are out all of the time. But since we are sharing play space, this had to change.

Zayne gets morning time, and Fin and J.Behr will get evening time. Today is especially bad for them since I am going to work early. On a more typical day it won't be so short.

Anyway, once the other two saw Zayne exploring, Behr kept chasing Finley. They did stop with verbal corrections though (even if not for long).

Zayne is a lot more active down here right now because there is so much to check out. And she's started following me around, which is new. Cute though.

 

[slavetoabunny]

Hi Kahlin! :wave: I'm glad all your babies are doing so well. They sure are characters, aren't they? All (four) of my monsters make me laugh all of the time.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

kahlin wrote:

I'm such a bad bunny mom. I am torturing them by making them share a room! *gasp* The horror!. I decided to take the first step in creating the equation:

How can you sleep at night!

 

[kahlin]

Hi Patti!

Wabbitdad12 wrote:

How can you sleep at night!

Much better now that Zayne's cage isn't located right above our bedroom.

For the most part, things have calmed down. Finley and Behr have their issues sometimes...but usually when they're in their cage (possibly because they aren't used to being caged in the morning) or when Zayne decides to change things up and make herself a bit more visible.

It's mostly good though. Sure there's some chasing between the two monsters, and they all seem to be marking (oh joy!)....but some good things:

- On Monday Finley tried to eat Zayne through the double bars....yesterday they sniffed nose-to-nose trhough single bars with no attack attempt! (although it was only a few seconds before I got the double bars up).

- Finley stretched out on the border of her cage and Zayne's play space.

- Zayne has taken to having naps near their cage...and is *much* more active. When she was upstairs she was a bit boring. Down here she checks things out, chews stuff, hops on stuff, etc.

- mr. Behr is less intersted in her than Finley is, and is pretty take it or leave it about her, but he too had a nice nap on the border.

I think we're on our way to a trio.

 

[kahlin]

It was so nice out today that we took the bunnies outside.

First up, a dirty Mr. Behr and a Finley bum.

Next is Finley. She looks so big here!

And then Behr being curious...

Zayne looking grumpy...

And finally, Behr and Zayne checking each other out (before Finley herded him away)

 

[hln917]

kahlin wrote:

Zayne looking grumpy...

Lol! He sure does look a bit miffed!

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I am glad the prospects of a trio are looking up.

Your bunny's are so cute, looks like they enjoyed their time outside.

 

[kahlin]

I have awesome bunnies!

In the past few days I have caught Finley trying to snuggle with Zayne, and only caught Zayne trying to return the love once. And usually when one flops, the other observes from a distance....Until this evening....

I caught both of them having a nap (in what I call the football position) side by side. I tried to grab my camera, but stubborn little Finley decided to move. I waited for her to be done her drink, figuring she'd return to Zayne.

But no such luck (she's a stubborn little monster). Instead she stretched out in a new spot, leaving Zayne all alone.

A few minutes later I checked on them again, to find that Zayne moved to be closer to her Finley. They were flopped next to each other.

:inlove:I think my heart melted.

Let's hope the love keeps up for their date tomorrow.

 

[kahlin]

So, today was day one of bunny dating on the road to the trio. I decided to try Finley and Zayne together first, after discussing it with other RO members.

I was a bit apprehensive, since Finley can be aggressive. I managed to get a (dark) video and a couple of pictures, but first the run down:

- I got my supplies together in/around the tub (towels, squirt bottle, gloves, treats, litterbox, hay, etc)

The good: They snuggled almost right away. Zayne groomed Finley, and Finley groomed Zayne back (multiple times). They were comfortable enough to groom themselves, and take treats (which for Fin is a big deal since she's never taken a treat in bonding sessions with other bunnies).

The bad: there were a couple of scuffles, one somewhat serious. No injuries that I could tell but more intense than I would have liked.

Summary: I think it was a great start to the process. The scuffles were good for me to realize that I can't push ahead too fast, even with all of the good signs they've got going on. If they keep up with the progress, the Finley-Zayne bond will likely end as a better match compared to the Finley-Behr bond.

Ok, now for the video and a couple of pics, and then I'll post some Behr stuff.

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/_IvSEmRaq3Y&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Forgive the 'wet bunny' look. I squirted them to break up the fight. It worked really well the first time, not so much after that. I think I will need to do a combo of verbal correction, 'stomping', squirting, and direct interference.

 

[kahlin]

Ok, now onto Mr. Behr. I was really worried that Fin and J.Behr would fight after I brought Fin back to their area. Luckily that didn't happen.

But I did find a poor dejected Mr. Behr. He was sitting in his cage all alone, looking like the saddest creature ever. When I opened his pen he didn't even come out. I guess he missed his girlfriends.

I made sure to spend some time sitting on the floor and giving him nose rubs. That's not something he has been willing to sit still for ever since he bonded to Fin, but I guess he was feeling left out. Poor little guy.

After a while he and Finley started snuggling again, and they positioned themselves next to little miss Zayne. I got a picture and will share that next time.

 

[kahlin]

Sorry the picture sizes are off....

 

[hln917]

Looks like you're off to a promising start with the bonding! Tell Mr. Behr, ifhe's patience, he'll havedouble the amount oflove from both Zayne and Finley

 

[kahlin]

So in some ways day 2 wasn't as good as day one. Zayne seemed a bit freaked out so she didn't do much. There was snuggling...and Finley groomed Zayne.

I kept them in longer (nearly an hour) because I was hoping Zayne would relax some...and then there was a bit of a fight, so I needed to end on a good note which meant more time in the tub.

I was really glad to be wearing gloves because if I wasn't, I'd be missing a chunk of my knuckle. Finley can bite hard. She starts by grooming Zayne, and then she nips. And if Zayne reacts negatively, a fight ensues. So I will need to be on top of that.

Now for the video (kinda dull and just says the same stuff).

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/Df1BXM6viRU&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Bonding picture:

Post bonding picture:

 

[kahlin]

This will be quick tonight....

I would say that today's session went better than yesterday. I brought in a NIC cube to move around the tub to stimulate curiosity and get Zayne moving and make her feel more secure, and it worked. There was no fighting, and no near fighting....but this is likely because there was limited grooming.

It was only towards the end that Finley groomed Zayne. They did snuggle though, a bit. I figure after a few more days like today Zayne will start to feel safer.

And the video saying pretty much the same.....oh, and the reason I wanted to stress Finley out is because she's the aggressive one, and Zayne is already stressed, so this would even things out....and the grooming happened after I put the camera down, so yes it did (eventually) happen.

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/XxXETpnJt44&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[kahlin]

today continued to be much of the same. zayne was a bit more relaxed since finley is being *so* good. Fin stretched all the way out, and zayne checked her out. there was quite a bit of grooming (from Fin). No fighting, at all.

Behr is doing good. He was all stretched out next to Zayne's cage when I brought the girls back from bonding. He's a sweetie.

And then a mystery bun found his/her way upstairs as i was getting ready to leave the house. I didn't see the rabbit, but I'm willing to guess it was Finley. Sneaky, because she was back in her space by the time I checked on her.

Today's video:
[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/E1yH66ZvvNg&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[kahlin]

In general stuff....

Our bunnies play in our finished basement (since that's where we hang out). When Zayne's out and we're home, we don't bother with a gate at the bottom of the stairs since she's never gone up there (we put one up if we leave).

Because of this, both of us have forgotten the gate when we put Finley and Behr out. Finley loves to go upstairs and check things out before retreating into innocence. Unfortunately she hasn't clued in we know she's up there because she leaves a trail of poo behind her.

Anyway, today I had done some laundry and put bunny blankets outside to dry. My husband brought them in and put them on the upstairs couch when they were dry. I came home to find some rabbit poo on them. This was our conversation:

"Uh, dear? Did you forget the gate today?"

"Ya. I think Finley was upstairs. Why?"

"Was she on the couch?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Why?"

"Did the blanket have poo on it when you brought it in, cause it does now...."

Silly Finley. At least she just marks with poo so it's easy to clean up.



Now a Zayne story....A while ago we bought a stuffed cow teddybear thing to give to the rabbits. None of them liked it. It has just been hanging around, so I threw it in with Zayne. Then I saw her grooming and snuggling it one day. She's so cute!

And here's another picture. Notice anything different?

 

[kahlin]

Nope, no new haircut or dye job, That's a Zayne with a MR. BEHR!!!

I was going to wait until tomorrow, but my husband convinced me (by merely suggesting it). So today they had their first bathtub date.

It went well. Zayne's more comfortable with him than with Finley. They both groomed themselves. I was surprised there was no fighting, no near-fighting, and no humping. I'm not convinced that won't come next time.

I did a video and told you all that there was no other-bunny grooming. When I did the video that was true. As soon as I turned it off, Mr. Behr groomed Zayne. Of course. I quickly tried to turn the camera on, but the batteries died! Grr.

Before the videos....I also put Fin and Zayne in new neutral territory. It did wonders for Zayne. She explored and groomed herself in front of Fin. She ate some hay, and seemed less tense. Finely wasn't super comfortable with this and nipped her. I stomped. Finley stopped...for a second. She did it again and I squirted her, and that ceased her nipping for the day. We had some snuggles (the three of us, and the two of them). We'll keep this up for a bit. We *might* move outside tomorrow if we have nice weather.

 

[kahlin]

Now for some very dark videos.

Yesterday's girl bond...

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/BxUU9a9YN70&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Today's girl bond...

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/npdAZrpveQI&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

And today's Behr Zayne bond...

[flash=425,344]http://www.youtube.com/v/9R8oBSMRFxk&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]