Rebirth of the Phoenix from Ashes

[holtzchick]

I agree Lisa, i thought it was a really good date and I didn´t see anything negative between the two buns and it finished on a high with Phoenix grooming the hipster...I suppose I was waiting for a spat which didn´t come...hey that was great, I am so impressed and I am sure that pretty soon, we´ll see these two together.

Hhaha, thank you

It's so funny to see them together because they're both really different in appearance! They are cute though! I just wish poor nexus got some lovin back!

 

[lyndym]

What a great video, thanks for posting! Looks like they are definitely coming along as well. Phoenix seems to be a lot like Doc in that she's a little more ready to get this show on the road! It'd be great to see a video of how they interact during separate play time. Doc and Rory are keeping me on my toes so far, I'm up and down every two seconds making sure they don't nip each other!

Side note, but are you Polish? Just noticed your last name on your YouTube account. Luke is Polish!

 

[Troller]

Good video and great supervision on your part. I think progress is definitely being made and bonding is taking place. Thanks for sharing that. I'm curious, what were you using as a treat? And I assume you were using a hand held camera? Yeah I wish I had one of those so I can video journal my upcoming bunny dates as a learning tool for myself. Did you find it hard filming and refereeing at the same time?

 

[ashleigheperry]

Watching this blog - I read the whole thing! Can't wait to hear more about these two goofs. c:

 

[holtzchick]

What a great video, thanks for posting! Looks like they are definitely coming along as well. Phoenix seems to be a lot like Doc in that she's a little more ready to get this show on the road! It'd be great to see a video of how they interact during separate play time. Doc and Rory are keeping me on my toes so far, I'm up and down every two seconds making sure they don't nip each other!

Side note, but are you Polish? Just noticed your last name on your YouTube account. Luke is Polish!

It's not horrible anymore but yeah my two used to keep me on my toes too!! Phoenix still tries to nip when he's out I'd say 80% of the time!
Hippo is not normally a nipper and he was ready to get the bond going a while ago, he just doesn't trust her because she goes to nip him a lot!

And side note, yes I am Polish, and my Luke is Polish too
Go figure, I never meant to date a Polish guy, it just happened.
Yet another similarity!

 

[holtzchick]

Good video and great supervision on your part. I think progress is definitely being made and bonding is taking place. Thanks for sharing that. I'm curious, what were you using as a treat? And I assume you were using a hand held camera? Yeah I wish I had one of those so I can video journal my upcoming bunny dates as a learning tool for myself. Did you find it hard filming and refereeing at the same time?

No problem I was using banana muffin biscuits, they're basically just timothy hay and pellets and banana so you can definitely give up to 15 a day according to the package. I sometimes use one or two tiny pieces of freeze dried strawberry though and Hippo is more accepting of those. Only problem is unless I'm dishing out the treats like no tomorrow, Phoenix gets nippy!

Hmmm, I was using a digital camera but yes, holding it as opposed to having it on a stand. You can find a cheap one on Kijiji, I bought mine for like $60 at Future Shop years ago and I don't care too much about the quality, it does the job.

I find that I'm more comfortable with their reactions with each other now so I didn't find it too bad to referee the date but I wouldn't recommend using it on day one, just incase you need to jump in and intervene quickly. In my opinion the filming makes it much more stressful and I don't think I will do so until they hit another milestone in their bonding relationship.

 

[holtzchick]

Watching this blog - I read the whole thing! Can't wait to hear more about these two goofs. c:

Wow, you read the whole thing lol, I feel like that's a lot of boring reading

Thank you

 

[Azerane]

The video looks really positive I agree in thinking that a larger space would help, it would give you more room if needed, and it will also give them a little more space so that one can avoid the nip of another if they want. Looks promising!

 

[holtzchick]

You know what, I felt so inclined to add an update! I think one date a day is working well for them so far. After all the positive feedback, I was more confident in allowing them space around each other today instead of herding them with my arms and not only did we have Phoenix grooming Hippogryff, instead of nipping him, she snuggled cheek to cheek with him for 30 seconds while I pet them! They were also MUCH more playful (I threw in some paper towel rolls) and enjoyed some hay together!

I also zip tied their tents to one side of the cage because I noticed Phoenix doesn't like to lay next to him and will actually lay on the opposite side and he will seek her out. Now she can't lay on the opposite side because the tent is there.

So I just received my marks from that test I was supposed to take last week for my automotive certification course and I got 92%. Today just keeps getting better!!

 

[PaGal]

Congratulations on the positives with the buns as well as the outcome of your test! I have been reading right along with the others but haven't said anything up till now as I felt I had nothing to say since I haven't and am not bonding buns.

I love my guy tremendously and would love another and everyone getting new buns makes that wish stronger but then I read those of you that are bonding and think no way!

 

[holtzchick]

Congratulations on the positives with the buns as well as the outcome of your test! I have been reading right along with the others but haven't said anything up till now as I felt I had nothing to say since I haven't and am not bonding buns.

I love my guy tremendously and would love another and everyone getting new buns makes that wish stronger but then I read those of you that are bonding and think no way!

LOL.. honestly, I think that in the end it's worth it, but if it were up to me ever again, I would just adopt a pair. I just loved Phoenix too much and decided she needs love in her life after what she'd been through outside!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Yes, the video did look really good! It didn't look like there was any nipping. It was so cute at the end of the video where Phoenix started grooming Hippogryph.

And congrats on the test!

 

[whitelop]

YAY! Congratulations on passing the test! Thats so exciting!
It sounds like they're making such good progress. They're so nice looking together.

 

[qtipthebun]

I loved the video...you know how I feel about Hippo's marking's (I just wanna scoop up his grumpy little self and bunnap him!), and I couldn't believe how kissy Phoenix was! She was like "okay, your hand, Hippo's head, whatever. As long as I get to lick someone." Too cute!!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Michelle, great that you´ve had another positive date, I have a really good feeling about these two after seeing your video and loved seeing them both "in the flesh" so to speak. I love photos but it´s so different seeing them move and interact, i loved it.

Congratulations on passing the test with flying colours.

 

[holtzchick]

Thank you guys on the congratulations

I was actually my rescues forum, and someone suggested that it may not be bad for them to nip once in a while because it could be a "hey get out of my way", or "I just want to check you out!" but in the past I had bad experiences with that. I thought their body language was pretty good though, so I allowed Phoenix just ONE nip... ahhahhaha Hippogryff nipped her back so hard and grunted at her and she was like OKAY you're the boss and just started excessively grooming his ears!! I was surprised. She was on top of him practically but she didn't dare nip his side again, she only licked it!

I think they are slowly sorting out which one is the dominant one because when they went back to their cages, they were laying together literally side by side, cheek to cheek

One date a day seems to be working wonders for them! I just thought I'd post this first thing!

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

They are definitely making progress. That is great that they were laying next to each other cheek by cheek, and its also good that she started grooming him. hopefully it won't be much longer until they are officially bonded.

 

[whitelop]

Thank you guys on the congratulations

I was actually my rescues forum, and someone suggested that it may not be bad for them to nip once in a while because it could be a "hey get out of my way", or "I just want to check you out!" but in the past I had bad experiences with that. I thought their body language was pretty good though, so I allowed Phoenix just ONE nip... ahhahhaha Hippogryff nipped her back so hard and grunted at her and she was like OKAY you're the boss and just started excessively grooming his ears!! I was surprised. She was on top of him practically but she didn't dare nip his side again, she only licked it!

I think they are slowly sorting out which one is the dominant one because when they went back to their cages, they were laying together literally side by side, cheek to cheek

One date a day seems to be working wonders for them! I just thought I'd post this first thing!

I think that sounds wonderful! I think its great that she is grooming him now and he's like "yeah b*tch you clean my ears!" Thats how I think rabbits talk to each other sometimes. I think Ellie calls me a B most of the time. hahaha. They're like cats and a little crazy in the head.

But seriously though, it sounds like there is a lot of progress happening! YAY! :muscleman:

Sorry, that emoticon makes me laugh really hard!

 

[JBun]

That sounds like a breakthrough It looks like she, hopefully, has decided that he is the grumpier bun, and it's not worth getting into a tussle with him. Yay!!! You've been soooo patient with these rascals. It's nice to see that rabbits that seem like mortal enemies in the beginning, can overcome their issues, and actually begin to like each other.

 

[Troller]

I'm so glad a breakthrough was made and progress achieved. Bodning is such an intensive thing it seems. I'll start finding out tomorrow I guess but its good to read about other peoples experiences.