Rebirth of the Phoenix from Ashes

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I have that same playpen too, and Ash also jumped over his pen luckily I caught him, he climbed onto his box and jumped over. Then we had to remove his box.

 

[holtzchick]

I haven't posted in a while just been kinda stressed, busy and upset with events lately what with the passing of certain bunnies and Lisa leaving RO.

I will however start this on a positive note and would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!!

I definitely got the best present of all today. This morning the bunnies were stressing me out so badly because they were both being super destructive in each cage I actually ended up in tears and got all choked up. I thought NO way, I am introducing them today because they're driving me crazy!!!! I made a little NIC cube enclosure and wanted to put them ontop of the washing machine since a car ride was not an option. The crate didn't fit ontop of the washing machine so I decided to put them in the tub in it, turn the fan on and turn the hand vac on. I had my boyfriend there and we were both prepared with gloves just in case anything went wrong.

When we put them inside, we were so nervous. At first, there was a bit of fur but nothing serious just light nipping from Phoenix's side. She really wanted to comfort Hippogryff and she actually groomed him and laid her head onto his. He was more indifferent and just freaked out from the vacuum but that was a better reaction then I expected. We kept it relatively short but they were in there for 15 minutes and then it ended with some petting from myself and once they went into their enclosures (I switched their cages for the night) they each got some banana and their ration of pellets for the night.

I am so much more positive about this than I was this morning!!! I am going to do another 15 minute session tomorrow night and probably continue for another night following. If all goes well, I will extend it to 30 min.

Apparently the bonding helped because after eating, they both flopped next to each other in their cages

 

[whitelop]

I am so glad that their first interaction went so well! That is such amazing news!
I would have been biting my nails the whole time they were together, just in case something were to happen. But I'm thrilled it went so well! :bunny18

To be honest, I was beginning to worry about you a little. lol
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! And I hope you have a great New Year. Are you and the boyfriend going out on New Year's Eve? I hope if you do, you have the best time! Have a drink for me, my husband and I won't be going anywhere this year! haha.

 

[holtzchick]

I am so glad that their first interaction went so well! That is such amazing news!
I would have been biting my nails the whole time they were together, just in case something were to happen. But I'm thrilled it went so well! :bunny18

To be honest, I was beginning to worry about you a little. lol
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! And I hope you have a great New Year. Are you and the boyfriend going out on New Year's Eve? I hope if you do, you have the best time! Have a drink for me, my husband and I won't be going anywhere this year! haha.

Awh thanks actually we are not going out because i enjoy staying in but I will have a drink for you

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Yay, I'm glad the bonding went well ! great news!

Hope you had a fantastic x-mas full of lots of joy.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Hope it all goes well. I think mine are playing up cos their routine is a bit haywire these days with me between two house. Just caught Snowy and Houdini tagging each other, it´s very loud and noticeable. Have just brought Snowy onto the sofa to cool off. It´s a bit stressful all this hassle cos I´m not spending as much time as I normally do with them. I do hope it does´t upset their bond but am a bit worried now.

But look like Phoenix and Hippogryff will be fine....I´m so glad :kiss1:

 

[holtzchick]

Thank you to the both of you! Sorry my posting has been so sporadic on here! It's the result of too much in my day coupled with two crazy buns, coupled with one boyfriend (I think he's more work than the bunnies )

Chris, as for not spending too much time with them, that could be why they're acting out, they've got that extra energy, I think it should settle down once things get back to normal. Hopefully it will work out until then.

I had a LONG bunny date today, about 45 minutes, I didn't mean for it to be that long but I just found they got along very well and I wasn't keeping track of time. I stressed them for about 15 minutes and then let them into the bathtub. All was good except Phoenix pulled out some of his fur on his bum because he wouldn't groom her back... he demands to be groomed and all is fine when that happens but she gets mad when he doesn't groom back. As long as I'm there to groom her, she won't nip him, she's actually quite content and they will lay side by side. I rubbed banana on her forhead to entice him, but it didn't work, he seems to get stressed too easily and when he does, he won't accept any treats/food. I'm just too afraid that I will step backwards if I don't stress them first before having them together. Oh bunnies. :bunny24

 

[whitelop]

He's trying to be the dominate one! My heart just melted when I read they're getting on so well! Aww I'm so happy.
Hippogryff must be a high strung bunny and thats why he gets stressed so easily. Hmmm..I'm not sure how to help him. I don't know much about bonding, but I think that its going well. I would read Lisa's blog again, maybe that will help you. She was so insightful on bonding!

My husband is more work than my child and any of my animals put together. Today, he was eating ham and he didn't want the TINY bit of fat on the ham, so I asked him(in a totally sarcastic way) if he wanted me to cut the fat off. He gave me this sad look and said yes. So I did it. lol I can't believe I cut the fat off the ham. What a big baby, he can't even eat around it. lmao. Men are nuts! I swear, I don't know what I'll do with him AND my son. Ughhh. And he wonders why I'm so tired all the time.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Michelle so good to see your bonding is going well and they seem to be settling into each other now. Hadn't thought about rubbing banana on mine as they love it, I did give them some when they were together yesterday...good idea that. :bunnyheart Difficult thing about bonding is the patience it takes and the frustration sometimes of them not doing what you want them to do. I did notice the last time I had to bond them again is that they don't seem to be getting that far and suddenly, they'll get over it and just sit together as though they've been like that all the time. Don't know if that's the case with other buns.

Morgan, did I laugh at your husband. Can't believe you asked him, can't believe he said yes and laughed out loud when you actually did it for him. :roflmao:

 

[holtzchick]

He's trying to be the dominate one! My heart just melted when I read they're getting on so well! Aww I'm so happy.
Hippogryff must be a high strung bunny and thats why he gets stressed so easily. Hmmm..I'm not sure how to help him. I don't know much about bonding, but I think that its going well. I would read Lisa's blog again, maybe that will help you. She was so insightful on bonding!

My husband is more work than my child and any of my animals put together. Today, he was eating ham and he didn't want the TINY bit of fat on the ham, so I asked him(in a totally sarcastic way) if he wanted me to cut the fat off. He gave me this sad look and said yes. So I did it. lol I can't believe I cut the fat off the ham. What a big baby, he can't even eat around it. lmao. Men are nuts! I swear, I don't know what I'll do with him AND my son. Ughhh. And he wonders why I'm so tired all the time.

He is quite high strung! It kind of annoys me :/ As for Lisa's bonding experience, she didn't seem to have any grooming hurdles, but maybe with time this will change.

It's not that the boyfriend will make me do small things like that, but if that were me, I would hear about that piece of fat for the next 5 minutes about how it's unacceptable because he's on a low fat high calorie diet blah blah blah. Sometimes the biggest of men can be the biggest babies!! :bunnysuit:

 

[holtzchick]

Michelle so good to see your bonding is going well and they seem to be settling into each other now. Hadn't thought about rubbing banana on mine as they love it, I did give them some when they were together yesterday...good idea that. :bunnyheart Difficult thing about bonding is the patience it takes and the frustration sometimes of them not doing what you want them to do. I did notice the last time I had to bond them again is that they don't seem to be getting that far and suddenly, they'll get over it and just sit together as though they've been like that all the time. Don't know if that's the case with other buns.

Morgan, did I laugh at your husband. Can't believe you asked him, can't believe he said yes and laughed out loud when you actually did it for him. :roflmao:

There are definitely multiple things that you can do.

I found a really good site that helped me out alot.
here is the link:

http://www.examiner.com/article/bunny-bonding-part-iii-bonding-challenges


Best of luck I hope your two can keep their bond intact.

 

[whitelop]

He is quite high strung! It kind of annoys me :/ As for Lisa's bonding experience, she didn't seem to have any grooming hurdles, but maybe with time this will change.

It's not that the boyfriend will make me do small things like that, but if that were me, I would hear about that piece of fat for the next 5 minutes about how it's unacceptable because he's on a low fat high calorie diet blah blah blah. Sometimes the biggest of men can be the biggest babies!! :bunnysuit:

Oh I totally agree. Sometimes I just look at my husband and I'm like 'jeez, do you hear yourself?' I mean, he's 6' 3 and he chops wood on a daily basis and he's complaining about a tiny bit of fat on some ham. I mean, it was like half an inch of fat. He's pretty silly.

And no, Lisa didn't have any grooming issues or anything. She didn't have any issues with Agnes and Archie.
Hmmm...I agree with what Jenny put on your bonding thread, maybe don't stress HIM out and only her. If you have to that is. Because maybe he just really needs to be comforted because he's freaked out and scared. Does he go to you for comfort or only to her?

 

[holtzchick]

Uhm both. I don't think he cares if he is being comforted, only groomed. LOL.
Phoenix will groom him and then put her head down for him to reciprocate but he puts his head down lower.
When I groom her at that point she is happy. I will try not stressing him for today and see how that goes.

 

[whitelop]

hahaha. I just laughed because I can see him lowering his head lower than hers and being like "groom me woman!" lol, thats funny. He's just trying to state his dominance over her.
Let us know how it works today!

 

[holtzchick]

Actually I just finished the bonding session, it was relatively short only 15min since it didn't go very well. I tried the whole stressing her out only thing, he STILL would not accept the banana from me or on her head and then he wouldn't groom her. After a while she wouldn't groom him either because she was mad so he nipped her and she nipped him back and a lot of fur pulling went on so I just stopped it. Allowed her to groom him for a moment, pet them both and then put them back and gave them their salads.

All is well except he will not groom her, other than that, they are indifferent to eachother, she does not mind grooming as long as she gets it back. :/ I don't know how he will adjust but he is like that with myself as well. I wonder if he will change or if perhaps he is just too headstrong for her??

 

[Chrisdoc]

Actually, that is quite funny because Bandy is always lowering his head and sticking it under the front ot them for Houdini and Snowy to groom him but he never grooms either of them although I´ve see Houdini lower head under Bandy but he never takes the hint. Weird, he loves being groomed but refuses to groom either of them and they seem happy with this as they groom each other.

 

[whitelop]

Maybe one day he'll just 'get it', ya know?
What do you mean he's like that with you? He wants you to do all the petting and he doesn't groom you back? I'm a little confused today, sorry, lol.
Foo never licked me and when I would put my hand under her head(like another bunny would do to get groomed) she would pick my hand up and put her head under it. lol She was the dominate bunny in our relationship. haha.
But Ellie, she licks me like crazy. I don't know if its the baby part of her, but she licks my pants and slippers and hands. When I put my hand under her head, she'll lick my hand. I'm not sure, all rabbits are different.

 

[Chrisdoc]

Morgan you´re so right, they are all so different. Snowy is a licker, face especially my nose, hands, clothes. Houdini likes to lick my hands and clothes and Bandy never licks me at all, I think he´s actually a bit non rabbit but he´s still only young.

 

[holtzchick]

He won't ever lick me and especially not her. I can pet him for over half an hour without having him budge lol

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

I just read through the new posts. And I wonder why Hippogryph won't groom her.

I hope all goes well. And I'll help you research this.

Best of luck!