Welcome to the family Clementine!

[pani]

Little Clementine is home. The poor little thing is quite startled from all these changes, so right now she's just sitting still and getting used to her surroundings in her new litter tray. Since the new double-storey hutch hasn't arrived (even though it was SUPPOSED to arrive on Mon/Tues...), she's set up temporarily in a clear container while Felix stays in his hutch. Once the new hutch is set up Felix will move in and Clementine will sleep in his old hutch, and they'll have supervised playtime quite often.

I did introduce her to him quickly when she got home. Thankfully, he seemed more curious and interested than anything else, I barely sensed any aggression from him. He began by circling around her and sniffing her all over (even lifting her little lop ears up with his nose and sniffing underneath!), and did hump her a few times - including one that ended up with a tumble off and a very satisfied sounding honk. :blushan:

After he tried a couple more times and tried scratching at her once, I removed him and popped her into her temporary digs to get settled. I went back to Felix after washing my hands but my arms and shirt must have still smelled like her, so he proceeded to chin those parts of me and even licked my wrist a little bit. I guess he's feeling friendly towards her so far, which is great!

I can hear her scuffling around a bit now which is good, and tonight I'll be making sure that while she's getting settled, Felix is assured that he's still my number one man and will still get all the attention he's used to.

 

[madisonl702]

Cute! Good luck with the little bun! She's adorable!

 

[JBun]

Aww, she's a cute little bun Hopefully she'll settle in quickly.

I hate to tell you this, but you do realize that Felix is probably not completely sterile yet. Boy buns can still have sperm for several weeks after getting neutered. Your vet really should have told you this. That little grunt and falling off to the side means that he successfully made contact with your girl bun. You need to keep them separate for at least 3 more weeks. If she's not very old, you may be ok, but if she's older than 4 months, there's a good chance she is now pregnant.

ETA: I went back and saw she's only about 8 weeks, so she'll be fine. But if you do continue to let them meet briefly, it would be best not to let him mob her or hump her at all, and definitely no nipping or pawing. That kind of stuff can be really intimidating and scary for a little baby. Best to keep being around each other as positive as possible. If his hormones are going to cause him to act too sexually aggressive towards her, it would be best to keep them separate until his hormones fade. You don't want his behavior affecting a future bond.

 

[pani]

Oh yeah, she's only just about 8 weeks old - that's the only reason I let them meet.

I didn't realise it could be so scary for her! She did seem a bit uncomfortable, but I figured that was due to moving to a new house and meeting a new bunny. I won't let him do it anymore; in fact, I probably won't have them together again for another three or so weeks when Felix's hormones should have finished running their course, just to make sure she's not thinking negatively of them when they do start spending time together.

 

[Tauntz]

Congratulations to you, Felix & Clementine!
She is adorable! Now Felix has somebunny to look forward to spending time with once those hormones are settled! lol Hope you will have an easy time with their bonding when it is time!

 

[JBun]

Part of the reason that it can be a bit scary for babies, is because she won't be hormonal yet herself, so doesn't really understand why this other bun is mobbing her. One good way for her to build up a positive association with him, is to put their hutches next to each other, so that she can see and smell him, and get used to him being around, but without the risk of him trying to hump her. But this only works if he is calm and isn't pawing at the mesh/fencing between them and possibly making her nervous. Also if she doesn't seem nervous about him, having him near can also help her feel more comfortable and settle into her new home better. If he is too riled up and it seems to make her uncomfortable, it would be better to keep their hutches away from each other.

 

[Chrisdoc]

She's lovely, Jenny always give spot on advice. I did laugh at his humping and satisfied grunt, haha just like a man. She is still really young so the little man is just going to have to wait. Looks like a long engagement

 

[Aubrisita]

Congrats, she is adorable! I love her name.

 

[pani]

Thanks everyone.

Poor little Clementine is still very obviously quite scared. She's sitting very quietly, getting used to her new surroundings. Her temporary home is set up on the table, so my housemates and I often greet her walking past, and sometimes give her a light pet on the head. She's been leaving a few piles of uneaten and smooshed cecals around, but I'm trying not to worry, since it's probably just due to stress. If she seems calmer in the next couple of days I'll see if I can give her a clean, in case any cecals have gotten stuck in her fur. She's eating, drinking, and pooping which I'm very thankful for! Her little lop ears get a bit wet sometimes - they dip into the water bowl, or sometimes one is rested on the frozen water bottle and the condensation gets it. She doesn't seem to mind, and lets me dry them off if they get too wet.

 

[Azerane]

Awww, what a little sweety. I'm sure that she'll settle in soon. Do you have a little hidey box in the tub for her? It might help make her feel more secure

 

[pani]

Unfortunately not - the tub is really small. I'm ridiculously annoyed at the eBay seller for not posting the item until it was supposed to arrive. The tub is probably a bit scary for her, considering it's so open. I was considering putting the lid on it askew to cover 1/2 - 3/4 of it, but I'm concerned that will leave her far too warm in there.

 

[aj82]

Drape a dark towel over it to make her feel more secure. She is so love!y x

 

[pani]

Clemmie seems a bit more active. She's still very cautious - when she moves forward it's very delicate. One paw, second paw, then she'll hop her back feet forward, and she stays very low and close to the ground. She's hanging out on top of Felix's hutch today, while Felix has his normal play spot on the floor and couch. She's still producing a lot of excess cecals, which worries me. I do see normal droppings as well, but she does seem to be producing many cecals. I've seen her eating them before, so I know she can, but perhaps it's difficult for her to bend that way right now. Could it be that she forgets to eat them, or is unaware of how she's supposed to eat them? I remember Felix having a lot of excess cecals when he was younger, but can't remember if it was this bad. Her diet is mostly the same as it was at the breeder - hay and a food mix she makes up, with pellets, hay, and a few oats. I find that she also tends to leave cecals in smaller amounts, instead of the larger 'grape bunch', she'll leave 1 or 2 around in tiny different clumps.

I know she was ripping up the newspaper in her temporary home so I covered it up with some old t-shirts, in case she was ingesting it.

 

[pani]

I guess I'm just worried because she seems so much more delicate than Felix did when I first took him home. She's about a week younger than he was, but would that really make so much of a difference? I think I'm fretting over her more than I was with Felix!

 

[Azerane]

One week could make a big difference, part of it is personality, and part of it will also be the fact that when you brought Felix home, your house didn't smell of a strange rabbit, he got to claim it as his. Now you've got a young rabbit in a area that smells of a strange rabbit. Give her time and I'm sure she'll come around

 

[pani]

Thanks Bec! She's warming up a bit. My housemates and I give her pets sometimes when we walk past, which she seems to enjoy. She seemed to enjoy her playtime yesterday, and even explored my desk a bit too.

 

[Tammy B]

She is so sweet..Congrats