Changes in behavior after bonding

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This topic has 4sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 3 months ago by bunnymama.

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- 08/20/2009 at 7:20 AM
  RachelB
  Participant
  237 posts
  Hey everyone…. just wanted to take a poll and see how your bunnies behavior has changed after you’ve bonded your bunnies.
  
  Samson and Ivy have been together just under 1 week and I have already noticed changes in Sammy. I did not have Ivy until I started the process (and they were housed together from that 1st night) so I am unsure really if Ivy has changed as well. But here are the things I have noticed….
  
  1) Samson HATED carrots (I know he is a strange one). He wouldnt eat carrot tops, sliced carrots, slivers of carrots, chunks of larger carrots, carrots straights from the garden, baby carrots…. NOTHING!!! –I was told that Ivy LOVED carrots so I added a few little slivers to their salad every 3rd day as a treat….. Now both cant get enough of them! Silly bunnies!!!
  
  2) Food, water and hay intake has increased. Not just doubled like I expected from two buns but seriously increased. Maybe its just because they are more active playing with one another but seriously Samson eats hay now like its going to be the last little bit he ever sees. Actually they both do (so maybe once again its something he learned from Ivy).
  
  3) Digging. I never saw Samson dig. When he was a single bun Sammy had his own digging box as a part of his old cage. He would hop in there but never once did I see him actually dig. –Ivy is a big digger esp towels, blankets, and bathmats. Samson seems to have learned this behavior too but doesnt dig at material just digs a few times before he lays down.
  
  4) Being held. Samson HATES being picked up. This is just something that I accepted as a part of his personality. He loves pets and will hop in your lap, nudge you, run over to get more pets but used to hate being held. Ivy on the other hand has no problems with being held. During bonding I was concerned that they might hurt one another so a few times a day I would check them all over to make sure they’re wern’t any boo boos. Ivy was great and would sit for me to check him out, at first Sammy hated this but now he seems much better and doesnt hate baing picked up nearly as much.
  
  5) Both are much more mellow, playful and loving!!!
  
  Anyways figured this would be a fun place to share stories of how your bunnies have changed after they got a friend.
- 08/21/2009 at 12:29 AM
  Jenna, Chubs & Comet
  Participant
  617 posts
  This is so interesting! I’ve read how they can both pick up each other’s habbits and stuff but funny to hear it first hand I’m a little nervous about this, as right now, Chubs is so good about chewing and digging. He never does it anywhere he isn’t supposed to, not even cords are of any interest to him! He has dug on the carpet momentarily if he’s been annoyed with us for somehing but that’s it. So I’m nervous we’ll get a chewer and he’ll become one too! Still, I’d love it if he got a little more mellow about being picked up! Oh and he is not a fan of carrots either…he will eat it eventually if I leave it in his bowl but not for hours. The veggies he likes are gone in moments…such a small bunny but he can eat! Anyways, great post, I will have to keep up with reading this one!
- 08/21/2009 at 12:48 PM
  Karla
  Participant
  1624 posts
  After Karl got a girlfriend he has really become more active and not just sitting under the bed half asleep all day – he seems so happy. However, he is not as interested in my boyfriend and me anymore – he used to follow us around, and sit outside by the toiletdoor when we on the toilet, but not anymore. Also, he has become much more jumpy (nervous – she is a bit jumpy and when she reacts like this, he gets nervous as well).
  
  And they hardly eat! I think the two of them combined eat less than what Karl used to eat on his own. I guess he must have lead a really boring life before Molly came into his life
  
  No doubt that they are so happy to be around each other. I am so happy that I adopted Molly
- 08/21/2009 at 2:38 PM
  MarkBun
  Participant
  2842 posts
  Rabbits learn from one another about things. So to see a change in habits during or after bonding isn’t unheard of.
- 08/27/2009 at 6:25 PM
  bunnymama
  Participant
  161 posts
  Agreed all seem like signs that my bonded pair went through too. It’s so much fun having a bonded pair! Nothing like it in the world. Sometimes when they are both eating from opposite ends of the same pc of lettuce, I think how lucky I am to be seeing the sweet, natural affection of my two buns.
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