Well, I would have to say (to my delight) that day one was a positive experience!!!!!!

Yes, I am starting out with 3 bonded pairs, so we will try for a foursome first, then add the final 2. Two of my pair are male/female with ages between 2-3 1/2 yrs, while the other is female/female ages  11 & 16 months – all are spayed/neutered.   

I decided to start with the older male/female pairs and add the younger girls later.  So after setting up a pen in a neutral area, then comtemplating if I should instead be using my time to see a shrink (I’m sure I need one worse than any of my bunnies!!!), we got down to business.  Much to my surprise, everyone was pretty non-impressed by the others!!!!  The older male was the only one to show any dominent behavior and that was a half-hearted hump of the other male!  I was able to get each of the possible combinations of twosomes to lay next to each other while petting and praising, then often time be able to add in a third!!!!  When I had all four of then sitting in a close enough group that I was able to easily pet them all, I decided it was a good positive stopping point!!!!  I was hoping for at least 15 min. the first time out and they gave me 45!!!!!!  When the were all tucked back into their respective condos, the all had that “Hey, were’d those other guys go???” look!!! 

I’m hoping that they did not lead me down the path of a false sense of hope (we all know how manipulative those buns can be).  I will keep you updated on our progress and try to get some pics up (as many of you know, that is not my strong point). 

Oooohhhh, I forgot to say thanks for the support and thanks to jersey for the link and all the private computer lessons!!!!!

Well, after 2 days of being more inquisitive of where the cage barrier had gone, than each other, they finally decided I was serious about this!!!   Today, they decided it was time to determine their pecking order!!!!  I have to say, it’s pretty much as I expected, based on how they interact in pairs and with humans!!!!  It was still really only mild humping with only one tuft of hair being shed as the more submissive male was fleeing the more aggressive one!!!!  I’m sure it seemed crazier to us humans only because they seemed to be going ever direction (as opposed to 2 anyway!!!).  Again we tried to pet and praise when appropriate an ended with the two males lying together in one corner,  the 2 females in the other, and sweat running down my….well you can imagine!!!!!!!

Still haven’t had enough available hands to safely think about taking pics!!!!

Sedatives in the hay!?!?!?!?!?! I was thinking more along the lines of sedatives in my food!!!! Heck, I wouldn’t evan need the food, I would happily take the sedatives!!!!!!!!!

But seriously, things are going better than I thought….that worries me!!!!!!!

Petzy – yeah, I should be happy, but it’s always a little unnerving when I catch them whispering to one another!!!! I’m sure they’re plotting against me!!!!!!!

BT – the avi is my english angora as a baby (she’s 3 now). I commented and posted a recent pic of her on the thread where someone had asked you to post pics of your cuties!!!! Lola and Ruby look very much alike – really just different ears!!!!!!!!

I will really try to get some pics posted (I think I’ve only posted some of Lola anywhere here!!). I’m good at taking pics, but really bad at figure out how to get them to the computer, then to here!!!! Fortunately, Jerseygirl has helped me out with some private lessons!!!!! My sone is trying to get some good shots of each of the 3 pairs so I can post them with some desriptions, then I can refer to them by name and you guys will know who I’m talking about!!!!!

As far as the bonding…it’s sort of same old same old!!!!!!!! I’m debating about whether I should put them in a smaller space or larger space – any thoughts???????? The enclosure I’m using is about 3 1/2 feet square. I’m afraid if I give them more room, they’ll just go to opposite sides and forget the others are even there!!!!! They’re are such the nonchalant (sp??) group!!!!!!!!

Well, I have survived week one and here’s were we stand…. The 2 females are total fine with the whole idea, they are happy to hang out with anybun and actively participate in both the giving and the taking of grooming!!! The 2 males are fine with the girls and we have minimal dominance behavior with each other – always the same one being dominent and after a few minutes it seems to be done. The rest of the session, they just sort of do their own thing, not paying much attention to each other. If I force the issue, the will lay next to each other and there has been a groom or two. I did try them in a bit smaller of an enclosure, thinking they would notice each other since they had to be closer together and it didn’t seem to make a difference, nor did giving them more space in the bathroom (keep reading for a laugh!). I’m thinking we may start putting their new multi-bun living complex together (minus a few levels) and let them try hanging out there under supervision!!

Now for the funny story. Yesterday, I had the grand idea of trying them in the bathtub (I know many of you have done this with success), thinking I could possible get one giant bunny snuggle. I put the first 2 in and left my husband in charge while I retrieved the other 2. By the time I got back (maye 1 min.) one was already out of the tub, checking out the bathroom!! I put the 2 in the tub, turn to retrieve the escapee, and turn around to be greeted by the 2 I had just put in, now out and looking at me like “OOOOHHHH, where’d this room come from!!!” I put #1 back in the tub, #2 back in the tub and #3 runs and gets behind the toilet playing the catch me if you can game. Before I can beat him at this game, the other 2 are back out while hubby stands there laughing. Of course, this does not make me happy, so he’s getting lectured while I’m collecting bunnies. By this time bun #4 has decided to join in the fun and she is now out of the tub!!!! This scenerio continues for about 5 mor mins. until I finally realize it’s a losing battle!!!!! I end up lying on the bathroom floor with 1 bunny nudging my hand, 1 sitting on my stomach, the other 2 sniffing my face, my hubby threatening to get the camera, and me trying really hard to be mad at him for being so unhelpful (which is hard to do with bunnies in your face!!!!). Needless to say, that bonding session was not very productive!!!!!!!!! Except I learned that my 13 year old is a much more competent helper than my hubby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So…long time no post!!!! Well, from my homefront, no news is good news!!!! September brought with it a flurry of activity for us humans, so I haven’t had much time to be online or post!!! As for the buns – all is well!!!!!! The foursome are like 2 little old married couples meeting once a day to play cards!!!!!!!! We have been giving them their playtime together and they seem to enjoy it – even go into each others cages to check things out!!! Just an occasionaly hump here and there!!!! Was hoping to get their new and improved, larger condo set up this past weekend, but just didn’t have them time!!!! Also doesn’t help that I’m still debating on what to use as the floor!!! Hopefully I will get it done this weekend!!!! I will be out of town the first week in Oct – leaving helpless hubby and good bunny slave son in charge of everyone, so we won’t start introducing the 2 younger girls into the group until I get back!!! I’m guessing things will be interesting then!!! It will be like moving 2 hard rock, punked out, headbagging teens into the retirement home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!