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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 12 months ago by Zombie-Sue.

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- 12/02/2013 at 5:43 PM
  wenonafern
  Participant
  5 posts
  Hi, this is my first time writing on a forum, and I really need all of your expert views and opinions.
  
  I’ve had my harlequin boy lop Alfie since he was about 6 months, he’s coming up for around 5 now I think, and my ex boyfriend bought him a friend in the form of Alice, a beautiful white and brown lop who must be around 4 now, thinking they would integrate easily. I had them both neutered, and was keeping them in separate cages in a room nicknamed ‘the bunny room’. I would take it in turns letting them roam free during the day whilst I was at work, letting them both have free roam time alone. In the evenings I would try to take slow steps to try and introduce them to each other. Now I didn’t have an amazing forum like this for advice so was reading out of a housebunny book that didn’t offer in depth info like it does on here. I would do things like let them sniff through their cages, and swapping cuddly toys in their cages so they got used to each others smells. They met out in mutual territory a few times too. But before I had a chance to get any further something AWFUL happened. One day when I was at work with bunny out roaming free (Alfie I think), the other got out. When I came home it was awful, they had fought so badly Alice had to have minor surgery (I say minor, but no surgery is minor when it comes to bunbuns) to repair the underside of her tum where a layer of skin had been torn open. She is very good at getting out of her cage, they are the rubbish store bought Rabbit 120’s (they get roam time separately, and I am working on plans to develop a 4 tier cage, so they have 2 separate levels each. Or something to that effect, but that’ll be a whole other post!). Unfortunately it has happened twice, the second time when I was away for the day and someone was feeding them that morning, she escaped and had to have her ear repaired and now has a chunk missing. She was so lucky. It was the worse I have felt, I was so scared for her undergoing a 3rd anaesthetic (inc her spay). I love my buns, they are my babies. Please don’t judge me for these unfortunate mistakes, as I would do anything for them.
  
  I am sure I know the answer to my question before I even started typing out this essay, but have they gone through too much, and have too many negative associations towards each other to ever be friends? Like I said I would do anything for them, and I don’t want to put them through any more undue stress. If people here believe there is no going back from that I will leave them be and just concentrate on giving them 1 on 1 stroke and binky time with me in my lounge. The thing is I am not a bunny, and I cant give them the affection they could potentially give each other.
  
  Please judgement free advice, I’d really like to know what you all think.
- 12/02/2013 at 7:05 PM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  We try our best to be judgement free around here, and honestly… You didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes these things happen, unfortunately.
  
  There isn’t any one way to go about bonding, but there are general guidelines that we recommend. If I were in your position, I would probably halt bonding for now and move one of the bunnies to an entirely separate place where they cannot see or smell each other, and where they have their own separate exercise space. I would keep them separated for awhile… Maybe 6 months? Allow some time and distance and then start over from square one when the time comes with short, supervised bonding sessions in a VERY NEUTRAL space.
- 12/02/2013 at 7:22 PM
  Roberta
  Participant
  4355 posts
  Oh Wenonafern,
  How scary… Don’t feel bad, bunnies being bunnies all of us how been caught out in one way or another at some stage….
  Sounds like you are a great bunny mum who is trying to do their best..
  You have found a great place where you will be able to get the advice and support you need without judgement or ridicule…
  I will be watching this closely as I am about to embark on a bonding adventure with one of my girls and my two foster fail boys… All desexed.. The boys had been doing well but last nights attempt was not the best…
- 12/02/2013 at 10:46 PM
  MoveDiagonally
  Participant
  2361 posts
  Welcome to BB!
  
  I’m glad your Alice is okay! One thing to keep in mind is that they fought not because they are necessarily going to be hard to bond but because they were in a situation where most unbonded bunnies would fight. Once you get them in a completely neutral area you might see that they will be easier to bond then you think. It could still go both ways. I don’t think it’s impossible at all and I don’t think you did anything terrible. It was an accident so don’t beat yourself up too much about it.
  
  When/if you do choose to start bonding again I would stick to the “Neutral until they get along > Semi Neutral until they get along > Cementing/territory until they get along” guidelines. It’s tried and true and I’ve seen the most success stories with people that followed that basic progression. If you haven’t checked out BB’s info page on bonding I would give it a look. Another great place is WheekWheekThump which is a blog that one of our members keeps up:
  https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx
  http://www.wheekwheekthump.com/category/bonding/
  
  There are also a lot of great threads to be found in the bonding section of this forum. Reading up on different techniques is something I’ve found very helpful. Don’t be afraid to try new things if something isn’t working. Something that has always helped me is creating and maintaining a thread here about my adventure. The support really helped keep my spirits up when things were tough and it’s very useful to be able to look back and see what you’ve done, what has worked, and see your progress. It also helps because people can offer you advice along the way.
  
  Best of luck to you and your bunnies!
- 12/03/2013 at 5:23 AM
  wenonafern
  Participant
  5 posts
  Thank you so much for your kind words everyone, I’ll always feel guilty, as any would. I will definitely move them to separate areas of the house so they don’t live in the same room. I am moving in the next 6 months so I will leave them to settle in the new home then slowly slowly start introducing them on untouched territory. In the meantime I will be boning up on every bit of literature mentioned, and devise myself a plan.
  
  I can’t thank you enough for all your advice, and it’s amazing there may still be a chance for them to be friends. I will persevere and let you know how I get on.
  
  Thank you.
- 12/03/2013 at 5:30 AM
  Roberta
  Participant
  4355 posts
  Moving ? What an awesome opportunity with bonding 100% neutral space… I am going to be ripping out carpet and tiling, fingers crossed it has a similar effect.
- 12/03/2013 at 7:25 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  I hope everything goes well with your move! That should be very helpful to mix things up! Keep us posted!
- 12/03/2013 at 1:52 PM
  Zombie-Sue
  Participant
  875 posts
  Judge you for what? lol having a job? There was nothing you could have done. I took this one rabbit in once for a few days man he WANTED. OUT. I had never seen anything like it. And I hate to admit it but he was smarter than me, I was luckier than you are, but really, there’s nothing you could have done differently.
  
  I think that you’ve got a good plan moving forward and I really look forward to hearing about it, so don’t forget about us.
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