I didn’t get to go down to see the bunnies because of weather problems but I called and told her the rabbits I was really interested in and she said she’d bring those ones plus a few others (including Pokey because he doesn’t normally go to these events). It’s the 15th of Feb and I really can’t wait I’m literally counting down the days lol I still gotta build the condo but money was a little tight this month (still left over from christmas time) but I’m thinking this week we build. I’ll post pictures when it’s done

So I was VERY fortunate I had a love at first sight kind of thing happen and guess what it wasn’t Funny foot or Pokey it was another rabbit that I had glanced at but didn’t think much about and his name is Gizmo or I should say WAS Gizmo his name is not Gamgee (like Samwise Gamgee but it’s just Gamgee). I have it all on my facebook which I will link and if I’m VERY lucky MD will come and put my video on here and pictures please. Anyway there was no problem with guarding territory (we had the litterbox in there just in case Caleb had to go which I was nervous about) and also had pellets in there (which Gamgee enjoyed lol) but no fighting at all and there was flopping and grooming and so we took him home. Also there are pictures of their new cage which is amazing. Gamgee only has the top level while Caleb has the middle and bottom but the way they were acting I’m sure they will be bonded in no time. Without further ado lol here they are  https://www.facebook.com/keriulovesjoshu2010

Gamgee is the calico (he’s the new one) and Caleb is the holland lop so we did a bonding session tonight because they were so good at the rescue together so in the bath tub we went and Caleb started to mount Gamgee which we didn’t think was surprising but what was surprising was Gamgee mounted Caleb A LOT!!!!! we had to interrupt a couple times because he tried to mount Caleb from the front which made Gamgee grunt and thump. But after awhile he started mounting from behind. We had a 30 minute bonding session and ended with some banana for both. Gamgee flopped a few times but Caleb wouldn’t flop. Gamgee groomed Caleb after we put banana on his forehead (also was grooming while humping)…Caleb would NOT groom Gamgee even with banana. So he’s being very stubborn. I’ll add the video link on here after it loads to my facebook. I video taped all 30 minutes but most of it is boring it can be summed up: Caleb humped Gamgee and then Gamgee ruthlessly started humping Caleb and Caleb didn’t try to mount him again. Caleb wouldn’t groom Gamgee but Gamgee groomed Caleb. Also Gamgee was grunting a lot though and I was wondering why because we didn’t interrupt him after he started humping from the back but he continued to grunt?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?…3419327460

 this is the first bonding video there are also pictures

The other videos were too big so I couldn’t upload them but mostly it was just Gamgee mounting Caleb a lot…that was all

Ok bonding session 2 in the bathtub there was still a stand still between Gamgee and Caleb, Gamgee tries to get Caleb to groom him and when he doesn’t then he humps him and then afterwards will flop and then after some time put his chin under Caleb and demand more grooms which Caleb won’t do. Gamgee occasionally will groom Caleb. So since Caleb was being very stubborn we decided to stress bond. To stress bond we used the carrier and then shook it slightly (with different motions) for about 30 seconds afterwards Caleb got closer to Gamgee but still wouldn’t groom. We waited about 10 minutes after Gamgee humped Caleb again and demanded grooms and Caleb didn’t groom him. So we stress bonded again another 30 seconds. This time after Gamgee flopped Caleb groomed slightly (not a lot while Gamgee was flopped). This session was about 45 minutes to an hour. I can’t upload the video right now but there are more pictures on my facebook which I will link. https://www.facebook.com/keriulovesjoshu2010. Please comment if possible even if it’s a you’re on the right track or something…I need some feed back. When Gamgee grooms Caleb it seems like he’s grooming him really hard but we don’t know for sure.

no fights have occurred and they seem relatively happy except caleb when he’s being humped should we move to semi-neutral?

So yesterday we did a hour and a half semi-neutral territory (with litterboxes/hay/salads) and they did awesome no fighting, flopping, a little grooming (not much). There were binkies and zoomies from both bunnies. The only problem I saw was the circling and attempted humping (actually humping didn’t occur a lot because they could run away from each other). Caleb did hump Gamgee though but Gamgee couldn’t get ahold of Caleb fast enough (Caleb is a very fast bunny). So no bunny is the boss yet…I feel like they should decide this before moving to the final stage of them living together but there’s been no fighting that I can see. Just a bunch of circling/trying to hump. This is a good sign right?

Today we did a 3-4 hour bonding session in semi-neutral territory…Gamgee peed outside of his litterbox 3 times which means they went back in their cages. there was a lot of flopping and binking from Gamgee. Caleb flopped a few times, Gamgee and Caleb layed next to each other (that was new). Caleb took the offense in humping this time and even pulled some tuff of Gamgee’s fur out but I’m sure this is just because they were circling and it just got pulled out because he was hanging on. So nobody is the boss still. Need some insight…..? Caleb did groom Gamgee’s ears but only a little. . I can’t think of anything else.

thanks MD I noticed you have been busy, Caleb and Gamgee are out now in semi-neutral territory. I hope they decide who’s going to be boss soon lol then I can have them all live together

Alright so we had a few scuffles today i kinda let them go at it a little and then broke it up when it looked like it was going too far the bad news is I broke it up without a glove on because I was worried and Caleb got ahold of my hand, it’s not bleeding thankfully but it’s going to bruise up really good and it’s sore. They were out for about 4-5 hours this time and they still can’t decide who’s going to be boss. Caleb has been mounting Gamgee more often than Gamgee has been mounting Caleb mostly because Caleb is too fast for Gamgee to catch. Do you think I should let Caleb out with his teddy bear when he’s out with Gamgee so he has something else to hump or is that a bad idea? Any thoughts? Also getting your hand bit by a bunny hurts like hell lol i won’t forget to put gloves on next time

So I did another semi-neutral bonding tonight it’s been about 5-6 hours so far and they have had 2 scuffles so they have had 2 stress bonding. They flopped next to each other after the first one and they are behaving each other after this last one….I’m a little frustrated though I know it hasn’t been long. I just kinda think they should figure something out. First it looked like Gamgee was going to be boss but these last few days I know Caleb has been starting things because he humps Gamgee and then when Gamgee tries to hump him back they start circling and then it turns on to full on scuffle. I only see a little bit of fur being pulled out nothing serious. I just kinda need some advice on what to do. Should I keep letting them try to work it out in semi-neutral or should I go back to the bathtub. When they aren’t scuffling they are angels to each other. Gamgee will zoomy and binky around Caleb (I think he’s trying to impress him lol) and Caleb just won’t groom him but has chinned Gamgee’s forehead a few times and will lick his ears (though this doesn’t happen very often). It seems like the longer the bonding session the more scuffles that happen? please advice. Oh and Gamgee hasn’t had an accident outside of his litterbox yet today so that’s good news

They seem like if I don’t step in they wouldn’t stop on their own…I let them scuffle for about 45 seconds (which seems like a long time to me) and then afterwards I split them up and then stress bond them almost immediately and then they are fine….it’s odd

Thanks I really appreciate the support especially lately since they have been being stinkers. Caleb just doesn’t seem like he’s going to give up trying to be the bunny boss though I wish he would lol. Stubborn just like his mom and dad and step brother Jake (the dog lol) we’re all stubborn

Well I had to work today 9-5 and Josh wasn’t home because he had clinical from 3-9 so I let the bunnies out at like 6 or 6:30 after I had settled down and had taken Jake out. It’ll probably go until after josh gets home so around 4 hours today probably when it’s all done. I try to get at least 4 or more hours. Yesterday I got like 7 hours in and it was good to have them out that long.

Well they made it about 3.5 hours before having a scuffle which I then separated (after the 30-45 seconds) and then immediately stress bonded the crap out of them (putting them in the carrier and moving it all around while letting Jake sniff the carrier and running the vacuum). This was only about 30 seconds. Then I let them out…while I was vacuuming I vacuumed all the fur that was pulled out (there was more than just a tuft it was like 8 tuffs *little ones*) and they were ALL Gamgee’s so I know Caleb is the one that is being the most violent (it’s always the really fluffy cute ones isn’t it ) anyway what do I do about this? I keep stress bonding but it always appears sooner or later they have a scuffle this time it was further apart for timing but that doesn’t make me feel any better

Doing another semi-neutral bonding session right now it started at about 4 and will probably go until 9 or so, so far we had very good success Gamgee groomed Caleb when he demanded grooms which was awesome (even though he’s a little butthead and won’t groom Gamgee back the humping war is still going on but it’s mostly Caleb trying to hump Gamgee but Gamgee doesn’t want to be humped so he tries to run away. Gamgee hasn’t tried to hump Caleb yet and he wasn’t doing it much yesterday awes spoke too soon Caleb just groomed Gamgee’s forehead a little and chinned his ears some he can be sweet when he wants to be. I’ll update again later at the end of the seesion

lol sorry Zombie…I’ll try to hit enter more often. Ok so I put the bunnies back so I could actually make some food and eat, so between 4-7 we had that grooming session from Gamgee then about 2 hours later Caleb tried to mount Gamgee and Gamgee did NOT appreciate that.

So a scuffle broke out Caleb pulled off some of Gamgee’s fur not a lot of fur but enough for some stress bonding to be done so I got the carrier after I broke them up and put them in it and began to shake for about 30 seconds then I played with Jake in front of the cage (with a toy *Jake is my dog*) Jake ignored the carrier and got some play time in with some growling which scared the bunnies together. Did this for another 30 seconds then I took him out because he had to potty. Came back in closed Jake off in the kitchen, shook the carrier again for 30 seconds or so and then let them out.

Mean mom role worked and they hopped off together to flop next to each other. After a few minutes or so we had a MAJOR break through Gamgee groomed Caleb for a full minute or so on his forehead it was so cute and made me so happy afterwards Gamgee demanded more grooms from Caleb which he DIDN’T give (meanie) but that was ok for Gamgee and he flopped and then Caleb flopped. Then I started to get really hungry and Caleb was going to start humping Gamgee again which I thought might lead to another scuffle so I ended it so I could make some food.

I’ll probably leave them in the cage some more because Jake needs a bath and I need to wait until my other half gets home because Jake does NOT like baths and puts up quite a fight and also screams some (sorry neighbors we’ll try to make it quick). Then afterwards Jake will be closed off in the kitchen again and we’ll let them out for some more time. Josh (other half) will watch them while I go to bed because I have work tomorrow 9-5 and he doesn’t have clinical until 3 so he can sleep in.

hope this was easier to read, when I’m typing I’m just trying to get this all out so it kind of merges into one long paragraph and I don’t think about other people reading it lol sorry guys.

You’re welcome yea it made me so happy how’s Pudd doing with the 3 stooges (I call Caleb and Gamgee twiddle dee and twiddle dumb because they are always causing mischief and chaos in the living room *when they aren’t having a scuffle*)

By the way I say scuffle because I don’t think it’s escalated enough to call it a fight, they aren’t being injured at all Gamgee is just losing a little bit of fur so I qualify that as a scuffle.

Hey guys so it’s been awhile since I’ve updated the thread but there’s really not much to say about it. Caleb and Gamgee are still trying to figure out who’s the boss but I think Caleb is going to be the boss in the end. He’s been way more aggressive about trying to hump Gamgee and Gamgee doesn’t try to hump him back anymore. Caleb is starting to groom the inside of Gamgee’s ears and he keeps chinning his ears so I take that as a good sign.

They haven’t had a fight in awhile and they have bonding sessions every night, sometimes it’s only for a couple hours sometimes it’s more, been really busy working so it’s really hard to stay awake at night. Thank god I have Josh because he’s a night owl and he only has classes sometimes so good thing he’s here. I’ll update this more when I know they have been fight free for a week or more. I’m thinking that if they go fight free for that long then they will be ready to move in fully

So Caleb and Gamgee had a slight scuffle no hair was pulled out it was basically just chasing because Caleb wanted to hump Gamgee, Should I restart the time? I was going to wait a week as long as they didn’t have a scuffle I was going to make the cage be whole (instead of separated) but now they had this small scuffle should I restart the time? They made it 2 days and it was awesome

I don’t know what happened they were doing awesome and then Caleb tried to hump Gamgee and they chased each other. It wasn’t as bad as their normal scuffles which is good but it was still chasing.

It kinda ended on its own. Josh walked over to see if it was a bad scuffle and they stopped. The problem is it seems like after Gamgee starts the fight he wants to end it and Caleb is too stubborn to just let it go.

Alright we also gotta work on socializing gamgee….I don’t think he was held a lot, that or he just isn’t a cuddly bunny but he rarely goes up to us at all and if we try to hold him (to put him in his cage or something like that) he nips us. It doesn’t hurt but he def broke the skin. So we hold him until he’s calm and stops nipping and then put him down (we don’t want to teach him that nipping gets him to be put down). He really is a good bunny except for this problem.

On the bonding part they have been doing well no fighting in 2 days

Good idea Tan, I’ll start doing it this way and then maybe we can actually get near them. I don’t think it helped that we did their nails last night (Caleb REALLY needed his done) and so we wrapped him up in a towel and while I was trimming nails Gamgee was biting the hell out of the towel. He was very angry, but Caleb who usually puts up a little bit of a struggle just layed there the whole time without moving at all. Did it help him that he could see what we were doing to Gamgee or is he just getting used to us trimming his nails at last? You could tell that he still didn’t like getting his nails trimmed because after we let him go he ran straight to Gamgee kicking his legs out behind him (which we call humphing lol)

so Gamgee is like the leader of trouble, Caleb follows him everywhere and follows his lead being naughty like they were brothers

yes it’s very good news, Caleb tried to hump Gamgee earlier but Gamgee didn’t do anything about it except move away and then Caleb didn’t try again so no scuffle occurred

 and now Gamgee is grooming Caleb super proud of my baby bunnies getting along

lol glad it’s not just Gamgee this is day 3 of no scuffles

Day 4 of no scuffles though they got out of the cage a little late tonight, they are still out so I’m hoping I’m not jinxing things by posting this but they have been doing so well today and for the couple hours they’ve been out good little bunnies

Also should I start doing the marathon bonding? Should I start staying in the living room with both bunnies out? or should I just keep doing the out in the semi-neutral *which by this point is pretty much just their exercise space and is dominated by both bunnies* bonding for 4 hours and if they are scuffle free for a week open up the entire cage so they can start sharing the cage? This last part is what I was going to do.

I’m bumping this thread because nobody has still answered my question in my last post and the week is almost up for the no fighting so I would like to know what to do…..

The cage is new to caleb, he has lived permanently in the lowest part while Gamgee has had the top level for the short time he’s been here….I could see doing a deep clean but I can’t really move the furniture/toys the litterboxes have to stay where they are or Gamgee/Caleb will pee outside of them

Alright you’re right super excited for tonight

I’m not going to do it tonight, I just meant I was happy about the news

When you say put them in the cage together do you mean put them both on one level or put them back on their own levels (which would be changed)? it’s ok Tan just you responding is huge encouragement. They share food without fighting and they’ve just been little troublemakers together.

Their cage is 3 levels Gamgee has the top level and Caleb has the bottom 2 but he hasn’t ever gone in the second level *I know this because I put treats up there to encourage him to go there and they are still there*. Each level is a 3 x 2 NIC cube area, also their exercise area is the living room which is very big and they have the whole area minus under the couches and chairs they have been exercising together in this area without any fighting for the past week

So we did it, Caleb and Gamgee are now interacting on the same level Caleb is quickly learning how to use the ramps but Gamgee is having a harder time because he’s bigger.

Not bonded yet though, they had a small scuffle in the cage while we had company over, we let them sort it out themselves. There was some fur pulled out from both rabbit but no damage done. Hopefully they can sort this out quickly

Also should I be worried that they had a scuffle in the cage? also they don’t seem to spend a lot of time with each other, they don’t make an effort to be with each other even though Caleb can go to other levels he doesn’t

So this is day 3 I think of Gamgee and Caleb living together in the cage and things are going great I’m going to wait another day before I call them bonded or should I wait more time because they still really don’t know who the boss is.

Caleb will hump Gamgee until Gamgee turns around and then Caleb runs away, Gamgee doesn’t hump Caleb anymore…. but no scuffles since the one in the cage together. my bunnies are eating out of the same bowls for pellets and salads

Gamgee can now go down the ramps, still don’t know if he can climb back up or not but he’ll figure it out. Caleb is a master of the ramps

Not sure they still don’t know who the boss is so maybe?

How will I know when they’re bonded?

Just going to bump my thread because nobody answered my question

I’m going to call the bunnies officially bonded and they have a clean bill of health since we went to the vets today

Thanks