Day 1: Here’s Guin and Avalon. Weighed him and clipped his nails. He is difficult to pick up. I scoop him into a pet carrier. Guin is easy to pick up. Guin and I are prety snuggly, but Avalon/Morgana havent’ really bonded with me – in 4 years. So… If I can stick this one thru – maybe they’ll become easier to handle. After the last attempt, they were somewhat easier to handle for a while. 

So Guin was fairly relaxed. She wanted to snuggle his face. Avalon (on the left), was tense and his ears were flat bnack and touching. Just tense. When she tried to snuggle his face, he raised his ears slightly and gave a thump. That’s what thsi picture was all about. After that, his ears went back down and he just waited for it to end. She didn’t like being picked up and removed from her room, he didn’t like any of it. Once I put him back, I let her walkout of the bathroom, and instead of going back to her room like she normally does, she went to my room. So I made sure Lancelot was blocked off from her. Normally she does a run through my room and goes right back to hers. So she was uncomfortable enough not to go strait back to her rom like usual – but not nearly as tense as Avalon.   

Since Avalon will be the most dificult of the three, I’ll work with him first. Once he gets easier for me to catch – I’ll start working with Morgana. I’m not going to introduce the three untill each pair has a better relationship. 

I do want to make sure Avalon/Morgana have two sets of their favorite chew toys – cardboard boxes. I have noticed that their ocasional chases involve food, and cardboard boxes. Only a few times a year, but since bonding is stressful, it might make him chase her more often. So… two of their favorite toys. 

Day 2: Much of the same. Avalon was difficult to catch. His room has too many hidey holes. Once I have him cornered, I have to drag him out. He corners easily enough, but then he hunkers down. I hope that once all is said and done – he will be easier to handle. That’s how it worked out with Guin and me.
So Avalon and Guin – same as yesterday. 15 minutes of him sitting very still, ears flat against his shoulders, Guin trying occasionally to snuggle his face, him giving one foot thump.

Guin is lot more relaxed compared with how she behaved when I bonded her with Lancelot. That’s at least a good thing.

I had a hard time the last attempt wth these two, to get him past this stage of him being afraid and not wanting to move. I think after a week of this I’ll take them for a car ride together.

Day 3/4: I’ll post more pics this evening. Still the same/good. This time I put a little towel on the bathroom tiles. I noticed that if Guin was on tile, it didn’t matter how close or far she was from Avalon – the floor was still slippery to her. When I gave them a tiny towel to sit on, she huddled up to him because she knew it was the only comfortable surface! So she was still relaxed, tried to cuddle his face, and looked like she enjoyed being so close to another rabbit again. He was still the same – ears flat down, waiting for it all to be over. And I still think he I not just nervous of the bonding session, but also of me! Guin and I are cuddly, Avalon not so much. I can pick up Guin, but I have to corner Avalon.
I get the feeling that guin is ready to move around the bonding area, but Avalon is not yet ready. He still wants to sit still and wait for it to end. I definitely want to get them in the car.

No – it was different. Avalon is Morgana’s son. I separated them when he was 3 months, had him neutered at 6 months and her spayed, waited a month, then reintroduced the. So after 4 months separated, there was some humping and chasing (by Avalon), and a few weeks later they were best of buds. Even Guin’s last bond was different. Her first was just as easy as Morgana/Avalon. She and Merlin had bred, so they knew eachother. I had them both fixed, waited a month, and they bonded in 2 weeks. For both those pairs – I did no conscious prebonding – no dates, no swapping, nothing. All I did was put her in his enclosure and call it a day. The only conscious effort on my part – was not to put the male in the female’s enclosure. Just because that’s what I had read on breeding forums. Then when I bonded Guin with Lancelot (after Merlin passed), I was shocked at how aggressive she was. She wanted to shred him. I was afraid for a while that I wouldn’t be able to bond them. Then I joined this forum… It took about 10 months to bond them. And now she seems to want to bond again. Weird bunnies.

Pictures from last night’s smoosh. I start them facing the same direction. Excuse my fashionable attire… Since I don’t neccessarily know what to expect from him other than possibly getting agessive, I hold my hand on his head if gets a fright or starts to look twitchy. When I first bonded Guin and Lancelot, after seeing her atack him, I kept a good grip on her head, and I actually kept a piece of cardboard between their bodies, only allowing them to have face contact.Since she is so calm this time around, I let her move int eh second picture. She faced him and tried to snuggle. He got nervous so I petted his ears, but other than that, he didn’t budge. When he sits so still, I know he is nervous by watchign his eyeballs.  

Status quo. Guin snuggles his face, either of them might give one thump, (Guin thumps when she is walking around the bathroom not while she is sitting next to him – and I know that thump of hers – she does it when I pick her up and put her in a different room.) So I still feel she wants to befriend him. He hasn’t given an inch. The last time I tried this, when I had them in the bathtub, even with room to move, he refused. He sat in the corner the entire time. So I think it’s time for a car ride.

I haven’t noticed any different behavior through the fence. All three still hang out next to each other by the fence, no hostile body language.

Posted By Luna on 5/12/2017 1:04 PM

Since Avalon gets along with Morgana, do you think he would be more relaxed/receptive with Guin’s bonding sessions if you put something with Morgana’s scent with them? Or is that a no-no when you bond a trio?

Mikey – what do you think?