Bailey and Logan

[BaileyBun]

It’s time to start Bailey and Logan’s bonding journal!  Bailey and I picked Logan out of 5 bachelors at a foster home, and he came home with us three days ago.  They are living in separate cages, side by side, about 4″ apart (Bailey also has an expen attached to her cage, because she pitches a fit if she doesn’t have someplace to run).  Logan tries to get as close to Bailey as he possibly can, but Bailey thinks it’s great fun to ignore him.  When I’m around, I divide my room in two with an ex pen, and Logan tries to follow Bailey around the perimeter of the pen.  Whenever Bailey moves, Logan follows.  When she gets far away from the pen, Logan sits at the fence and waits for her to come back.  

Their first bonding session was the car ride home.  They were in the same carrier, and the ride home was totally uneventful.  When we got home, I let Logan go straight into his cage and he hid in the hidey box for a very long time.  He’s warming up quickly, and now he’ll come out to get food and sometimes lets me pet him.  I’m living in a dorm room, so I’m being creative about finding neutral places.  I’m using storage bins of various sizes for now.  I’ve been putting them in a bin for about 15-20 minutes at a time, twice a day.  Logan is very, very, very humpy, but luckily for him, Bailey is pretty tolerant.  When he’s been up there for more than 15 seconds or so, or when Bailey starts getting mad, I push him off so they’re side by side and pet them.  He sometimes grabs tufts of hair when he’s mounting, but it doesn’t seem like it hurts Bailey at all.  Bailey hasn’t touched him at all.  She mostly huddles in the corner.  He groomed her, I think, this morning… it looked like a few licks and a few nudges.  Bailey is not a fan of the storage bin bonding sessions, and nothing is really happening, so I think I need to try something different.  I can tell that the humping business is getting annoying for her, and she absolutely does not move when I put her in the box, even when I move it around.  I might be totally off, but I think they would do better with a bigger space where Bailey has somewhere to escape from Logan and his humping.  They’re great when they’re separated by the ex pen.  Even though Logan is technically on Bailey’s territory, it’s more of a shared space, I think.  Her cage and expen are very close to that area, but not in it, so maybe that’s why she doesn’t seem to care.  Logan is very concerned about his territory, and chins everything in sight and leaves about 100 poops all around the fence when I let him out.  Oh well, hopefully that’s just temporary (and at least Bailey’s not doing it, too!).  

Now for the pics!

Yes, I have to admit that I had to push them together for this pic.  Bailey was getting nervous, so I smooshed them together and petted them for a few seconds to calm them down.  Then they decided that it would be nice to cuddle for a minute

[Deleted User]

Logan is a nice fuzzy rabbit. The marking and humping will get less over time, but I was thinking if you are in a dorm, are their any friends whose rooms might be available for bonding sessions as a neutral space?

[BaileyBun]

Wow- I can’t believe how well Bailey and Logan are doing! I went ahead and put them in the expen in the middle of my room, and it went very well. Neither is acting territorial towards the other. During the first expen session, Logan chased, and Bailey ran away. I ended with forced cuddling and pets. They’ve been in the ex pen two times since then, and they’re in right now. Each time, Logan is getting better at figuring out how to approach Bailey without having her run away. They’re both binkying all over the place- it’s just too cute! Bailey has even started to approach Logan, but runs away as when he tries to mount her. Bailey keeps trying to present herself for grooming, but Logan doesn’t give in. He’s given her a few rough licks, but then tries to mount backwards, and then Bailey runs away. Interestingly, Bailey has been spending a lot of time licking things in the pen- me, the carpet, the blanket that’s right outside the pen- but definitely isn’t about to lick Logan. However, she’s getting much more comfortable being around him, and doesn’t run away quite as far or as fast as she did at first. She’s flopped out right now She actually looks like she’s enjoying having someone to play with- and poor Logan just looks a little confused. I think he just wants to be close to her (well, and hump her), and he’s trying to figure out how to win her trust. I just separated them, and Logan licked Bailey’s nose through the bars! Bailey didn’t know what to do, so she shook herself off. For now, I think I’ll keep doing these sessions- but increase the time. They both seem very happy, and after I separate them, they like to be near each other.
My boyfriend’s apartment is a neutral space for both bunnies, so I can take them there. It’s a half hour drive, and he has all wood floors… since they’re doing so well here (and because it’s so convenient!), I think I might keep the sessions in my room- or do you think a change of place would be helpful?

[BaileyBun]

Look what I caught on camera!  After hopping around the room, Bailey decided to go back in her cage and lay down next to Logan.  

 

[BaileyBun]

They’re grooming each other!!! Bailey actually went up to Logan and started licking his face! Of course, I ran for the camera, but they moved right before I could take a picture. Now they’re working on a project together: tearing apart the woven grass hidey house. Logan has also been sneeze-free for hours now- I feel like such a lucky bunny mom today They’re really having fun together. They’re not totally comfortable around each other yet- Bailey still runs when Logan approaches too quickly, and there’s not a lot of snuggling, but I think Bailey is starting to trust him. I’m also pleasantly surprised that she hasn’t banged on the fence for me to let her out like she usually does. She is perfectly content to hang out with Logan. She’s also being extra affectionate with me, and always gives me a few licks when I’m in the pen with them. Logan is shy around me, but he’ll hop over when he sees that Bailey is by me. Such a happy day for us- lots of binkies here!

[BaileyBun]

Bailey and Logan have now been in the same area for 24 hours I separated them for about 15 minutes for pellet time, since Bailey lives for food while Logan is a slow eater, but they’ve been together the whole time otherwise. I hadn’t planned on leaving them together overnight, but Logan put up a fuss when I tried to separate them last night, and refused to leave Bailey… so I decided that I might as well let them be. I woke up a lot last night to check on them, and every time, they were cuddling! They’ve been laying together all day, and doing a decent amount of grooming. Logan is absolutely in love with Bailey. Bailey spends most of the time eating or looking for things to eat, but I think she’s starting to like him.
I’m assuming that now, I should let them stay together- right? They’re doing very well, and there still hasn’t been any aggression whatsoever. I have no idea who’s top bun, because initially Logan was the one mounting, but now he spends the most time licking Bailey and no longer tries to mount. My guess is that they’re still working it out. Will they become more lovey-dovey over time? Logan is definitely the more affectionate bun, and I feel bad that he doesn’t get much attention from Bailey. He’s just so darn cute when he’s trying to get close to Bailey. And what a sweetheart- he was definitely a good pick

[jerseygirl]

I hadn’t planned on leaving them together overnight, but Logan put up a fuss when I tried to separate them last night, and refused to leave Bailey…

hahaha! So sweet. These 2 made fast friends.
I say go ahead and keep them together. It will help the bond become tight and iron out any little issues they might have. Then you can let them into larger areas after.
My pair did seem to grow closer after the initial bond. My buck also request grooms and only gets them now and then. He, however grooms her lots. I think they enjoy doing the grooming too. She doesn’t even request sometimes, he’ll just run up and start grooming. I wouldn’t feel too badly for Logan. He’s probably thinking everything is pretty sweet!

[BaileyBun]

Fast friends, definitely! I wasn’t expecting this at all. I was all prepared to go in with my gloves and my squirt bottle, and I was going to take them for car rides and put them on the washing machine… but I got lucky! They seem really happy together. Even though Bailey isn’t totally head over heels for Logan, I can tell that she likes having a friend. She’s much calmer and definitely less destructive. And Logan is very happy- he just loves being next to Bailey, and he’s constantly grooming her. I’m just so happy for them!
However, there is one small problem: They’re both pooping everywhere, which is why I’m not letting them have the run of my room quite yet. Does this eventually get better? Bailey had really good litterbox habits until now. Is there anything I can do to encourage them to use the litterbox more frequently? I put hay in all three litterboxes in their area, so I’m not sure what else I can do.

[jerseygirl]

Generally the poop bombing is normal and should improve with time. You do have to keep on top of cleaning up like you would if littertraining. Unfortunately for me, this did not improve after bonding with my Doe but I really think it was the normal territorial stuff that has morphed into other things. She did have a bit of sporadic littering prior to being 2 bunny house hold.
But most members here report that it improves. : )

Congratulations on your new pair.  And here you were worrying about Logan not getting much time out of the cage. That’s always going to be a temporary situation when bonding. Turns out very temporary for you!

[BaileyBun]

I know! It seems silly now, but I really did expect them to be separate for weeks, not days. I’m an exceptionally nervous bunny mom, I think

That is good news. I’m always shocked when I wake up in the morning and look in their pen- I don’t understand how they can possibly eat enough to make all of those poops! For now, I’ll just plan on vacuuming after I let them out into the room.

[BaileyBun]

 And pictures of the happy couple!

[Beth K]

That’s great how quickly they got along!
One of my female rabbits is very stingy with licks, so it may be normal that Logan grooms Bailey much more than she grooms him. Nothing to worry about
Congrats on the cute new duo!

[BaileyBun]

It’s official: Bailey and Logan are bonded!  They are the best of friends.  They love to groom each other (especially Bailey, surprisingly) and they always sleep right next to each other.  The other day Bailey was actually flopped over Logan- so cute!  I know that everyone says that bunnies are happier when they have a friend, but I didn’t expect Bailey to be this happy.  I’m so glad we adopted Logan.  

 

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