bonding bunnies–Simon and Olive BONDED

[piperknitsRN]

Well, I took Olive down to the local shelter today and she met a nice New Zealand bunny (male, neutered).  They seemed to be getting on alright (no fighting, no lunging) so I took the plunge and brought him home with us.  Now I think I’ve made a big mistake–they fought during their bonding session and fur flew (the NZ bunny, who’s name I’ve got to change, growled) but nobody was hurt.  Meanwhile, I separated them and put one bunny in a smaller cage and the other in the X pen.  They can see each other, but they can’t get to one another when both are caged.  I went out to eat, then came home and switched it so the NZ bunny was in the X pen and Olive was free range (I’m not sure yet about the NZ’s litterbox habits, so he has to stay in the X pen until I’m confident he’s ok to be let free range.  Olive is keeping a wary eye on her new “friend” and will often come up to the cage bars and try to nip at him (I stop this before it happens), but so far nothing else has happened in the way of fighting. 

What do I do now?  Obviousy, I need to get them to bond on neutral territory (the bathroom is probably the only place I can think of at the moment that would would be somewhere Olive hasn’t really been), but I’m afraid of putting them together again.  When’s a good time to try meeting up again in the same physical space?

 

[Monkeybun]

That is a common reaction when starting a bond. Keep doing it, every day.

[piperknitsRN]

I can’t believe I wrote “bonding bunnie”–I meant “bonding bunnies.

Do you mean I should try them again together in the same room (bathroom this time–definitely not in Olive’s territory)?  I’m afraid they’ll fight again.

 

 

[Monkeybun]

Little tiffs are normal. As long as they aren’t going for blood it’s fine. If they start to fight, just separate them for a few moments, then put them back together again. They need to learn that you’re in charge, and that fighting won’t get them what they want, which is to be put back by themselves instead of with the interloping rabbit thing

[piperknitsRN]

This one seemed pretty serious, although no blood was drawn.  We put them in the bath tub together later on in the evening; no fighting.  a little skirmish could’ve started when I was going to put them in the litter pan (in the bathtub) but we scrubbed that idea since it was exciting them.  This last time, they stood near each other, but basically ignored each other.  Sound about reasonable for two goofy bunnies who don’t know they’re supposed to be friends, yet? 😉

[piperknitsRN]

Well, I put the bunnies back in the tub this morning and the NZ rabbit started to growl and honk at Olive, so I separated them.

Unfortunately, I have a problem as well–my boyfriend doesn’t see this pair as matching and is getting stressed out about it.  I’m trying to make him see that bunnies take awhile to get used to each other, normally, and all of this is part and parcel of getting bunnies to bond, but I’m having very little luck.

[piperknitsRN]

I’ve tried a couple more times with putting the bunies in the bathrub.  results were mixed–they’d be fine until one of them moved, then the white rabbit would lunge and grunt.  I kept the spray gun at the ready and used it to ward off any true fighting, and this last time, I took them both off out of the bathtub and set them on the bathroom floor and they tolerated each other’s presence.  olive climbed over the NZ’ers back, and he lunged slightly once, but otherwise didn’t challenge the term.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

IMO, you need to slow waaaaay down. Give your NZ a couple weeks to get used to his surroundings and settle down. Double fence it or put blankets over most of the sides or something to give him some relax space without another bunny looking in on him. If hes from a shelter he also should probably have a vet check him over before you do any introductions. And he is neutered correct?

As for your boyfriend, tell him to chill out and that it takes time. This will never be a 2 day process, or even a 1 week process.

Do a little more reading on bonding, or I’m sure people here could give you more advice too. Patience is your friend.

[piperknitsRN]

He is neutered, that is correct.  After yesterday, I’m beginning to think I made a mistake.  Olive was very happy as a single bun, and I seem to have upset the apple cart by introducing a new bunny.  On the other hand, they are learning to tolerate each other’s presence, this is just going to be a slow bond, I think.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

It is upsetting to a bun to get another one, they are a creature of routine. Imagine if you were an only child and then your parents adopted another child out of the blue. Or if your boyfriend brought home a new girlfriend or roommate and expected you to accept it 100% immediately. It takes time to adjust, and it takes work to bond them. You’ve literally only been at it for a day, and you’re ready to give up, so what you need to decide is if you want to put the effort in or if you want to just go back to a one bun house. There is also the chance that they will never bond, and you’ll have to keep them separate for their lifetime. I’ve read stories of instant bonds, but I’m pretty sure thats the extreme minority, most bonds take a couple months, and some even can take a year.

I can’t “officially” start Lady and Samsons bond until Lady is fixed, which will be another 4 months. In the mean time, I’ve placed their individual pens next to each other, and I’ve started giving each some pen time in each others pen. They’ve had supervised sniffs through the bars. You might want to look into getting another pen, its probably causing tension that your NZ is your other buns territory.

 

ETA, sometimes what helps me remember why I wanted a second, I just look at pics of bonded bunnies

[Beka27]

The first few days aren’t going to be great. With my pair, we went from death rolls and fur flying to snuggling happily in 3 weeks. This is normal. I would ask you to give it “the old college try” for a full month before contemplating returning him. It will sometimes take that long before you see a lot of progress.

[piperknitsRN]

Well, part of it was that my boyfriend was leery of being in possession of two rabbits who don’t like each other–we live together, so I have to make everybody happy, so to speak.  Kinda stressful when it was your idea to bring the second rabbit home.  I just called the shelter and they recommended backing off on the bonding attempts for a few days, keeping them separated and seeing how it goes for a few weeks.  I would like to make it work, obviously, because I think in the long run, it will be good to have bonded bunnies.

[Sarita]

Yes, start slow. It takes rabbits time to trust. Don’t give up this quickly. I would start with very short sessions each day – they are sizing each other up right now and your new bunny is in a new place and he doesn’t even know you yet. The aggressive behavior is fear not aggression.

[piperknitsRN]

Beka:  Thank you for chiming in!  The fur did fly on that first fight, and was a bit scary to watch.  The NZ rabbit (who I really have to name; I wasn’t crazy about the name “Junior” given by his former owner/the shelter/whoever) is “noisy” and honked/grunted–startling me even further. 

If you don’t mind giving me details, how did you accomplish what seems now like the impossible?  Olive is free range bunny during the day when I’m home and I’ve given her the cage instead of her x pen so the NZ could stretch out, but he’s kinda lazy so far, choosing to stay in the jumbo-sized cat litterbox I have in the X pen and not moving much. 

I called the shelter to see what their recommendation would be and they said to wait a few days to try to do some play time sessions (bonding) and for now just keep them within view of each other but housed separately (obviously!).  They said to call in a couple weeks if I hadn’t made any progress.

 

 

 

[piperknitsRN]

Sarita:  The NZ bunny is actually very sweet and docile (though he does like to make noise on occasion–he’s just a vocal bunny, and I’m tickled pink about this because I’ve never had a vocal bunny before).  I see Olive as being the instigator initially–I think it’s a matter of bunny turf wars.  Do you think it would be wise to wait a day or two before attempting to do short bonding sessions?  

[Sarita]

I do think you should take a few days break at this point. Give Olive time to digest the new bun.

He sounds like a sweetie. I have a very vocal Dutch and it’s funny to hear him grumble about.

[piperknitsRN]

Thanks, Sarita.  I’m wondering what his personality will be like.  He seemed so inquisitive when I first met him; now he’s just hanging out in his litter box.  Oh well, laid back is ok by me.  Olive is more of an explorer, not constantly on the go, but she does like to hop around, and (bonus) she doesn’t appear to be horribly destructive of my possessions (electrical cords are all bunny proofed).  He seems very good natured, though.  I feel sorry for what he’s gone through already; first dumped off at the shelter, then transferred to yet another shelter, and then home to a house of horrors!  LOL!

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Have you read this?
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/BondingInfo/tabid/63/Default.aspx
It has a lot of good info

[piperknitsRN]

Yes, I have.  Thank you!

[Monkeybun]

My girls were a little weird to bond. They were great if I had a litter box with them. Both would happily sit in the litter box munching hay, as if they were the best friends in the world. But as soon as Smudge would hop out, Monkey would freak out. I would just plop them both back in the litter box and she would relax again It just took time. Find that one little thing that works for yours. Could be a litter box, could be they need a smaller space so no one can do any lunging, like a little cube made of NIC grids.

[Stickerbunny]

Mine were a bit weird to bond as well – everyone says do it in a small space, neutral territory, etc. Well, when I put them in a small space all Powder did was catch her and hump her, making Stickers whine and cry (literally) so I had to stop him and if I stopped him, he would bite her and pull out fur. So I actually bonded mine by letting them both be free roam with supervision because it was the only thing that would work. Stickers had to have the space to get AWAY from him to feel comfortable. One day, mid-chase (since they’d do the Powder chases her for hours per day non-stop) Powder just stopped, flopped and never tried to hump her again and that was that, they were bonded.

Tiffs are normal and you should give it a few weeks before either you or the boyfriend get discouraged. Tell him we all say that it’s too soon to tell and he has to listen! lol I agree though, give it a few days of them just adjusting to each others smells and sounds before you go back to an official bond session, mine got used to each other through months of baby gate nose sniffs before I tried to bond and I think it helped a lot (it took so long because I had to get them fixed and the vet couldn’t do both on the same day, so I had to do one, wait, do the other around boyfriends schedule).

[piperknitsRN]

I’m glad to hear tiffs are normal; I’ve bonded bunnies before and never seen them fight like that.  Chase each other around, yes, but never fight.  It was truly a bit frightening, especially since the NZ bunny is vocal, and was growling/honking. 

Right now I’m letting Olive out (supervised) because she can be free range, and the cage I have for her is pretty small–ok for a Holland lop for a few hours or overnight, but not for extended periods of time.  She is littertrained and can be trusted.  However, she was out most of the day, and I just put her in her cage next to the X pen (they can see and smell each other but not bite through the bars!) and after a few cursory sniffs, both of them chilled out.  

[piperknitsRN]

I tried bonding sessions twice. Once downstairs where I stressed them first–on top of the washing machine–and then let them run around on the floor (ended in a tiff) and then again this afternoon, *extremely* briefly, where I stressed them on top of the dryer. I kept it super short, maybe thirty seconds to a minute. Olive put her head under the NZ’s at the end, but neither one nipped. Might be fluke, but I guess the order of the day is shorter bonding sessions. A lot shorter, LOL.

[Monkeybun]

If shorter sessions work better, then definitely do shorter ones. Maybe a couple a day then, one in the morning, one in evening so they ahve breaks between You want to get them used to being with that other crazy rabbit, just gotta wear them down eventually

[piperknitsRN]

Hi, Monkeybun:  Yes, I think the stress bonding idea is going to work for them… hopefully.  Olive doesn’t seem very phased by the noise of the dryer (I’m beginning to realize what a plucky bunny I have!) but I tip around the laundry basket I have them in and shake it, too, so they’re unfooted a bit.  They haven’t nipped or fought while in the basket (thank God) and the NZ bunny tried to snuggle next to her… until she hopped to the other side of the basket to investigate how she could get out of the basket. 

[piperknitsRN]

Progress is being made, slowly but surely. The laundry basket technique seems to be working. I even took them out of the laundry basket, placed them side by side while my boyfriend and I petted each of them, saying “Good bunny!” and… no fighting. We did that for maybe five minutes or so, and any time a rabbit tried to move toward the other rabbit, we interrupted with petting and more “Good bunny”s. I’m encouraged.

[Elrohwen]

It sounds like you’ve made a good start! Your initial sessions didn’t sound unusual at all – they just need to start slow with some stress bonding and they will build up the amount of time they’ll tolerate each other until they decide they actually like each other. It’s very stressful to watch rabbits for signs of fighting – that was the hardest part for me. Some will tell you to let them work it out as long as they aren’t drawing blood, but I think it’s best to go as slow as you need to feel comfortable with their reactions. Just work on it a bit everyday and I’m sure you’ll be able to bond them.

When I brought Hannah home I had a couple days of “Omg, what have I done?! I should not have brought home this rabbit.” but it passed and she turned out to be a fantastic bunny.

[piperknitsRN]

Now my problem is.. Olive likes to jump out of the basket, LOL!  But, I’ve been stressing them in five minute sessions, and have gotten Olive to eat some banana off the new bunny’s head.  She won’t do it consistently, and it’s obvious they aren’t friends yet, by a long stretch.  However, Olive did mount the new bunny, and he allowed it for a little while before he started to honk (then I gently shoved Olive off of him and made sure they didn’t fight).    I’ve never had a difficult bonding process and it’s a little unsettling watching two bunnies with such a wary eye.  It feels like they’ll never bond…  but, I’m encouraged that I can have them in the same carrier (laundry basket) for a little while without outright fighting. 

[piperknitsRN]

I kept on with a few more bonding sessions, but I’m done for the night.  The last session, I was downstairs in the laundry room and they were across the room from one another, grooming themselves.  Then I brought them (in the laundry basket) up to the bathroom, but they started to circle and almost get nippy with each other, so I broke it off and put them back in the basket (making sure they minded their p’s and q’s) and ended the session.  it feels like these two will never bond, but I’m glad to see some progress, however minute.  No outright fighting today, but I’ve been really, really careful and kept them from doing so.

[piperknitsRN]

More on bunny bonding! So, I’ve been taking them downstairs in the laundry room and letting them run around a bit. Mostly they just sit on the opposite side of the room, grooming themselves, but sometimes they go nose to nose. Sometimes this just results in one bunny hopping away, other times they snipe a little bit, but no direct contact, and I calm them down and reassure them so it doesn’t escalate. Considering they fought for the first few days, I think this is progress, but it feels like they’ll never bond at this point–I’m sure it feels this way to others who are trying to bond their bunnies?

[Beka27]

That is definitely progress. Now, I would recommend keeping the sessions as long as possible, preferably between 30 minutes and an hour. Even if they scuffle or chase, break it up, allow them to calm down, and then get out of their way. Something that worked well for me to separate them temporarily was a lightweight laundry basket. I would gently slip it upside on top of one of the bunnies so they were separated for a minute while everyone calmed down.

[piperknitsRN]

Beka:  I’m so afraid they’ll fight again that I’ve been keeping the sessions fairly short–maybe five or ten minutes.  It’s so hard when I think there’s about to be a tiff–I’ve never had a difficult bunny bond before (I realize how easy my previous two were to bond in retrospect).  But, I’ll try what you say to do and see how it works out.  I think everybody who goes through this thinks they made a huge mistake.  On the other hand, I’d love to see them bonded; I think it would be good for the both of them to have a bunny friend… just wish they thought so!

[piperknitsRN]

Is it a good idea to have a litterbox in the bonding area? On the one hand, I want to give them an opportunity to use the “restroom”… on the other hand, Olive just chased the new bunny out of the litterbox (he actually dared to jump in it with her!)

[Sam and Lady's Human]

You could probably try with a litterbox, but that can cause rabbits to be territorial sometimes.

[piperknitsRN]

Sigh. They went back to fighting again–pulling out chunks of each other’s furs and growling, circling and lunging. I don’t have much faith in this bond at this point. OTOH, they are now back to other sides of the ring, ignoring each other.

[Monkeybun]

It’s still too early to give up. It can take months to bond bunnies. They are doing great after only a few days.

[piperknitsRN]

It’s just so discouraging, because I can tell Olive really doesn’t appreciate the new guy on her turf, and then he gets annoyed with her nips her, and then they start circling and chasing and fighting… and I feel like the whole thing gets set back a bit when they do that.  The best I’ve gotten is tentative noise touces, and even those, I hold my breath praying one isn’t about to take a chunk out of the other one’s noise.  The waiting is the hardest part…

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Your NZ has a tough go of things, I sense that for whatever reason you don’t want to get attached, but I’ll be frank and say I don’t feel like you’re being fair to him. He hasn’t had a day to settle or relax, he’s not playing or running he’s hanging out in his litterbox, the only space that is his and has his scent. Its already clear that if you want them to bond, the crash course in bonding isn’t going to work. If you personally want to keep the NZ, then treat him like you would treat Olive. Give your NZ some time to settle, to mark his territory, get his own pen because a cage is simply too small for a rabbit. Let them get used to seeing each other, mix their scents by switching pens, introduce them in a few weeks in a neutral territory with you right there to stop scuffles and fur pulling. The fact that they didn’t fight at the shelter initially is a great thing, now you just need to let everyone settle and get used to the new arrangement and mix the scents so its no longer mine mine mine. I wish you the best of luck, and will be in your shoes soon enough!

[Beka27]

Bonding When the Going Gets Rough – HRS http://rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html

Love Match: A Guide to Bonding Your Rabbits – HRN http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

Here are a couple good bonding articles that I found helpful. You may have already seen them, but they might be worth reading again with fresh eyes.

S&L’s Human made a few points about just slowing down if it’s getting too overwhelming for you. I think THEY are doing fine and could progress pretty quickly, but it sounds like YOU aren’t in the emotional state to be bonding right now. So if you want to take a break and slow it down, do bonding exercises that do not involve them actually being together:

– Switch them in their pens every 24 hours, leave everything but the bunny (litterbox, hidey houses, toys, food dishes, etc…)

– Give them equal exercise time in the same space, but separately. Designate a single room for exercise (no free roam for anyone during bonding!), and they each get a set amount of time in the space. Over a few weeks, other areas of the house will become more “neutral”. No one will have claim over them.

– And you can also try a stunt double bunny.

I think it’s a good idea that you begin to bond with the NZ. Speaking of which, he needs a name. :o)

[piperknitsRN]

Thanks guys, for the advice. I am bonding with the New Zealand bunny (I think I”ll name him Simon–I always wait a few days to see what names occur to me–it took me awhile to name Olive, too). I think this whole process was a lot more work than I anticipated, although I keep having to remind myself it is for ultimately for the bunnies benefit. Simon is actually in an X pen and not a cage–Olive is in the cage because she can be trusted out for exercise time. Right now I’m doing bonding sessions twice a day for about an hour. In fact, I have them out in the laundry room right now. They scuffled last night, but so far they are just sniffing each other and ignoring, with Simon binkying around and honking–it’s cute!

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Thats really good! Simon is a great name

[piperknitsRN]

Well, it’s an interesting process. Olive seems to have had a lapse in litterbox habits (which is not unusual) but hopefully this is just a fluke; she’s very good about using her litterbox. Simon, it transpired, used the grass mat in his Xpen as a litterbox, so I had to clean that up thoroughly (yuck!) with Nature’s Miracle (hope it works on linoleum) as he basically peed on the kitchen floor (double yuck!). So, I placed a second litterbox where he peed, and I don’t see any more puddles, so hopefully he’ll learn quickly, too. Right now I have them in the laundry room. Simon is sitting behind me and Olive is lying in “meatoloaf” position across the room.

[piperknitsRN]

Olive is definitely losing her litterbox habits; while we were down in the laundry room, she peed on the floor right in front of me–she’s never had an accident before this (although she had one in her cage earlier today). Grrrr! But, probably normal given she’s bent out of shape with having a new bunny in the house. Ironically, the rabbits haven’t fought today. Neither are they best friends, but it is encouraging progress on some level.

[Monkeybun]

It likely isn’t that she is losing her litter habits, its she is marking against the new bun.

[piperknitsRN]

They seem to be doing a lot of ignoring each other from across the room. Is this good? Should I maybe put them in a smaller space together, like the bathroom? (OTOH, they seem to chase more in smaller spaces–but that was an observation from several days ago).

[Sarita]

Ignoring is good – it means they aren’t fighting and just observing. I would let them continue this way for a few more days and then go smaller. They just have to learn to trust each other.

[piperknitsRN]

Oh my gosh! Olive is in the midst of grooming Simon’s head (probably due to the fact that I smeared some banana on Simon’s head–it fell off, but I’m sure they can smell it) !!!!! Of course, he wants her to keep doing it, and she just hopped away. Fingers crossed for more! Well, patience is needed, too, because it probably was just a fluke…

[piperknitsRN]

Sarita: They seem to be sorta leery of each other, but on the other hand, Olive has groomed Simon’s head and ears several times during this bonding session (intermittently, they chase each other and nip a little). Is this also normal, but in general, a good sign?

[piperknitsRN]

Not only is Olive grooming Simon more, but they’re eating hay out of the same litterbox (it’s too small for both of them to fit). This is amazing, considering I thought I’d made a mistake when I brought Simon home.

[Elrohwen]

It sounds like you’re making great progress! Chasing and nipping can be normal for some bonds – Hannah still chases Otto and gives him little nips in the bum and they’ve been bonded for over a year. Sometimes it stops completely, but sometimes it just turns into one of their typical interactions and becomes low key (her chasing now isn’t frantic, and she rarely pulls fur when she nips).

[piperknitsRN]

Elrohwen:  They actually jumped in the tiny litterpan together and ate hay without nipping each other.  I’m really excited about this progress.  I think it’s  clear that Olive is the dominant one right now–she kinda bosses Simon around even though she’s a lot smaller than he is (or will be–he’s still growing).  I’ve got flopping and lounging going on now–Olive just chased Simon out of the litter box, but he’s flopped over on the his side watching her!    I feel like my head is gonna explode with the excitement!

[Elrohwen]

That sounds great!! Super progress.

[piperknitsRN]

I wish I could upload a picture of them in the litterpan; Olive’s still being a little bossy and they got into a skirmish, but nothing major, and they’re back to just kind of ignoring each other and intermittently interacting.

[piperknitsRN]

I have them doing another long bonding session, having first rubbed banana on Simon’s head. Olive grooms him–I’m sure because of the banana, but they’re also sitting quite close to each other, with Olive grooming herself as well. Simon still startles easily, and Olive can be a little bossy, but this is far better than the lunging, chasing and fighting bunnies I had nearly a week ago! Wow! I can’t believe it’s been a week already!

[Monkeybun]

Thats great progress for their first week Keep at it!

[piperknitsRN]

Question: Olive can get nippy/bossy when Simon is in the litterbox with her (or just any time she feels like it) and I get the feeling she’s the dominant bun, but I just watched Simon hop over to her and shove his head under hers, apparently for grooming. So who is the dominant bun? Or are they just working that part out right now?

Oh my goodness! Simon just flopped next to Olive! Olive is just sitting there in meatloaf position, but they are within a couple inches of each other and Simon looks very chilled out.

[piperknitsRN]

Here’s what I’ve done. Tired of being in the downstairs (which is cold!) I thoroughly cleaned out the X pen in the kitchen, and the boxes, with bleach. Put new litter and hay in them, and put the bunnies in there, sans toys. Both have a litterbox which they are confined too. I’m watching them now, and they are basically each in a litterbox, eating hay and paying no mind to the other one. I will put Olive in her cage before I go to sleep tonight (so they don’t fight while I’m asleep) but basically they seem to be doing well in this old “new” space I created (by thoroughly cleaning it and the litterboxes). I also took out Olive’s baskets and cardboard toys so she couldn’t claim them and start a fight. So far, so good. One of the reasons I want to move it up stairs is I actually am at the point where I need to keep an eye on them, but I can do this sorta out of the corner of my eye, and my desk is set up right next to the pen in the kitchen, and I *have* to get some work down this weekend. If they go back to fighting, well… it’ll be back down in the basement we go, but the other thing I didn’t like about that is they were both peeing on the throw rugs down there and I want Simon to figure out litter training and not get too confused by the rugs (it’s linoleum in the kitchen where the Xpen is set up). Much easier to clean up mistakes made on linoleum .

This is truly amazing to see the progress of the bunnies from Day one last Friday when they were fighting, to now coexisting fairly peaceably; I would have never guessed I could get such good results–I really had thought I made a major mistake by bringing the big sweet NZ home. While they aren’t best buds yet, they are more like wary acquaintances.

[Monkeybun]

Sounds to me like Olive will be the dominant one, but Simon is tryign to get in the game They will work it out on their own, don’t worry

[piperknitsRN]

It’s so funny to watch Olive groom Simon.  She really doesn’t do it very gently yet… but he seems to looooove it. 

[piperknitsRN]

Olive and Simon spent a night in the X pen and didn’t fight. They’re sharing two litterboxes at the moment and behaving fairly peaceably. Olive still bosses Simon around (poor guy), and she can get away with jumping in a litterbox with him in it (whereas he often can’t jump in hers) but she’s grooming him regularly and I *think* I saw him groom *her* once. Considering a week ago fur was flying, I’m very, very pleased!

[piperknitsRN]

I have another question… in a few days, I take Simon to his first vet appt. I am bringing both of them along, but will this disruption (car ride, vet visit) cause them to fight, possibly?

[Sarita]

That’s wonderful :~) You did sound like it was hopeless a week ago but you have definitely been committed and very soon you will be rewarded with a very happy pair of rabbits.

[piperknitsRN]

Thank you, Sarita.  I’ve never seen rabbits fight before that (not seriously, any way) and I was in shock at how aggressive they could be.  When you see two bunnies fight, it’s easy to think it’s hopeless and want to give up.  I’m still not sure that Olive wouldn’t have been fine if left to her own devices–one thing about bringing a new rabbit home is that it definitely puts your own bunny’s personality into perspective, and she is definitely a bossy little bunny!  However, Simon seems very laid back and friendly and I think he’ll not object too much to making way for Olive when she demands it.  I’ve seen bunnies bond before and it really is better for them, I think. 

[piperknitsRN]

Darn it!  Can’t upload the picture, but I have photographic proof of Olive and Simon sitting together in a litterbox (not the most attractive of places, but hey, it’s a good start!)

[piperknitsRN]

Simon and Olive have made huge progress in the last few days… going from fighting when I brought them home, to sharing an X pen, litterboxes, food, and just this morning, I saw Simon groom Olive (usually it’s been the other way around). I think they’re on their way to being closely bonded!

[piperknitsRN]

[Beka27]

So cute!!! Great job! I knew they would bond, and much quicker than my pair! Keep them together for at least a couple weeks in a confined space to “cement the bond”.

[piperknitsRN]

Thanks, Beka.  Right now they are living in Olive’s X pen (I scrubbed it out to remove her scent and cleaned out the litterboxes).  As I write this, Olive is grooming Simon, and I even saw him groom her earlier today, for what I’m supposing is the first time.  This morning, I had them downstairs in the laundry room and Simon was binkying around… they’ve figured out the stairs, so that can be fun to watch, too. 

[piperknitsRN]

IMG]http://i41.tinypic.com/2s8h10n.jpg[/IMG]

[piperknitsRN]

[Monkeybun]

Yay! They are doing awesome!

[piperknitsRN]

Yup, they are doing really well.  Olive now goes up to SImon to groom him and snuggle with him.  I couldn’t be happier.

[Monkeybun]

And to think you were wanting to give up

[piperknitsRN]

I know, I know!  Terrible of me ;-).  But, when bunnies fight, it’s rather scary and disheartening.  

[piperknitsRN]

Flopping together after an early-morning binkey-laden fun-chase game. 

[piperknitsRN]

Bunloaf X2:

 

 

 

[Monkeybun]

Definitely time to see how they do for an overnight

[piperknitsRN]

They’ve been overnight X2 nights now, without any problems whatsoever!  I know it was a little early, but when I put them in the X pen, they didn’t fight, and it was evening, and I kept the bedroom door open and a water bottle set to spray handy… but I didn’t need it.   They spent the entire day today out in the living room and Simon was so happy he binkied and zoomed around… and so did Olive.  They even binkied at the same time, binkied over each other… it was a treat to watch.  And this is all from the two who were fighting last week.   Now I’m just worried the vet trip (I’m taking both buns, though it’s a wellness check up for Simon) will break their friendship up–that would really, really suck. 

[Monkeybun]

Sounds liek it is cementing time then. leave them together for a coupel weeks, if they behave, and when you go to the vet, put them in the same carrier

[piperknitsRN]

I hope they behave; I go to the vet on Tuesday morning. Right now they are in the same litterbox flopped together… it’s cuteness beyond words. *Now* I know why I did this to myself ;-).

[Beka27]

Please resize these photos. They are way too big. I left instructions in your Behavior section binky thread. Thanks :o)

[piperknitsRN]

Done, Beka.  Thank you for the instructions!

[piperknitsRN]

I’m really thrilled with this bonding process now that we’ve turned a significant corner.  Olive and Simon stick together like buddies most of the time when they’re out in the living room together (which used to be Olive’s territory, but looks like she has ceded it to Simon).  they  haven’t fought or nipped in days, and can often be seen snuggling together, eating together, and racing around each other.  I actually think this was good for Miss Fancy Pants (Olive)–she seems to really like him now.  Wasn’t so when I brought him home!  Now I just hope bringing them to the vet together works out tomorrow…

[piperknitsRN]

When can I consider my bunnies bonded? They have been living in the same X pen (overnights too) for a week now and seem completely relaxed around each other–no nipping, chasing (other than play binkies) or fighting *at all*. They eat out of the same bowl, use the same litterbox, snuggle together, and Olive grooms Simon. They seem to have cute little “bunny chats” when they’re together. True, Simon tried to mount Olive this morning, but she let him (I stopped him just in case she was getting annoyed, but she seemed fine). Should I wait another week to consider them truly bonded, or does it sound like they’re bonded now? (I feel like they’re bonded, but was hoping someone with more experience could weigh in on this matter).

[Beka27]

I would say they’re bonded. Still continue to keep them together all the time. Great job! :o)

[piperknitsRN]

Thanks, Beka! I will keep them together! Thank you for your helpful advice!

[Author]

Messages