Bonding Karl and Molly with Jack

[Karla]

SO..Jack come to visit us today, and I decided to keep him. The owner will have him put to sleep otherwise, so I thought I’d give it a go. 

The date went fine. There was a lot of humping (on Jack’s side), but also a lot of grooming. Karl was so mellow and just groomed him right away. Molly demanded to be groomed, and wouldn’t let Jack hump her, so it might take more time with these two. But there was no aggression. Molly was in reality  much more interested in the veggies and treats.  

We are moving tomorrow. And so I was wondering if I should put all three bunnies into the cage for the 2 hour drive? Or should I keep Molly and Karl together and have Jack in a crate? It might be a big chance to do some stress bonding and forcing them together by having them all in the cage…but it might also fail and make them associate each other with this horrible feeling. Your thoughts??

 

I guess it is good that the other apartment will be new territory for all. It might make the bonding easy – hope I don’t jinx it by writing this!

 

Here are some pics from the date (if you wonder about all the hair on the blanket – that’s from Jack. He needs a good plucking!):

Karl grooming Jack                                                                                      

 

All three close. Jack is flopping, and Karl has just finished grooming him. I didn’t put them together.

And here is Jack

[RabbitPam]

I will defer to the more experienced FLs, but my feeling is that it would be fine and a good bonding opp. to bring them together.

Frankly, just seeing all the grooming, plus Jack in a flop next to them already, looks like a very, very good start. I wouldn’t want you to press them beyond their tolerance level, but this is such great behavior!

[Deleted User]

This is very amazing. This could have gone so much less friendly!!! You have a perfect scenario here, Karla, 3 rabbits that hit it off on a positive note and a move to an entire new living space, all neutral. However, I wouldn’t cage them together for the 2 hour drive. Let me rephrase this: you can do that but have the crate ready in case they get nippy so to separate one out, this might not necessairily have to be Jack, it might be Molly that instigates. Then you could continue bonding Jack with Karl on the ride. — I am guessing, though, you have already moved by now. LOL! I have a good feeling for your trio. I had an instant trio bond. They can happen! yippeee for you!!!

[katie, max & penny]

i agree with RP. i think it would be good to do the stress bonding, as long as someone is free in case is goes not so well. congrats!!

[jerseygirl]

Congrats on getting Jack! Sooo glad you took him in. From the sounds of it his former home was less than ideal. This is great to hear of the positive start between the 3.

[mrmac]

They look so good already! The intro seems very positive and hopefully won’t take much to get them all into a trio! Congrats on Jack too, he’s adorable!

[<3 tallulah]

All your bunnies are soooo cute!!! that so sad that he was going to get put to sleep… did you find out why his owner was going to do this???

Love the pic of him flopped…. relaxed already

 

good luck!!!! 

 

 

[Karla]

Hey Tallulah. The owner wanted to have him put to sleep ’cause she didn’t want him to end at shelter, and she was moving in with her boyfriend who is allergic to animals, so she couldn’t keep him.

Well, bonding has of course been put on a pause because of our moving and Jacks teeth problem (incissors were not removed after all, but only trimmed). I did some bonding tonight though. It goes fairly easy – Molly is friendly but is busy eating or exploring their new room, so she doesn’t really have time to notice any other bunnies. But she likes eating in Jacks cage sitting right next to him, so no problem there. Karl on the other hand is acting strange. He grooms Jacks constantly, but is also getting fixated on humping him – and if he cannot get to Jack, well then he wants to hump Molly who just runs away. All three bunnies have been sitting closely together in Jacks smaller cage because apparently the hay is soooo much better in his cage.

Jack is so passive, which is understandable – new place, new bunnies and bad teeth. The moving has also freaked out Karl. He has spent the past 48 hours in the cage looking out but refusing to leave the cage. Meanwhile Molly has been busy exploring the whole apartment and enjoying herself. So Karl’s humping may be excused.

[Deleted User]

Does Jack allow Karl to hump him?

[Karla]

Some times, and some times not. He lets him if I pet him at the same time…if I am not quick enough, then no.

[jerseygirl]

Karl may just be reacting to all the changes. Sometimes it’s a stress thing. Sometime they’ll hump their mate if upset / feel loss of routine or unsettled.

[Karla]

I wrote a long post the other day, but it disappeared and I couldn’t be bothered to write a new.

But… I have a bonded trio

I haven’t spent as much time as I wanted to bond them as we have been so busy moving. As you suggested, Jersey, Karl has been stressed about the moving and only came out of the cage to hump either Molly or Jack. But after two days all bunnies were happy again (Jack didn’t want to come out of the cage either for two days, but only jumped out to get into Molly and Karls cage). Karl and Jack were getting on from the beginning – Molly on the other hand was a bit tricky. Both she and Jack wanted to be groomed, which led to some minor tiffs where Molly would bite and chase him. The tiffs were short though, so because of our own personal stress about moving, we actually decided to let the bunnies work it out themselves and let them out together in the new bunny room. On day 3 I did the banana trick which worked wonders. Jack groomed both Karl and Molly, and on day 4 I finally had the time to do some bonding between Jack and Molly only to find them grooming each other on their own initiative.

So piece of cake And I must say…a trio is so much more fun than just a duo!! And Jack with no teeth is so easy ’cause we don’t have to worry about him chewing any cables

[Deleted User]

It is impossible to know how your bonding would have gone if you hadn’t moved into the new place. I’d say you have a bunch of very friendly rabbits here but moving time is, ironically since it is such a busy time for the humans, the best time to introduce a new bunny.
This is great news, Karla! A happy ending!

[MarkBun]

As I’ve said in other posts, sometimes the best way for the bonding process to go is to put all three into an x-pen and let them work it out themselves. Trouble is that we are overprotective of our kids and there is a danger of them really injuring themselves but more often than not, they figure it out on their own. I’ve heard plenty of stories of people coming home to find one of the rabbits managed to break into the other’s areas and, although there’s fur everywhere, they are snuggling and grooming one another.

[jerseygirl]

Congrats! That’s great this was so quick. I’m sure you would have had plenty other things you’d needed to be doing rather than bunny dates – so considerate of your rabbits to get bonded asap!!   I noticed your siggy in another thread…they look so sweet together.

[Karla]

Posted By Petzy on 10/30/2009 03:28 PM

It is impossible to know how your bonding would have gone if you hadn’t moved into the new place. I’d say you have a bunch of very friendly rabbits here but moving time is, ironically since it is such a busy time for the humans, the best time to introduce a new bunny.
This is great news, Karla! A happy ending!

 

I think you are right about the timing. I had brought one of the huge cardboard boxes from the old apartment that they have been really fond of – and Molly would go crazy if Jack went into the cardboard box. She would chase and bite him. So I do think that perhaps the bonding would have taken longer if it had been going on in her territory, but I don’t know.

I think MarkBun is right about just leaving it to the bunnies to sort it out themselves. Because as soon as Jack would be out of a certain distance from the cardboard box, she would be fine. And you know, they had no problems when they were all in the same cage eating together.  I’m not sure if I would have left it for the bunnies to sort it out themselves if it had not been for my boyfriend. But he is not so overly protective about the bunnies as I am and have perhaps a more sensible approach to them. I have to recommend this. When my boyfriend suggested it, I thought that well he is right. Rabbits are social creatures living in large warrents, so of course they know how to sort it out themselves. And there was no apparent aggression between any of them, so I didn’t feel bad about it.

[Deleted User]

Wow Karla, I am just reading this thread now! This is amazing! I really hope things go this well for me bonding Alistair and Bunny with Sarge after we pick up Sarge tonight! This thread really gave me hope, and man you’ve got a beautiful trio there!

[Karla]

There are easy bondings! That’s why I thought you should give it a try with Sarge and see if you are lucky as well. I have been lucky every time. You might be with Sarge as well

I think MarkBun had a good point about being rationel. We are talking about creatures who live in large warrents and who are very social. Of course they are territorial, but wild rabbits actually accept newcomers in the shape of young rabbits to their warrants, so it is not as if they are completely aggressive towards strangers.

I am looking forward to your bonding posts.

[Author]

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