Bonding My Boys (with videos)

[Moon_Bunny]

Dunkin is a neutered 10 month old Dwarf Mix, Dewey is an 8 month old unaltered special needs Lionhead with Idiopathic Epilepsy. He’s only had one Seizure in the past month or so, which is very good, they used to be more frequent. I never considered trying to bond them, but recently when I had Dewey exercising in my bedroom, Dunkin and Dewey were checking each other out through the pen without any problems. So I decided to give it a try today.

I would greatly appreciate people with knowledge/experience with bonding bunnies to take a look at the short video’s I took of their first and second bonding session and tell me what ya think. It’s seems to be going very well and looks promising to me. I explain some things in the video. Thanks in advance!
 

Bonding Session #1 (has two parts)

s572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/LionCalie/

s572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/LionCalie/

 

Bonding Session #2

s572.photobucket.com/albums/ss162/LionCalie/

 

[mrmac]

They look like theyre doing well! Go slow and be patient.

[MarkBun]

In the second Video, Dunkin was more chinning Dewey than grooming, which meant he was tying to assert some dominance. Dewey, like almost all buns, don’t like people playin’ around their backside so Dunkin got a little nip for it. I would keep the litter pan out of things for now. You’ll probably get into a couple of tousels as they become more comfortable in the neutral space. If it becomes a constant thing, remove the towels/sheets and let them worry about their footing more than about each other.

Other than that, it’s going pretty well, especially for an 8 month old unaltered male.

[jerseygirl]

For 2 adolescent males, 1 unfixed, they are doing really well in a small space! Does Dewey have blue eyes and Dunkin have Ruby? They’re unique and very sweet bunnies!

[Moon_Bunny]

Thank you very much for the replies! Yep, Dunkin has ruby eyes and Dewey has blue. Funny you mention leaving the litterpan out for now, MarkBun, because in the second bonding session Dunkin was guarding it a bit so I took it out. When would be the best time to do a bonding session somewhere with a bit more space, like the bathroom floor instead of tub?

[MarkBun]

My personal thought is that once each has groomed the other at least once, you can move onto another area. You can always take a step back if necessary. A trick I learned from someone else is to have the vacuum nearby. If they begin to get into a bit of a spat, turn on the vacuum – instant stress bonding atmosphere.

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