Chasing (What’s our next step?)

[LittlePuffyTail]

So, my boys are doing pretty good. We are still taking it nice and slow (I want to make the whole experience as low-stress as possible since Stormy is a senior bun at 7) but last night their bonding space got upgraded from a small penned off area to Ricky’s toy room (which is a big, open-spaced room). Bindi was having a ball in there running around and binkying. They did really well. They are to the point now where I feel comftorable leaving them alone to go and grab something in another room. Still no grooming but lots of flattened face snuggles. They pretty much just ignore each other and do their own thing. Bindi is comftorable enough to flop with Stormy nearby. I’m going to let them spend all evening in there tonight. They are tolerant neighbors but not friends yet.

The only thing is, lately Bindi is chasing Stormy. I’m not sure if this is an aggressive thing or just play. He doesn’t look agressive when he’s chasing. He’s not running after Stormy full speed. Just hopping along after Stormy. Stormy gets annoyed and stressed out by this. Is this dominant behaviour or could it just be play? Do bunnies chase each other for fun? 

[Elrohwen]

Hannah chases Otto every single day. He doesn’t like it, and if he doesn’t run away she nips him in the bum. With them it’s a dominance thing, but right after some light chasing they come back together and snuggle, so it’s not a big deal. It was definitely the hardest thing we dealt with in their bonding, but it’s just what they do. Sometimes we joke that Otto is an abused husbun because Hannah pulls tufts of his fur out and chases him away from the food at first, but that’s just how their relationship goes. She’s the boss and wants to make sure he knows it.

Hopefully Bindi will settle down too as their relationship progresses. Hannah did, and even now she goes in phases where she won’t do it much, then will suddenly start being a pain again. Sometimes we squirt her with the spray bottle to make her knock it off, or if we’re close enough we’ll chase her away from Otto (usually by goosing her in the butt with a foot).

[RabbitPam]

Is there a way to rig a hidey hole for just Stormy to escape to? Like a box only big enough for one? I’m not quite sure how BB arranged it for Vivian and Jack, but she definitely had an off limits place to get to when she’d had enough of Jack. Might have been walking on floors that he wouldn’t do.

[Monkeybun]

Monkey likes following Smudge around. Just hops along behind her… its cute. Sometimes Smudge wants alone time and gets huffy if Monkey follows her, but she gets over it

[LittlePuffyTail]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we should go from here? Stormy doesn’t really trust Bindi yet but I would rather not resort to stressing (car rides, etc) so what should be our next step? They do well in the big room for an hour at a time with very little interference from me. Just mostly doing their own thing. Should we move to semi-neutral now? (Our living room is where all the bunnies get play time every day. And it’s been that way for years so I assume each bunny considers it “theirs”.) Would that be the best place? That’s the only other room the buns really go in, besides the rabbit room.

[Elrohwen]

Just keep making it harder for them. If they’re doing well with one hour, make it four hours. If they’re doing well with four hours, move them to a new place (semi-neutral would be good).

Otto didn’t trust Hannah completely even when they moved in together, so I think at some point you just have to bump them up to the next thing and see if they can handle it. It doesn’t sound like they need any kind of stressing at this point either – just more time to work out their relationship in different settings.

[jerseygirl]

I’m pleased to read where your at LPT! This is so good. Regarding the chasing, could it just be their difference in personality? Perhaps Bindi is the more boisterous and is just approaching Stormy like that?

They do well in the big room for an hour at a time with very little interference from me. Just mostly doing their own thing.

I think what your currently doing is spot on. As Elrohwen suggest, just extend the session times. It’s tedious but the way forward I think. Bindi will learn he won’t get the attention he’s seeking by chasing and hopefully Stormy will learn to trust more and become calmer. I personally not move them to a new semi-neutral area just yet. I think keep that space “up your sleeve” for now.

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