Dylan and LJ – two boys in a bathtub!

[Chucklebun]

First bonding session yesterday…

For the most part, was relatively uneventful; LJ decided his best tactic was to sit as still as possible with his head under Dylan and no-one would notice he was there (I’m still not sure if the head hiding was intentional or just that Dyl moved and LJ didn’t!)

Dylan was pretty chilled – did some ear grooming, kept looking to me for reassurance (maybe? I hope, pretty cute if it was!), but fairly nonplussed by the whole thing, lots of sniffing the air and LJ.

Then LJ decided the coast was clear and started to sniff about. Typical of him, takes a while to warm up then he’s bold as brass and into everything. Dylan takes up most of the bathtub, so LJ had to squeeze past him, started circling in an awkward slippy slidy way!

Dylan did get a bit nippy when LJ tried to walk on his head, but when LJ tried to show his dominance by getting humpy, Dylan just sat there and took it! Pretty funny as LJ is a third the size of Dylan, I’m not sure things would have gone so calmly if it were the other way round.

I had my gloves on, and pushed Dyls head away if he nipped or growled. I let LJ hump for a few seconds then gently pushed him off.

Finished the session with them both side to side, heads together, for a bit of mutual petting.

They’ve been  living  next to each other for about 5 weeks now, with two layers of wire between at first, then just one as LJ figured out how to squeeze through the gap and now likes to sit in there.

Does this all sound promising? They’re both into the vets in a couple of days for booster jabs – should I take them in one carrier? I’ll take the spare just in case.

Any advice/reassurance from experienced bonders would be ace, off for bathtub session number 2!

Chucklebun xxxx

[jerseygirl]

Does this all sound promising?

Yes!

Whether you take them in one carrier may depend on how the sessions are going. If you have a dirver, you might be able to use the trip home as a stress session i.e have them together in carrier or box/basket so you can pet them or intervene if necessary. You could even follow this with another tub session once home.

[Chucklebun]

Session 2:
LJ is definately happiest with his head hidden under Dylan. Dylan is definately happiest if this small annoying thing will just sit still!
LJ froze for pretty much the whole session, so no more humping attempts, but was happy as Larry as soon as I put him back in his space, so I don’t think he’s too traumatised.
There were definate grooming demands from Dylan; shoving his head under LJ and when nothing was forthcoming… Grunt *THUMP*!
I gave him head pets then, so he associates LJ with pets. I’m thinking I might try banana head next time, as Dylan is VERY food motivated
Also, Dylan was doing a weird nibbly thing on LJs back, like two or three gentle nibbles, then shoving his head down for grooming – anyone else seen this? Dylan is very nippy to communicate, so maybe he’s just saying ‘Notice me!’?

Jersey – thanks for the reassurance. Just found out that my OH isn’t home tomorrow afternoon, so I will have to put them in two carriers as I don’t want to be stressing about it while driving! I think I will get them out at the same time in the vets though, so the other one is there while they’re out on the table. Good idea about the tub session after too.

They had a night off tonight as I was out till late, so chillout for everyone!

I’ll keep the updates coming.

C xxx

[Deleted User]

Posted By Chucklebun on 10/05/2010 02:41 PM
Dylan was doing a weird nibbly thing on LJs back, like two or three gentle nibbles, then shoving his head down for grooming – anyone else seen this? 

 

Yes, it is typical behavior between rabbits. He wants to be groomed.

Rabbits immitate  grooming (nibbling) and then lower their heads to say that now they are ready to receive some nibbly grooms (but this is just my conjecture… )

If there is no fighting at all, you might have a very fast bond here.

[Chucklebun]

Thanks Petzy!

Took them to the vets today – separate carriers on the way there, then sqished into one on the way home as they’d been very chilled out.
Apart from being slightly concerned that Dylan had suffocated LJ they were fine, no bother at all!

We had another tub session when we got home, for about an hour. It took them both a while to warm up, but this time there was no thumping and only one grunt from Dylan. And no humping from LJ. There didn’t seem to be any grooming requests, but they did spend about 20 minutes in total lying next to each other, I have a very blurry pic on my phone as I broke our camera but I seem to have lost the cable (not good with tech). They also spent quite a while exploring the carrier together and just having a sniff about…

I felt a lot more chilled out about leaving them for the odd minute to run and empty their litter boxes. I can’t swap their living spaces over due to size issues and the fact that Dylan’s a jumper, so I’ve swapped some dirty litter over, just a scoop in each. I’ll see what sort of mess Dlyan has made of that one in a bit!

C xxx

 

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