First bonding session…questions

[lily2521]

Background…we’ve had Gizmo for about a year, she is a 3 year old spayed lop.  We had 2 speed dates with Nova, a 1 year old spayed female lion head, Nova groomed Gizmo both dates (Gizmo sat there frozen) – we’ve had them living in separate rooms to get Nova used to us, she’s been with us for a week now.

We tried our first session tonight.  I’d say it went so-so?  Nova groomed Gizmo a little bit at the beginning, but for most of the time they ignored each other (which I know is okay).  Gizmo put her head down towards Nova but when she did that, Nova didn’t groom at that time.  A couple of times they’d put their noses near each other for a second or so, but that didn’t last long.

My question is, Gizmo would start to *lightly* chase after Nova, and it seemed like she was trying to mount her when doing this.  I’m not sure if we were supposed to break this up or not?  I know some mounting can be fine, but it’s the chasing I’m not sure about.  It didn’t seem overly aggressive, just light chasing, but Nova did run from it. Each time I placed my hand on Gizmo and it stopped, and in a 20 minute session this only happened twice.  Advice?  Thanks.

[BunnyFriends]

This is where I made my mistake which got bonding off to a rough start…

Well – if Gizmo mounts Nova, break it up after five seconds. As for the chasing, it’s fine now but if at any point it seems to be more frequent and Nova continue running, stop it. It happened with mine and eventually it turned into chasing with  Licorice retaliating and fighting. But you seem fine now.

Pictures of Nova??

[Mikey]

It sounds like Gizmo, although shy, wants to be the dominant one in this relationship. BunnyFriends has it right with the mounting, but you should stop all chasing as it can quickly turn into a scuffle or fight. I like to recommend people use the redirect tactic with chasing, which you seem to use when you put your hand on her, so continue with that whenever she starts to chase

[lily2521]

Thanks, I’m going to try another bonding session  later today so we’ll see how that goes.  I’ll stop all chasing, but if Gizmo does mount allow it for short periods, and try to read how Nova is feeling about it as well.

I’m hoping Gizmo will put her head down towards Nova again to be groomed, and Nova in turn grooms her like she did during the dates, I think that will really help to set the stage as they sort this out.  But we’ll see  

I’ll update after our session today

[BunnyFriends]

[lily2521]

[lily2521]

[lily2521]

Posted By BunnyFriends on 11/04/2016 10:01 PM

Pictures of Nova??

I just added pictures of both bunnies (took me a bit to figure out how!)  I see your thread too that you’re bonding as well – best of luck to you too!

[BunnyFriends]

Omg!! They’re soo cute! That was not what I expected Nova to be like lol… (all I could think of were Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers though….)

That little spot on her nose! And Gizmo’s chunky little paws are just darn adorable.

ETA: Do they both live in c and c cages, or is Gizmo free range? Just wondering.

[lily2521]

Posted By BunnyFriends on 11/05/2016 9:08 AM

Omg!! They’re soo cute! That was not what I expected Nova to be like lol… (all I could think of were Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers though….)

That little spot on her nose! And Gizmo’s chunky little paws are just darn adorable.

ETA: Do they both live in c and c cages, or is Gizmo free range? Just wondering.

Thank you, we’re already in love with her, she’s spunky and just adorable!  And Gizmo has been such a great pet, we’re really hoping this bond goes well!

Gizmo has an XL Dog crate that we keep her in while away, or overnight.  Otherwise when we’re home, she’s allowed to free range. 

Right now we have Nova’s cage in a different room, we leave the door open to her cage and put a big playpen around it so she has a bit more space.

Once bonding sessions start to go continuously well, I think we’ll move Nova’s cage into the same room as Gizmo’s, and allow them separate free range time.

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