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Forum BONDING Lily and Brownie: Here we go!

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    • BBMommy
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        Well, we brought Lily home last night! She is 12 weeks old, a Rex mix, and super sweet! We let her get settled in last night in her Xpen upstairs. Lily and Brownie were introduced today, in the bathroom (neutral territory). I had a litterbox with lots of fresh hay set up.

        Right away Brownie hopped up to her and mounted her, twice. Lily was fine with that. She right away started grooming Brownie, and he seemed to love that. Brownie seems to be the one presenting himself for grooming,and Lily obliges right away. They both hopped into the litter box together, and nibbled some hay. We acutally had some bunny flops where they were cuddled next to each other. They were together like this with me right there with a spary bottle allafternoon. Played together in a box, shared a carrot, etc.

        They are still together and seem totally comfortable with each other. They are now in the front room where Brownie’s cage is located and have been going in and out of the cage. Both seem very relaxed, and no territorial poops, no agression so far! They seem to be doing so well that I hate to separate them, but will put Lily back in her Xpen for the night to be safe. If this is “Love at first sight” (should I be so lucky?) then what process do I follow? Here I was prepared for a long struggle, and am happily surprised!

        Here’s some pics! 

        Kim

        Lily on the left, Brownie the Holland Lop on the right!

        Lily grooming Brownie!

        Hanging out…

        Munching hay together…


      • BinkyBunny
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          Uh, oh, I don’t see the pics.

          Anyway regarding bonding so far….AWESOME! This does sound like love at first site. I think what you will need to watch for is IF brownie continues to mount her even after she does all of the “obliging” gestures like grooming. So far, does he pretty much mount and the let her be? I think it is smart of you to put her back in the xpen for tonight to be safe. Right now how many hours are they spending together? Since it’s the weekend, you can just try and keep them together as long as possible with supervision. And then if they seem to be doing fine, no aggression, then I would suggest that you put him in HER space with her for the night, not the other way around, and is there anyway, you can sleep within ear shot for their first overnighter?

          Also, she will be reaching sexual maturity soon, and things could turn around a bit as her hormones can make her become more dominant. Are you planning on getting her spayed when the time comes?


        • Beka27
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            boohoo… still no pics! in your other thread, the pics did not show up either. if you need help posting them, let us know and we’ll walk you thru it.

            it sounds like everything went splendidly! i do have one question b/c i don’t remember. how long ago did you get Brownie neutered? remember he can impregnate a female for up to a month after the neuter. and at 12 weeks old, Lily could get pregnant.


          • BBMommy
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              Thanks guys…got the pics fixed!

              Brownie was neutered…let’s see…more than 2 months ago, so he should be ok. Lily will get spayed as soon as the vet will do it…age wise, I need tocall…I think it was around 4 months?

              Yesterday they spent probably 5 hours together in the bathroom, then another hour or so in and out of Brownie’s cage and the laundry room. Brownie mounted her one or twomore times, but was leaving her alone other than that. He follows her a bit, and then rpesents for grooming, and she groomed him about half the time. When she didn’t he didn’t seem to mind, just went and investigated something else. We even had them flopped together, and they seem very relaxed.

              Lily was not too happy when I put her back in her pen…scared, shy, etc. Today they have been together a few hours, all the same, eating hay, laying around…I’ll keep doing supervised play inneutral territory this weekend, but might try Brownie in ehr pen with her for a while tonight. They both seemed a bit upset after they were spearated, and this morning Brownie zipped right out of his cage loking for her. So far so good!!

              Thanks!
              Kim


            • Beka27
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                that sounds great! i think vets usually want to wait to spay until 5-7 months since it’s more invasive than a neuter. i’d find this info out from your vet and try to do it sooner rather than later. if you wait too long, the bond may break once the hormones really kick in.


              • MarkBun
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                  You may want to try to put them both into Lily’s X-pen in the evening. See if they’ll stay calm for a couple of hours and, if so, you could try the overnight thing. It does sound like this will be an easy bond. Make sure to have a divider there though so that you can seperate them if things get a little bit uppity. And, as Beka said, hormones could really do some damage later on. Make sure though to bring Brownie with her to the vet. Nothing like a trip there to help with the bonding.


                • BBMommy
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                    All is well here! We did one full night in Lily’s pen with no troubles…snuggled up close! Did another all day session in the front room going in and out of Brownie’s cage, and then a full night in Brownie’s cage, and all is well! They seem to love each other! It’s worked out really well…they stay close together when they arehaving run time, and haven’t had any more mounting from Brownie at all! Lots of grooming though, from both!

                    Yes, they will go to the vet together, assoon as they willdo her spay! I think I got *really* lucky…hopefully everything will remain all right through her spay when the time comes!

                    Kim


                  • BeeElleEss
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                      That definitely sounds like love at first sight…but hey…you can’t complain. Like others have said, she will most likely have some territorial gestures as she matures, but hopefully they will be resolved when she is spayed. I just introduced my two buns last night and my Rupert mounted my new bun at least three times. Eventually he stopped, and they played for awhile. However, once my other bun was placed back in her cage, Rupert decided to “re-mark” his territory by peeing all over creation. I was slightly frustrated, but what can one expect? I’m glad to hear that all is going well!

                      Oh and by the way, your Brownie is so adorable (as is Lily). He looks so much like my Rupert (he is a holland lop as well).


                    • Beka27
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                        that’s great news… *bunny ears crossed* that they can last thru the spay!

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                    Forum BONDING Lily and Brownie: Here we go!