Louie and Lola bonding updates

[Louiethebunny]

Today marked one week of taking Lola home, and I started cage swaps. I left the room for about an hour, and when I returned, Louie had a lot of territorial poops, but none from Lola and no marking pee. It’s a few hours later now, and Louie flopped down in Lola’s enclosure, and I think Lola is enjoying the upgrade of space in Louie’s xpen. A few more days of this, then I will hopefully start sessions.

[HipHopBunny]

@Louiethebunny

Everything sounds great! It is very impressive how good they are together, I know that you will, in a short time, have a happy and bonded duo! 🙂 Keep us posted!

[Louiethebunny]

UPDATE: My mom has really been wanting to put Louie and Lola together again to try and speed up bonding, (I will admit, it feels slow to me too) and because they have been acting great side by side and some prebonding cage and toy swaps went well, we put them together in a mostly neutral space, (Louie has wandered over once or twice.) It went super great for a first session, it was short and sweet, around 8 minutes or so. At first, both were curious and did some exploring, then it was food time and I offered some veggies and they ate close together. They did some exploring together, then there was a lot of grooming requests from both, but not quite a standoff, it was more like “hey, groom me,” “mm.. nah” with Lola ignoring Louie’s grooming requests. She sniffed his tummy a little, and I wasn’t sure if she was grooming or not, but later on they did some cuddling and laid by each other, and Lola finally gave in and licked Louie’s ear.

[HipHopBunny]

The bonding is just getting better and better! 🙂 In only 8 minutes you got cuddles and grooms? 😮 Oh wow! That is quick! They are the perfect pair. 😉

[DanaNM]

Sounds like an awesome match!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[prince dorian the bun]

This is dream bonding from everything I have read!! It sounds like you got a perfect match! So happy for you and Lola and Louie! (you are going to have to update your avatar soon!)

[Louiethebunny]

Yes I will! More updates: I’ve been doing more sessions, and have started sessions in semi neutral territory (their shared play area.) Lola has groomed Louie a few times, and there was a moment where he might’ve been grooming her, but I’m not completely positive, it was hard to tell. I offer food during sessions, and they are willing to share a bowl even when separate food is offered, and will try to steal food from each other. During a session I accidentally left Lola’s crate open and they both went inside and sat in the litter box together. No territorial behavior during that. (Successful cage swapping?) Today during a session, Lola groomed Louie after he has been asking her for grooming, but then a short while later he may have thought she was chasing him or got surprised and he thumped a couple times and they ignored each other for a few minutes, and I was ready to end the session on that note, but they sought each other out again and Lola groomed him some more. I’ve expanded session space to the full room minus their enclosures because it is going so well, they have even drank water together. During cage swaps they use each other’s litter boxes, food and water bowls, and toys, and that goes well too. Should I try some longer sessions? Multiple hours? I am always at the ready to separate them if anything bad happens, but nothing has yet. No mounting either. I’m hoping to try a marathon session soon, maybe after a few more days.

[HipHopBunny]

This is WONDERFUL!!! 🙂 I am so happy for you! Semi-neutral is great! You are one good bunny bonder, too. I  have been working on my trio for a month now – still in the neutral territory! I have no doubt that you will have a pair in no time. 😀

[Hazel]

That’s great! Except for the lack of pictures… 😛

[HipHopBunny]

@Hazel LOL 😆 agreed.

[DanaNM]

Sounds awesome! I would say you are totally ready for longer sessions.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Louiethebunny]

Longer sessions have been great, no fighting, no mounting, not a lot of grooming but we’re getting there. They will share food, and share water. They will also share a litter box, I’m going to try an overnight session tonight, and they live in my room so I will be able to break up any fights if there are any. They got some new toys today and were excited to share them!

[Louiethebunny]

[HipHopBunny]

Yay for pics! 😀 Everything looks to be going great!

[Louiethebunny]

I’m so glad everything is going smoothly, as a first time bunny mom and bunny bonder, a high stress bond would’ve for sure been much more worrying. The photo isn’t too good but they were resting in their hideout so it was dark underneath. Lola was completely flopped over.

[DanaNM]

Hahah Omg I didn’t even see Lola back there! They look like they are doing amazing!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

They’re so cute together! I’m glad things are going well. Hopefully my buns will get along like this when I bond them. 😆

[Hazel]

Aww, they’re so cute together!

[Louiethebunny]

Update:: the overnight session went fine, but they mostly just chilled out separately. I’m going to try a few more similar sessions then see how they’re doing.

[DanaNM]

You might try restricting the space just slightly if they seem to be spending a lot of time apart, but it sounds like things are going great!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Louiethebunny]

Last night, (our second overnight) I blocked off part of the room and they played together and hung out a bit but I plan to block off more tonight. Today I put them in a dog crate together, and Louie flopped right next to her, I’ll insert a picture.

[Louiethebunny]

[HipHopBunny]

This is not fair. You are going to have a duo before I have a trio! 😛 😆 (OB, Smokey, Silver, listen up, we need to beat Lola and Louie at bonding… 😆 ) This is great progress! I’m so happy for you! 🙂 One of the easiest bonds I’ve ever heard of! They will make a great pair. 🙂

[DanaNM]

They are looking great! So happy you had an easy go of it!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Louiethebunny]

I’m so happy things are going well, I was prepared for up to multiple months, but I’m thinking if they keep progressing in the same way they can be moved in together by next week! Starting school with them bonded would be ideal but because it’s online, if they aren’t fully bonded I have lots of time to continue bonding.

[DanaNM]

It’s always good to prepare for the worst and hope for the best 🙂

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Louiethebunny]

Another day, some more bonding! Today I did the same dog crate session, and a lot more grooming from Louie! Yay! They also sat together and cuddled but no flopping. I’m going to do more larger space sessions as well, yay for more progress!

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