Making progress, but after a little advice…

[RetroSquid]

Haven’t posted much of recent, but we’ve still been very busy bun-parents.

We’ve got the girls, Navi and Daisy bonded, they’re happy together, although Navi still needs to use a bit of a heavy hand from time to time to keep Daisy in her place, but nobody gets hurt, just a little scuffle every now and then, they spend 90% of their time snuggling and grooming each other, though.

But, now, it’s time to get our little one-eyed Cyclops bun involved in all this bondedness…

Unfortunately, Link prefers feline company, but, we’ve been getting there with him…
He actually used to be bonded with Navi, but after she had a trip to the vets last year, he refused to re-accept her.

Anyway, we’ve been getting them all out in the kitchen, taking it slowly and not forcing any interactions. 
Tonight was the most successful, with everyone eating hay together.

And, shortly after, Link decided it was time to have a little lie down.

Navi responded excellently to this, by lying down also, and Daisy… Well, she was sitting with her head almost up Navi’s bum… She didn’t really seem to have a clue what was going on… Silly thing!

Anyway, the advice I’m after… Link is a really grumpy bun who frequently lunges at and nips other buns, normally on the nose. He usually just pulls a bit of hair, but Navi has had a couple of bad bites on the nose from him. The biting behavior seems like it’s not going to change, either.

Was wondering if any of you bun-parents had a similar issue with a nippy bun, and how, if at all, did you guys get past it?!… :/

[JackRabbit]

Forced snuggles was the only thing that slowed down the nipping with Kieko when we were bonding my three. However, we are on a very long break because Kieko decided she was going to be top bunny and humped feisty little Marlee’s face and started a girl bunny war so I don’t know how much help I could be.

I know you want to avoid stress bonding and I totally understand. To me, forced snuggles (side-by-side against each other while you pet and talk softly to both at the same time) kindof falls somewhere in the middle. Mine never seemed stressed by it, just a little annoyed at me to start. Kieko is a biter and Marlee is a butt nipper (she even chases Moshi and nips his butt at times and she dearly loves him) and forced snuggles did calm them down some.

I think having your girls already bonded and just needing to add in Link puts you well ahead.

Hope things go smoothly now so Link can get all the bun love he so deserves.

[LBJ10]

Aww, how is Link doing by the way?

If you’re worried about stressing them too much, then perhaps a suggestion like JR’s would help. Sometimes even a little bit of stress can go a long way with bonding.

[RetroSquid]

JackRabbit: Yeah, the “forced snuggles” technique is pretty much how we got there with Daisy and Navi. and we’re sort of getting there with Link, he’s just such a grumpy bugger, though. haha…

LBJ10: Yeah, Link is doing very well, had a little scare with his remaining eye… well, I say scare, more paranoia… We had him to the vets for a checkup and there is a shadow under his iris that can only be seen through the pupil, but he’s in good spirits, just a major grump when it comes to buns…

Totally fine with cats, though…

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