House Rabbit Community and Store
What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.
The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
- This topic has 224sd replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 6 months ago by
.
-
-
Ok, we restarted the bonding… with the added support of a Petzy Cube™.
It went AWESOME. We had them on the dryer, figured may as well being as I had laundry going
No nipping, no frantic mounting by Monkey… just peaceful bunnies.This was just after we started, after soem initial scaredy-bun snuggling.
Here Monkey contemplated mountign, but changed her mind.
In this one, Monkey was pushing herself into Moosie, her little paw was pushing at the towel to keep her in place with the shaking dryer.
Some enforced snuggles
And Monkey saying “Can I go home now please?”
My babies were very well behaved tonite, they both got raisins for being so good with each other
Tommorrow, I’ll do some more. -
Another Petzy Cube™ success today. 40 minutes in it, and only a nip or 2, nothing serious. We tried nanners on heads today… Moose wasn’t interested. Monkey couldn’t reach Moosie’s head
So I had to lift her up to see it lol. After she did, she happily groomed it off of him. So yay! for Monkey grooms. Poor Monkey didn’t get hers groomed off tho, so I had to help her. We’ll do another session tonite before bed too. 
Bunnehs with nanners.
Monkey smooshed into Moosie’s side. She stayed liek that for a good 5 minutes.
Moosie saying “Mooooom! Get me outta here!!”
-
I saw your pix on Facebook and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Glad I found this post with more.
they’re doing great! I am reminded of Jack and Vivian, once Jack was healed and learned that he could snuggle but not hump. She really seems to be getting the idea. Moosie is obviously tolerant if she controls herself. they are so adorable looking.
-
Posted By Monkeybun on 02/28/2010 08:22 PM
Another Petzy Cube™ success today. 40 minutes in it, and only a nip or 2, nothing serious.
Monkey smooshed into Moosie’s side. She stayed liek that for a good 5 minutes.
“Take Two” will be a charm, the first time around was just for rehearsal
. –Petzy CubeTM —
LOL! I don’t suppose it will be approved by rabbits…? Everybunny who has ever been in it had the gloogliest eyes. Yours no exception. The picture above is the one that makes me confident that your bonding will really take off. Monkey snuggling up to Moose is a promising sign. Rabbits that are going to be really hard to bond don’t snuggle like this. What happened after the five minutes of snuggling, did one get upset?
This was Neigey at the beginning of my cube sessions between Deirdra and him, for comparison. He was terrified.
I say yours are doing very well!
-
Held another session this afternoon after I got home. This time, we did the Cube in the living room, no dryer today. They did pretty good in the cube, only a couple little nips from moose. No humping from monkey. Sooooo… we set up our extra pen, and dropped the 2 into it. I sat in it with them tho
At first we had a litter box in it. Monkey was quite happy to sit in it and eat hay. Moose say in it with her briefly, then got all nippy… so out goes the litter box. Just them and me in the pen now. Monkey is totally into the bonding, she adores Moosie even though she won’t groom him yet without the assistance of nanners. Moose didn’t lick her at all today, every time he turned towards her, he’d nip. Not having any of that, so they go back into the cube. Everything is fine again once in the cube… Moose even loafed in it for a few minutes.
…so now what? Should I keep up the cube? Should I go to the tub? Set up the pen elsewhere? Its Moose we gotta wear down, Monkey will cave easily once he does.
Edit: We switched cages and pens for them, Moosie is in Monkey’s, Monkey is in moosie’s. Monkey loves moosie’s cage, Moose not as thrilled lol. We can’t keep them in each toehrs over night, as Monkey’s pen is less sturdy,a dn Moose can easily lift it. So we need to watch them. We’ll keep them in there until we go to bed however. Gonna do another session before bed too.
-
Awesome session tonite. Set up the pen in the computer room on a fleece blanket, and with towels clipped onto the pen all around so it was totally neutral. had a pile of hay and a bowl of water in the middle. Went awesome! Both of them were happy to sit and munch on hay, Monkey had fun leaving presents everywhere, Moose as usual was a good boy with his, he waited til he went home to use the potty. Monkey is soo not modest.
No mounting. Only a couple nips.
And lots of flops. Moose flopped first. He just fell over byt he side of the pen and lay there, nice and comfy. Monkey later flopped next to the water bowl. Moose flopped again maybe 3 seconds after Monkey flopped. Monkey flopped again on my feet
Lots of loafing. And Moosie groomed Monkey a bit too! Still no licks from monkey, not even for banana today. Oh wells. I took some pics and videos of it tonite, but my camera battery died part way through, so I have to wait til tomorrow to post them. Very proud of my babies tonite, they were in the pen for over an hour
-
Ok, full update time. We started with the cube, we put them in the cube on the couch between us while we watched a show on dvd. Thats when the mutual grooming happened… several times. Monkey groomed his ears for a solid 5 minutes, and boy was Moose digging that!! They did awesome int he cube, so after our show was done, decided to put them in the pen for a bit. Moose got nippy then, even chased Monkey a bit. He did calm down for a bit, but there was no more grooming.
Didn’t get any pics tonite, as the pen session was rather short, and we were busy watching a tv show for the cube part
I do wish I had my camera to capture a video of Monkey grooming him! Maybe tomorrow I’ll get one -
Yeah, I put them in the pen with towels on the sides, as it made it totally neutral for them. They couldn’t see out around it, so they didn’t know where they were
I had decided to set it up int he computer room so the hubby could watch them too.The computer room is where Monkey’s cage used to be, so she’d recognise it I think. Moose has groomed her ears a bit, but mostly just her entire face and her sides a bit
I’ll make sure to have my camera handy when I do a session here in a bit We’ll do a cube session on the couch again, and a pen session later on. -
Haven’t updated ina few days, mostly cuz the same stuff is happening. Monkey is grooming him frequently now, Moosie is still nipping her like theres no tomorrow. He will groom her all nice like, then NIP.. he bites her. Poor baby, Monkey is just wanting to snuggle and be friends now.
I got a video, but I need to edit it.. you can so hear my hubby in the background swearing at his xbox >.< I'll post it after I edit that part out lol.
-
Yeah, I figured I’d just keep up the cube sessions, and some pen sessions, let them sort it out. Monkey is quick to hop away if he gets too nippy, although in the cube she just growls at him and they settle down a bit. Sometimes tho, Monkey has ran to the back of the cubs and gone up on her hind legs to look at me.. with the expression like she’s saying ” Mommy, why is he being so mean to me?” Its adorable
-
Doing a cube session atm… camera is int he kitchen, i’m in the computer room.. if i get up they will move. But right now,they are so snuggled with each other, both of em flopped and relaxed. <3
edit: i got a couple pics on my hubby’s cellphone, i’ll post em when he uploads em for me. they unflopped, but still loafed, and Monkey is tooth purring
-
Nuh uh, mine
We did a car ride tonite too, had a friend who works at our grocery store thats been dying to see them and hasnt been able to come visit, so we took them over there when she got off work. They were very good bunnies for the car ride, Monkey did more flops next to Moose, did some grooming, and Moose only nipped once.
-
Well, Monkey was always a little monkey, she likes climbing on stuff and being up, so Monkey it was.
Moose.. well, we wanted to keep tot he animal theme, and somebunny on here suggested Moose, we tried it and hubby liked it, and he’s kinda mellow and slow alot… so it fits
The rabbit rescue I volunteer for does a nail trimming and grooming day every month, so I take them in for their trims then
It was a great time for a bonding session, car ride, plenty of stress… lots of grooming and snuggles occurred in the carrier -
I thought Monkeybun’s bonding was the thread about the cube. We had posted about it all over… Size of Zinnia won’t b a problem. She will really fill the cube though, like Deirdra did.
It was a tight fit for her. You need to set the cube for their bonding stages i.e. with different stressors. You can put the whole thing in your dry bathtub and let the faucet run into the drain for noise stress beside them. You can hang it up and swing it by threading a dog leash through the top (ziptie well) you can take it on car rides and put it in top of the washing machines. You can have it sitting on the floor when you are cooking… you can have your dog look at it with the lid closed… within reasoon you can put the cube in many different settings. It has the advantage of being see-through, rigid and escape-proof if ziptied properly.
-
One step forward, 2 steps back… tried the pen again tonite. Mose played with the toys a bit.. but then just went for Monkey all out. she flopped, and he went for her tummy, poor baby girl. We’re getting very frustrated with him. She is totally in love with him, will groom him, when he lets her near, flops for him, happily bounces around him.. and he just wants to bite now. He refused to groom today, went to bite her face instead.
…very discouraged in my moosie man today.
-
I think bonding shoud be re-termed “the-one-step-up-two-steps-back game with bunnies” — only that is too long a phrase.
Take a little break, for yourself to chill out. Then, since you know Moose is the problem, focus on him: don’t let him get away with his teethy advances. Spend this week’s sessions sitting in their pen with them like you do (in red PJ’s
) and really protect Monkey from him. You are going to play the Boss Bunny, a rabbit tyrant. Wear gloves. Let him feel that you are everywhere at all times protecting Monkey… then end the session in a forced snuggle on your lap.
The other thing that may help is if you transferred their bonding pen to a new spot. -
He does get a little more grumpy outside of the sessions when I go into his pen, like when I was cleaning his box. he seems to think every time I come in there, I’m gonna make him play with Monkey
Tonites session went decently, he tried nipping a bit, mostly when Monkey was demanding grooming, although towards the end I think he was getting tired of it and was chasing her more. Of course, that was after almost 2 hours in the pen. Monkey groomed him a ton, took her forever to get all of his ears lol. Was cute as heck too
I did get a video, I’ll post it tomorrow after I upload… All in all, a much better session tonite. Probably helped that I switched it up and put the pen in the living room, with fresh towels on the floor so it didn’t smell the same. Put the litter box in too, so Moose didn’t get cranky about needing to go potty and not having his box. They didn’t fight over it at all.
Good day today
Which was really good, being as today was the 1 year anniversary of the car in our wall lol. -
Another session today.. they did really well. Moose flopped, Monkey flopped, not beside him tho. Moose nipped a bit, but only after Monkey got humpy really.
The big thing tonite was… Monkey binkied in the pen.
Its was awesome. She was sitting there eating hay, then BINKY into the water dish lol. Moose wasn’t sure what to think. I also put them in the pen for a bit without me, I sat on the couch outside it watching them instead of sitting in it, went better than I had hoped
-
Another decent session, we started with the cube to encourage some snuggles, which happened. Snuggle bunnies rock
Went to the pen after that, they were in the pen for a good hour… had a little nipping and chasing towards the end, so we popped em back int he cube to settle down. Back to snuggle buns The cube helps a bit when moose gets nippy it seems, so we’ll keep putting them in the cube when he gets mean. -
Well today he tugged out some fur off of Monkey, she’s very agile and usually jumps away when he gets nippy and chasey. He chases and nips quite frequently, although he usually gives in and flops and grooms her…I’m doing extra sessions with them each day now, and last night they were in a pen together for a good 3 hours. Later on I’ll rearrange some stuff in the living room and give them a bigger area to play in and see how they do.
Moose did binky today in the pen with her though
-
So M&M have been playing in the living room the past 2 hours. They’re doing quite well, theres been tons of binkies and flops, both are eating hay and using the litter box. The only thing is Moose likes chasing her. I’m convinced he’s doing it to be playful now, as he’s been binkying halfway through the chases, seems he’s an aggressive player, I blame the hubby for that. he’s always wrestling with Moosie
Monkey isn’t impressed with the chasing, but she’s outrunning him no problem. Moose did get a mouthful of fur off of her though. No ouchie spots on Monkey, I checked immediately after I saw the fur. Right now she’s flopped by the water bowl, and Moose is zooming around the chair. It’s looking good! Tomorrow I’ll let them out again while hubby is at work, I’ll relax and watch the 2 twilight movies while they play. Hubby says I’m not allowed to make him watch them again so I gotta watch em when he isn’t home
Bunny play time seems like a good time to watch em. If they do good tomorrow I’ll contemplate an over night stay soon, I’ll just have to move Moosie’s stuff around and tidy up his bachelor pad. -
Another successful session, they were out for 2 hours, had a bit of chasing, Moose’s ears not in the “pissed off bunny” pose at all, more like playful “lets run!” pose.. Monkey still wasn’t impressed with not being able to flop and relax.. Moose was on the go all night lol. We’ll do more tomorrow
-
I forgot how much you hated cage-building…
As an alternative, you could house Zinnia and Troubs together for their cementing phase somewhere other than the shared double decker condo. Could you take an old wire dog crate maybe and set it up in your kitchen for example? Once their cementing is complete they can move into Zinnia’s old cage.
-
They’re out and playing again right now, both behaving nicely. I took the time to clean Monkey’s pen, as the little dork had gone on a paper and hay throwing spree. Hay everywhere… They kept each other company while the scary vacuum was going, and they did very well.
A friend of my hubby’s is coming over shortly, we’ll see how they do when theres someone new in their living room
-
Yeah thats what I was thinking. I’ve been trying ot get a video of him chasing her, but well… he’s stopped chasing her like he had been. lol. He’ll do short chases, or he’ll binky after, or she will binky.. he isn’t nipping as much now either. AND he grooms her more often when they are out playing. So they are slowly working it out
Monkey is still a bit nervous when he comes near her, but doesn’t always hop away now. They’ve been eating hay side by side with no problems now too. Soon!! I’ll give them another week of playing together to see what happens -
here’s a few pics til I can get the video uploaded…
Moose with his hay
M&M lounging.. pic was taken by hubby with his phone so its not that great quality
Eatign hay together.. don’t mind Monkey’s poopies…
Moose playing peekaboo
Posing for the camera
Moose pretending to be a parrot with my hubby
He decided it was a comfy spot and loafed
Monkey had to come see what he was doing…
-
Itty bitty update… tonite we gave them their greens together in the living room for the first time.. and there was no fighting over the tasty nommies
We separated it into 2 piles, one for each bun, although Moose went over to investigate Monkey’s pile after he was done his and happily stole her cilantro. She didn’t mind, she had gotten her carrot tops first. lol. So.. eating together with no arguments = good sign! -
Posted By Monkeybun on 03/29/2010 06:17 PM
If its in the bigger cage and pen with the view outside, she won’t mind lol. She loooves Moosie’s pen as it is, when its “hers” she’ll be happy So when they are bonded, I should keep them in the pen for awhile and not let them out?
Well here’s the thing, according to SaveABunny, to cement the bond, they should remain in close quarters (aka the condo/pen) for two weeks. However, since both have been hopping around freely together, I’m not certain that is the best idea since they’ll feel as if they’re being punished for being together. My suggestion would be keep them in the pen for 48 hours then let them out only in an area where they can constantly see one another (no places to hide from one another).
-
Soo… tonite we are going to rearrange cages, take out Miss Monkey’s, and put em together. Moose ahs stopped the mean chasing, they have taken to loafing near each other, not floppign yet, but loafing.
And Miss Monkey does try to groom him more when out… its challenging to get up to those ears of his though
Wish us luck!!
-
Moneybun!
MONEYbun! I love it. I want a moneybun too! Deannaline, I had written up some bonding stories after a member on here asked, so, in the meantime, you could browse through that. Each bonding is unique, though.
https://www.binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/a…fault.aspx
-
Well lets see… We took Monkey to meet the local boys, Moose, was Max at the time, was her favorite. She was a humpy Monkey with him
So, we took Moosie home. Their first sessions were kinda scary, didn’t last long. Had to take a break for awhile from bonding due to an injury of mine, their second attempt went much better. It’s progressed to where we can let them out to play for 6-8 hours together no problem, except for a bit of chasing, which Moose sometimes binkies in the middle of. Silly man. We used a cube made of NIC grids, Petzy’s idea, to stress them and make em snuggle. Worked wonders! Both buns groomed alot in it Tonite we are tearing down both cages and building a new one, gonna be their first night together. I’m prepared with a nest for myself beside it, and the e-vet’s phone number and a map to the e-vet just in case
*crosses fingers* -
Hilarious! Goodluck MB & have fun at the sleep over.
(MonkeyxMoose)
@Deannaline: The bonding forum can seem a bit overwhelming. I lot of us give accounts of the bonding process like keeping a diary. It helps to look back at it and see where you’re at as well as how far you’ve progressed. Also a chance to have others offer ways to get past problems that may arise.Each bonding is different depending on the bunnies and even the bonder. So each account here will vary too. Some of the bonding articles give a basic run down of methods and what to expect. I recommend reading those 1st, then looking at personal bonding stories after. I think this article is a good article to start with/ I really liked it. http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml Absolutely read the thread Petzy linked also. After reading an account of multiple bondings, you’ll think bonding a pair is a cinch!
-
Well.
This didn’t go so well.
Moose all out attacked little Monkey, fur everywhere. Hubby is scared he’s going to kill her, so they are separated again, and hubby is saying that even though he likes Moose, he isn’t going to allow him to attack her like this. he wants to get rid of him.
Help? How do I get Moose to stop doing this? He seems so nice alot, then he just turns mean and attacks her…
-
Well, Monkey was running in circles trying to get away from him, was alot of fur everywhere, no broken skin that I could tell. When I caught Monkey to get her away from Moose, she flattened herself against me, and crawled up towards my shoulder to cower under my hair. Poor baby was shaking
She didn’t turn on Moose at all. She’s been trying her hardest to get Moosie to like her, she grooms him whenever she can get close to him. I’ll post a pic I took of the pen after we finished it, before the buns were put inside after I upload it.
-
Yeah we can use the car. Me and the hubby were gonna do that for the sessions. My hubby’s driving should scare them lol. And Moose isn’t comfortable in the bathtub at all, so that might be good too, even though I can’t kneel on the floor. hubby can tho
I’ll start up a Take Three thread once I get them going -
It’s actually the third
We did a cube session where monkey groomed him, he loafed the entire time. Then a pen session, where he did the same thing as he did the 3rd session. No chasing, no big scary bites, no pulled out fur. Gonna try a car ride if hubby is up for it today. If not, gonna do another pen session. -
It’s coming along
Been doing nightly cube sessions, Moosie has been doing TONS of grooming. A few pen sessions, which have gone pretty good. There hasn’t been any major chasing, although Moosie still likes to turn his head and nip at Monkey’s butt now and then. But no fur has been pulled out, no nasty wounds or anything. So, it’s coming along -
Didn’t Moosie not groom Monkey in the beginning? And now he is a lot? Well, if that’s true, tell him to give my bun, Benny, a little pep talk.
“You can do it! He might not even taste that bad! Then everything will be better between you two!”
ADDDDD:!:!:!:!:!:!
100th POST! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!! I got my second wittle wabbit head!!
-
Posted By Monkeybun on 03/23/2010 12:52 AM
Vampire bunneh! Rawrlol, don’t you mean…
Dun, dun, dun…
BUNNICULA. lol
Seriously though, I need more pics of your bunnies. They’re so freaking adorable, I can’t handle it.
Just curious, is Monkey on the small side for a Netherland dwarf? I don’t know much about Netherlands, but she seems so tiny!
Edit: Sorry this is so off-topic. I know absolutely nothing about bonding…
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.