Moose and Monkey: The Bonding

[Monkeybun]

Day 1: Ooooh boy, they don’t like each other right now. They are fine separated int heir pens where they can see each other and smell each other, but not touch each other, but man oh man, put the 2 together in the kitchen and the fur started flying.

Monkey, of course, wants to be the dominant one. But now that Moose has settled in, he isn’t sure about that. He kept whirling around when Monkey shoved her face into his side to get ready to mount,a nd nipped at her, which made her nip back, and so on. I made sure to be wearing a pair of mittens so I could separate em. Good thing too! I only had them in the kitchen for about 2 minutes before I had to separate them again and put them back in their pens… this isn’t gonna be an instant bond! My hubby is discouraged, but I’m sure they will sort it out, I switched their bears, so they have each others bears and scent to deal with. Moose has already licked Monkey’s bear, he’s a grooming machine when he’s in his pen.

 

Tomorrow, will be Day 2 of the Adventures of Monkey and Moose!

[Monkeybun]

They ahve both groomed the bears now, so thats a good sign! Hopefully they’ll play nice tomorrow

[jerseygirl]

Let’s hope. Have you tried them together in one of the pens? I realise that isn’t neutral, it’s just that I can imagine Monkey looking about in Mooses pen then plonking herself down and that’s that.\

Edit to add: This isn’t “bonding advice” I’m just curious to know if you’ve done something like that with them is all.

[Monkeybun]

Nope, haven’t tried either of the pens, just the kitchen so far

[Lintini]

Ah Les, I know everything will work out, I mean sheesh this is a hard thing but I know only the best things will come of this! She adored him before, give her time again! Well, maybe I should tell this to your hubby!!! Keep those updates coming, even though I can’t help much since my 2 are separate, but I’ll keep cheering you on. POM POMS READY!!!

[Monkeybun]

We’ll keep at it every day, try a couple different things to see what works with them. I’m thinking that the neutral area might not be the best idea, as Monkey instantly wants every area to be hers, so maybe if its familiar she’ll be more relaxed… who knows.

[RabbitPam]

MonkeyBun, be sure to read up on some of the bonding posts to get a really good list of options and what to expect at what stage.
I was particularly impressed by Beka’s bonding process with Meadow and Max. She’d had Meadow (Queen of her roost) for a year before bringing home Max. The most ingenious and successful technique she used was putting them in a basket on her dryer to simulate car rides. I urge you to find her post in the Bonding section and just read her saga. It was amazing. And even with that very successful bond, it took several weeks, so day two is just the very beginning.

No one tried harder than Markus with Maryanne and Dono. He finally used a bonding expert but even those two eventually bonded, so it is rarely hopeless.
Read his too. (Although his saga can get discouraging. Maybe read it in a couple of months if you’re having problems.)

Mittens are good. Also keep a water squirt bottle with you. And a mesh strainer is good to put between their faces if they get biting to break it up.
I’ve refrained from giving much advice in bonding since I have only read about it, not done it. But I managed to learn a few tips here. Mostly, I’ve learned that if I ever try it I’m going to reread everything on the subject all over again and pray a lot!
{{{{{{{{{cupid’s arrows for Monkey and Moose}}}}}}}}}

[Monkeybun]

Day 2: Today we tried having a meeting in Monkey’s pen.. where she is most comfortable, and we didn’t have to aggravate her by picking her up. Moose was fine, was curious about everything, but made no move to mark anything. Monkey was fine at first… and then lunged and started attacking poor Moosie. We scooted Monkey into her cage after that, and Moose wandered her pen for a minute or 2 before going to sniff Monkey through her bars. THAT she was totally fine with! She sniffed back, and didn’t make a move to attack him at all. Just hopped along the cage wall as Moose hopped along the outside of it.

Me and the hubby are totally convinced that Monkey is completely insane, thats all there is to it. She’s nuts I tell ya. She’s fine with Moose as long as there is a few bars in between them. Moose wants to be friends with her, she has forgotten she was the one that picked him to begin with. Ahh well. Tomorrow we’ll try in Moose’s pen just for the heck of it.

I have no intention of rushing the bond, thus why we keep trying new things.. we never know what Monkey may decide she likes, little nutter!

[Lintini]

Let’s just tie a carrot to Moose and see how it goes :p

[Monkeybun]

lol!

[luvmybunny]

Good luck, Leslie! I think things will work out. I was really nervous about putting CoCo in with Valen – so I cleaned the cage from top to bottom and put CoCo in first to let her mark things. Next Valen and he hopped right up to her and groomed her. Keep trying – Monkey will hopefully cave and give in soon to Moose’s cuteness

[Monkeybun]

Day 3: Well, Moose’s pen didn’t turn out any better. Within 10 seconds Monkey was going all Bunnicula on him, so she went into her own pen immediately. It was worth a try anyway. Tomorrow we’ll try one of the bathrooms, and perhaps I’ll have the hubby stay near the door with the vacuum cleaner… Monkey is terrified of it.

[Lintini]

Bunnicula!!! LOL!! Oh dear dear Monkey loo …

[Beka27]

Did you read the House Rabbit Network article yet? Or if you have… did you reread it, print it out, laminate it, hang it on the wall? I love that article. I swear I read it over and over and over when I was bonding.

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

There are amazing tips in here. I just reread a few parts right now when I was finding the link, and there are some things even I have forgotten since I bonded MY M&M… For example, don’t put them back in their cages after they fight. Separate them, let them settle down for a moment, and then put them together again. Putting them in their cages if giving them what they want, their own space.

It is normal in the beginning to feel like they will NEVER bond, but the best thing you can do is KEEP AT IT. And start SMALL. Do you have a bathtub or small, neutral laundry room you can use for sessions? The first couple sessions I’d recommend that you only do car (or dryer) rides. Stress them out and see how they react when they are together.

So much of bonding is “wearing them down”, where you don’t give them the option to get along or not… they MUST get along. Remember when you bond, neither are “top bun”. Nope… not even Monkey. You need to be in charge, you need to be confident. You are going to tick them both off during bonding b/c they will not get their way… BUT you do it for the FINAL OUTCOME. A peaceful, harmonious home and a happy pair.

[Monkeybun]

I HAD to separate them them yesterday, otherwise one or both would have gotten injured… they were not impressed. The other 2 times I put thm together I ‘d just push them apart if they got mean, but yesterday I had to put Monkey back in her pen. She got scary O.o

We have a few places in the apartment neither have been, the bathroom is where we’re trying today.

[Deleted User]

Posted By Monkeybun on 12/29/2009 04:08 PM
I HAD to separate them them yesterday, otherwise one or both would have gotten injured… they were not impressed. The other 2 times I put thm together I ‘d just push them apart if they got mean, but yesterday I had to put Monkey back in her pen. She got scary O.o

We have a few places in the apartment neither have been, the bathroom is where we’re trying today.

 

Monkey is OK with the bars between them because she knows Moose cannot invade her territory. Since you are dealing with a bit of aggression from your resident bunny right now, I would use forced closeness between them; meaning no room to run or chase. Have them on your lap and induce a forced snuggle as described in the house rabbit network article Beka posted.  Car rides are also indicated at this stage, I would hold off with the bathroom right now.

[Monkeybun]

Hmmm good point Petzy. Car rides aren’t an option right now, with our cars being kinda worked on, and the snow that just decided to stop in, but the dryer is certainly available as a replacement. I’ll see if I can’t find a box aroudn big enough for the 2 of them.

[Cassi&Charlie]

I’m not really qualified to give much advice cause my buns bonded in a bit over two weeks so it wasn’t a difficult bond (although I truly felt like it was at the time!) but I found myself spending very long hours in the shower with the two buns. It can get a bit cramped with one human and two feisty buns but everntually Charlie and Layla seemed to get bored with hating each other.
But don’t forget, they can act entirely dfferent in neutral and semi-neutral territory! Charlie managed to get Layla in his territory (they’re both escape artists) and pulled out a heck of a lot of hair, even though in neutral territory they were completely fine with each other.
Good luck, don’t give up hope and print out that article Beka suggested, make it your bonding bible

ps – remember also that you know these bunnies really well so go with your instinct as well!

FYI – here are my two bonding posts. They’re not very informative and are mostly me panicking but you may find something in there lol

binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aff/1…fault.aspx

binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aff/1…fault.aspx

[Beka27]

Markus also had success with just shaking the bunnies around in a box or carrier. The car is good b/c of the movement and noise, but the same can be accomplished with a dryer (noise and movement) or some have had success with running a vacuum the next room over…

[Monkeybun]

Well, last night we were gonna try the bathtub, as its a small area to keep the buns in and not as much room to try and run away.

Moose is TERRIFIED of the bathtub. We ahd him in it for maybe 10 seconds before he started freaking out and trying his damndest to get out, which he couldn’t cuz its so slippery, I was scared to death he’d hut himself, he was so scared. We hadn’t even gotten Monkey in it yet. So bathtubs are a no go. I don’t want to traumatize my poor guy, with the way he was scrambling, I was sure he’d snap a leg or his back he was so scared.

So, we let him be for the rest of the evening. Today we’re gonna move Monkey’s pen to the living room or bathroom, and try a meeting in the pen made smaller, with me in the middle of it to make sure they behave. Then we’ll put Monkey’s pen back

[jerseygirl]

Oh don’t give up on the tub just yet – it’s such a convenient space. Did you put a mat or towel down on the bottom? I didn’t use one but I found being able to scoot them away on the slippery surface suited me. Also, when there was peeing, it was easy to clean up. Jersey made it super easy by just peeing straight down the drain – hehe.
You can also use the shower alcove (could get a bit cramped in there) or just bathroom or laundry with the door shut.

[Monkeybun]

No, we didn’t put a towel down at all. And we don’t havea seperate shower stall, its all built into the tub

[Beka27]

Try the tub again but put towels or a blanket down. Did you stress them beforehand? That was helpful for me… do a dryer ride and then put them in the tub when they’re still disoriented.

You want to do at least 15-20 minutes a day, longer if possible, and do two sessions on your days off. With Max and Meadow, I did no less than one hour bonding sessions every single day. It’s a major time commitment, but if you don’t make it your main priority the weeks will stretch into months, and that’s no fun for anybun.

[Monkeybun]

Yay! We had a non-nipping session today! We spent a good 15 minutes in a corner of the bathroom we blocked off with a baby gate, just me and M&M with my hubby standing by with the dustbuster for stress. Made the 2 of them snuggle on my lap, and no nipping happened! Once we get more into the swing of it, I’ll get my hubby to video the sessions in small bits, so everyone can see the snuggles

We only had to turn on the dustbuster twice, once right at the beginning to shake them up a bit, and once halfway through when Monkey did a half hearted lunge. I’m so proud of my babies!

Tomorrow, we’ll do it again

[Monkeybun]

Another successful session! We spent a good half hour in the bathroom with M&M tonite, with only 1 or 2 little mishaps, just tiny little reminders to Monkey from Moose that he has sharp things on his front. Nothign major tho, it went very well. Monkey did a little humping which Moose took, there was alot of face to face staring going on, we did get a bit of a video, I’ll post it after its done uploading.

3 cheers to another good night!

[Monkeybun]

Here’s the video, sorry its kinda long, and not much happens, but they’re not killing each other hehe. My hubby would have taped more, but my camera ran out of space.. bad me for clearing it off first….

[boogercj]

Cool, sounds like your making some progress. I’m checking your thread out every few days now to see how they’re getting on. They seem to have reached a nice stalemate in your video. It makes me laugh when they just sit there and kind of stare each other out. It’s damn nerve-wracking though; makes me really tense!

[Monkeybun]

Hehe yeah me too, I was so tense sitting there, was ready to pull them apart at any cranky move. I’m very proud of my bunnies tho, they were so good

[Lintini]

I think we need to make some “bunny love potion” and put it all over MONKEY!!! What a little bratty girl! Look at those pinned back little dwarf ears!! When Bun makes those I get the heck out of her cage! They are really cute together though. I am glad there isn’t any fighting I think she’s saying “Mooooooom stop grooming me in front of the cute boy!!!. Ughhhhh!!” You know how your mom dropped you off at school in the morning and gives you a kiss in front of all your friends…yuck! At around 6min is that Moose trying to get her to groom him? Don’t think monk monk is going for it…hehe.

[Monkeybun]

Hehe yeah, Moose lets her hump the heck out of him, but he demands grooming himself. He has yet to groom Monkey… I have another video or 2 from last night’s sessions, gonna upload them after I rest my knee from the latest attack by the doctor… lol. hate it when you go to a doc for pain, and they hurt it more

[MarkBun]

When they sit there face to face for some time, I’d suggest taking one of them and swinging them around so they’re side by side. It helps a little with the bonding if they’re actually touching one another and it’s a less confrontational stance.

[Balefulregards]

I do so empathize. While My two didn’t have any overt aggression towards one another, it did feel like FOREVER for the bond to really take – although in reality it was just a little over a month.

I was always intrigued by the Dryer method of bonding, but never tried it ( where you put the both of them inside the open dryer) And I did have some limited success with the Basket on top of the washer while in the spin cycle to get Jacksons mind off of Mounting Coco and Coco’s mind off of escaping Jackson.

I think the hardest thing was the tension ( on the human) We know how fast the buggers are – we know they can inflict damage on one another, but on the other hand…They HAVE to be together and start to sort it all out.

My two were in separate rooms. I allowed Coco to choose when she wanted to come visit Jackson – and she would hop out into the hall, and sit over at the gate where he was in my daughters room. Her room was neutral, as Coco had not been in that space at all. They spent alot of time staring at each other between that gate.

Coco folded the grooming card first – And grooms Jackson most frequently. Jackson rarely grooms her – but she has never allowed him to mount her that I have witnessed. She HAS mounted him. He usually looks befuddled.

Then the poo wars. God. I seriously thought that was Never end. But it has – and it does.

I think I read on one of the grooming threads that it can feel like there is NO progress and suddenly you look over and they are kicked out side by side – ignoring each other, and that this – in Bun language is a Great Sign.

Stick it out – I know there were times when I thought “I guess they don’t LOVE each other, but I will settle for room mates” which is what I think of them as – not a great rabbit romance, but they seem happy and companionable. I think Maybe Markus told me his were more like room mates too..

[Deleted User]

I really like the video, Monkey. It shows how motiionless and lengthy a stare-down can be while the rabbits size each other up. Just the sitting in each other’s presence is a session worthwhile. Is your car fixed?

[Monkeybun]

My hubby’s car is in the shop, but its likely to never come home. My car has yet to go in… *sigh*

MarkBun, I have been trying that more lately, making the 2 of them sit by each otehr whether they want to or not after a bit of a staredown I’ll post the new vids soon

[Deleted User]

Does your car run at all, the one waiting to go in? You don’t necessarily have to drive it, just let the engine run and sit with the buns. If they get nasty, you could honk (the horn).

[Monkeybun]

Yeah it runs, its been what we’ve been driving since hubby’s car is sick lol. might try the car later this week, its been raining alot and i dont want my babies getting cold or wet.

[Deleted User]

Like I said, just bundle up, put the two buns in an open box with blanket under them and hay and turn the ignition. You will have heat and the vibration from the car. It will be good.

[Monkeybun]

More videos of last night

[Walder]

You are so lucky both of them like being petted ^^

[Monkeybun]

Monkey actually hates it lol. She’s tolerating it there cuz she really has no choice

[MarkBun]

I would try wetting Monkey’s forehead. See if Moose tries to clean it up. Or you could go with banana there instead.

[Monkeybun]

Neither of them has had banana yet, so I’ll wait to try that until they’ve had a taste beforehand. Note to self: buy bananas today lol

[Beka27]

Posted By Balefulregards on 01/04/2010 01:41 PM
I do so empathize. While My two didn’t have any overt aggression towards one another, it did feel like FOREVER for the bond to really take – although in reality it was just a little over a month.

I was always intrigued by the Dryer method of bonding, but never tried it ( where you put the both of them inside the open dryer) And I did have some limited success with the Basket on top of the washer while in the spin cycle to get Jacksons mind off of Mounting Coco and Coco’s mind off of escaping Jackson.

 

I’m guessing this was a mis-type… you wouldn’t put the buns INSIDE the dryer…  lol.

[Monkeybun]

I’ve actually heard of that.. putting them inside the dryer, not turned on of course, and turn the basin manually to get them off balance… wouldnt try it myself tho… knowing Monkey, she’d have it filled with poo in no time >.<

[Beka27]

Oh wow. You’re joking right?! I’ve never heard of that and I would never do it. That just doesn’t seem safe or sanitary. Dryers have those bars that go around the drum and if the bunny slipped they could hurt themselves by falling on it or even rip a nail out. You can get the same effect from shaking them in a laundry basket gently…

[Deleted User]

Posted By Beka27 on 01/07/2010 05:38 AM
Oh wow. You’re joking right?! I’ve never heard of that and I would never do it. That just doesn’t seem safe or sanitary. Dryers have those bars that go around the drum and if the bunny slipped they could hurt themselves by falling on it or even rip a nail out. You can get the same effect from shaking them in a laundry basket gently…

 

I agree as I find this method questionable also. It would be hard to access for the human crouched down on the floor in front of an open dryer with two rabbits that would be falling over themselves in a desperate attempt to get any footing. I mean, slippery is one stressor but a curved smooth surface would be overdoing the stress in my opinion. Also, when I think of some of the rabbits I bonded I can imagine they would have flung upward and coming down in the dryer drum cold have hit their heads on those bars in an awkward angle. There certainly are safer, more straightforward setups.Having said this, I was talking with my friend about this and she actually saw it described in the bonding blog of the house rabbit network. I couldn’t believe it. here is the link.

blog.rabbitnetwork.org/

this is what it says

An even easier trick is to put them in a cold dryer.  No, you won’t be turning it on. You’ll just out them in the dryer, and if they start to make a fuss, turn rotate the drum slowly by hand. This will be enough to keep the rabbits on an uneven footing and will allow you significant control over the situation. As a bonus, the steel drum of the average dryer will be easy to clean in the event of territorial wetting or pelleting. Side loading washers are generally too damp for this purpose, and rabbit claws can catch, bend or break in the drainage holes that line a washer’s drum. Simply putting the rabbits in a clean, dry bathtub will also provide a slippery footing and neutral territory.

.

[Monkeybun]

Well, I’ve had to put a hold on the bonding… my knee just can’t take it just now. Its hard being on the floor with them, hurts like heck. I just started physio for it tuesday, and all the exercises I gotta do for it every day are just putting me in agony. I’ll just have to do bonding when I can

[Cassi&Charlie]

Hope your physio started working soon! Knee injuries are so painful cause you use your knees for almost everything. You poor thing!

[Monkeybun]

Part of the problem I have with it is some of the muscle has atrophied.. so the whole thing doesn’t work right. And my knee cap is in a weird place. My PT says its the most interesting knee she has ever seen lol. Monkey doesn’t think so, she just likes to dig at my pants on it.

[Deleted User]

Could you move the session to a higer place, off the floor? You could throw a shower curtain on your sofa and sit with them maybe petting them both at the same time.

[Monkeybun]

I suppose we could.. hubby is a little apprehensive about that, as monkey had taken to marking his side of the couch but then again, that was before she got fixed hehe

[Deleted User]

that’s why the shower curtain. to protect the upholstery from urine.

[MarkBun]

Although I’d never do it, and nor do I expect anyone else to do it – I wonder how the buns would react if we did to them what they do to us…

[Monkeybun]

well, i suppose that depends… although I’m not going to go poop on Monkey like she does to me! lol

[jerseygirl]

lol ^^*shakes head*

[Jenna, Chubs & Comet]

Hope your knee feels better soon! It looks like things are going pretty well. I would deffinitely recommend banana on the heads, worked like a charm for mine but they are both bananas for banana Also, I hadn’t been able to find Moose pictures but what a cutie he is in those videos!

[Monkeybun]

I keep forgetting to upload pics of him lol. I got a sort of close up on his 2-toned eyes too. I gotta post that. Physio is going well so far, Still can’t kneel down or bend my leg much but its getting there. I told the hubby we gotta get going on the bonding again this week. I’ll do the videos, he’ll do damage control lol.

[jerseygirl]

MB, how do you go standing for long lengths of time? Maybe you could try a table top with a blanket down on it? You could even sit at the table actually.

[Monkeybun]

Standing for long periods of time doesn’t work either. My knee just isn’t strong enough. And if I HAD a dining room table, that might be a good idea llol. The buns are in the dining room, without a table I’m thinking maybe just grabbing one of the pens and putting it around the couch, and I can relax and have the buns and hubby on the floor in there

[Beka27]

I set up a small pen area in my bedroom (which was semi-neutral space for both) and I was able to sit on the edge of the bed within arm’s reach of the buns and I used the small laundry basket to break them up when necessary… Sitting on my bed I was able to do hour-long sessions… on the floor I may have only been able to do a half-hour due to my back problems.

[Monkeybun]

We started again tonite, with the 2 of them in the bathtub with a fleece blanket on the bottom. Ooooh boy. Moose was not a happy little man, he kept trying to bite my little Monkey’s face! I had a squirt bottle ready, and by the time we called it quits, Moose was soaked from all the spraying I had to do to get him to stop biting her. Poor babies… He wasn’t scared at all of the dustbuster this time, so that didn’t help… time to find a new scary thing for him I suppose.

[Lintini]

Oh dear I am sorry you are having a tough time, I had no idea it was going to be so hard for you to bond them. *waves magic voodoo pokey stick of love potion on moose and monk* There! That should do the trick!

Hehe but really, have you tried that cube like Petzy so they touch in the car or on the washer spin cycle? Sorry if I’ve missed that in a prior post! What is next!!! You better be ready to cheer me on for my trio lol. There will be lots of complaining I am sure!

*hugs* keep at it I know you can do it!

[Monkeybun]

I’m going to try the cube, just gotta figure out where I put the spare grids lol.

[Lintini]

Target has them on sale by the way, they are back down to 14.99 a box – if you can’t find any spares!

[Monkeybun]

Might go get some… if the bonding doesn’t work out, we have the room to keep them separate, we’d move Monkey back into the computer room here, and keep Moose in the dining room. We’d have to build Monkey a new cage, the one she’s in was just temporary til they bonded lol. At that point, we’d look into finding Moose a different buddy.. but hopefully they work out!

[Monkeybun]

Oh, and if they aren’t making any progress, we’re gonna call up the lady we got Moose from for assistance.. she’s bonded tons of buns, she’d be able to help if anyone can

[Deleted User]

they may chase each other in a small circle in the cube the first time but you can reach in with your hands to push down their heads. They will stop.

[Barbie]

Monkey, how are things going? Made any more progress?

[Lintini]

Fly Petzy down – I heard Petzy is going to be the new Victoria from “It’s me or the dog” trainer…but for buns!

[Monkeybun]

I made myself a NIC cube like the one Petzy has, and had M&M in it tonite. Monkey wasn’t impressed, she spent most of her time growling at me. Moose was interested in trying to squeeze himself through the 1.5 inch squares in it lol. Silly Moose. They were pretty good other than Monkey growling, I’ll keep putting them in the cube and see how they do the next few days.

[Beka27]

What is this cube you speak of? I must have missed this.

Don’t give up on them yet. You haven’t been very consistent with the bonding due to health issues, and it’s not uncommon for a successful bond to take several weeks (even months) of DAILY sessions. If after a month, you are still not getting anywhere and you’re following all the tips and tricks, then I would try to contact the rescue and see if they can offer suggestions or possibly a bonding retreat. I would not run out and adopt a third bunny, b/c then you’re avoiding the primary issue (2 bunnies not bonding), and you’re risking making the same mistakes and ending up with 3 separate buns. Even tho so many buns need homes, another bun is not always the answer. We see this time and time again that a person has one bun and within 6 months of unsuccessful bonding they end up with 4 buns trying to get 2 pairs (which may or may not work out).

Silly question, but: Are you being stern with them? Do either of the buns respond to your voice? I had better luck with using a stern voice “NO Meadow!!! NO Max!!!” just before they were about to scuffle than I ever did with using the water bottle. Or use the two together. Just before you squirt, say “NO!”, so eventually you should be able to just say no to get their attention and not get them wet.

[Barbie]

Beka, I think the “cube” is just that. A small cube made out of NIC grids so that she can confine the bunnies to a small space, same as using a small carrier for the two bunnies.

[Beka27]

I gotcha! That sounds promising. I ended up blocking off a section of my bedroom with a NIC grid fence for closer quarters and that worked well!

[Monkeybun]

The cube is good cuz I can sit up on the couch with it rather than trying to get down on the floor. And I wasn’t gonna rush out and get a 3rd bunny hehe. It would be a last resort thing if we cant get these 2 to bond after a long long time. Now that I have the cube made I can make progress with them, without worrying about my knee. So daily sessions begin again

[jerseygirl]

MB, now that you’ve found some more comfortable ways to do sessions – I would actually call this “beginning bonding sessions” and the previous times more bunny dates or socialisations. Maybe you can think of it as “going steady?” lol. It really does make a difference to embark with a determined attitude and consistant sessions. I think you’ll notice a real difference. Hopefully now you can go full steam ahead that your off the bathroom floor!! (oh, I remember the discomfort, leaning over the tub in the cold!)

[Deleted User]

Posted By Beka27 on 02/07/2010 08:01 AM
What is this cube you speak of? I must have missed this.

The NIC cube is just like a box only you can see better what is going on. you can use a spray bottle on them easily, too, if you had to. Plus, it has a top that you can close without losing sight of them. You can securely thread a rope through for suspending it off the ceiling for a rocking session. It has to be ziptied well, though. On the downside, It is a bit heavy to lug around but I prefer it to many means of containment during bonding.

 

[Monkeybun]

Mine is all zip tied together, couldn’t find the connectors so i used a ton of zip ties lol.

[Deleted User]

One thing to be careful about when using the cube is not to let any feet get stuck in between the grids, especially with a tiny bun like Monkey.

[Beka27]

LMAO @ the CUBE!

It’s like bunny prison! LOL!!!!!! :o) Very cool!

[Monkeybun]

It occurred to me that the monthly Rabbit Advocate meeting here is going to be focused around bonding, what with valentines day beign this month and all. I was already planning on taking M&&M to it, as I am going to get some training on pawdicures and stuff so I can volunteer for the monthly outreaches, and I’d prefer to practice with my own 2 rather than subject someone elses baby to it lol. So… I’m going to bring a pen and my water bottle and my mittens and try a session while I am there, with many rabbit savvy people around to assist if necessary We’ll see what happens!

[Barbie]

Ooo good luck! Let us know how it goes!

[RabbitPam]

Monkeybun, I just got an image of you all bundled up, plus wearing mittens and holding a water bottle and saying what a viscous bunny you have so you have to be extra protected, then whipping out the 1.5 lb. Monkey. Ooooooooo. Scary scary beastie. LOL

[Monkeybun]

Pure evil in a compact form, I tells ya!

She’s actually gettign better, I can pick her up and brush her a bit now, she’s trusting me more and more every day… until I put her and that icky boy in the same room together.. then I am in such trouble! hehe

[RabbitPam]

At least you can pick her up. Sammy is being a silent sphinx under her basket for the past hour. And she now is growling and lunging at me in the morning, then running away and binkying. Year of the Tiger-bun.

[Lintini]

Ahh I love this thread. All these descriptions of Miss Monkey loo crack me up. *sprays more magic love potion on monk and moose* I bet Monkey and Bun would have an insta bond. She’s already in the mail!

[Monkeybun]

Well, I didn’t really have time to do a bonding session there lol. Was too busy But Monkey was everyones favorite.. her and the flemmie that was there. Monkey even let someone else pick her up! Immediately after she was given back to me she snuggled right up under my chin and sat there in my arms for a good 20 minutes tho She wouldn’t let me put her back in her carrier, I had to walk around with her. I’m under orders to bring her to the next meeting

[Author]

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