Pre-PRE-Bonding.. Introduced stuffed bunnies

[Nutmeg]

Sooooo for those that don’t know, I have two young who are separated until they are spayed/neutred, healed and hormone balanced and can be properly bonded. He is 3 months now and she is 4 months now.and I have been doing pre-bonding the month that I’ve had them to keep them used to each others scents (litter swaps/ cage swaps) and all is well there – minus that they haven’t 100% perfected the litter training – I would say we are 75% there lol

I decided to buy two stuffed bunnies to see how they would react.. I only give them the stuffed bunnies when they are out for the supervised play time, as I’m not sure if they would try and eat them yet. So here is what has happened so far. 

A) Introduced stuffed bunny to my 4 month old girl. She sniffed it, than ignored it, than sniffed it again 20min later and started grooming it. Next day – she nudged it twice but mostly ignored it. Day 3 she again mostly ignored the stuffy but licked its ears a few times. 

B) The Boy.. Oh BOY… (now his balls still haven’t dropped, but we are 90% sure its a boy). When we first introduced him to the stuffed bunny he instantly started to sniff it, then kind of hopped around it on all sides sniffing at it more excitedly. He quickly found the appropriate position and humped away . If I moved the stuffed bunny away he was not upset and didn’t chase after it, but would hump it again when he came across it again. He would hold down on the neck area when humping, but it wasn’t hard as I could move it away from him easily as there was no mark on the stuffed animal at all. 
Day 2 – he humped it once and then started grooming it right after this time lol. Then he didn’t hump it the rest of the time he was out. He would nudge it lick it the odd time if he passed it. 
Day 3 – he ignored the stuffed bunny, except fro the odd nudge. About 2 hours later he then humped it and started grooming it. 

So that’s it so far. I am going to try and switch the stuffed animals soon so that it will then smell like the other rabbit now that their smells are on them. (Well the boys scent is DEFINITELY on his lol)  And see how they react to it now smelling like the other one.

So what do you think? Does that sound positive for pre-bonding so far? Do you see any red-flags? I know they haven’t even been “fixed’ yet, but I’m doing everything I can set this up for success lol. 

[Mikey]

Since theyre both hormonal, youre not really going to be seeing positive or negative signs, yet. Theyre reacting hormonally which wont be happening when you start prebonding and bonding. So basically, hes using his toy the way a human would their own toy Its good theyre both getting their scents on their stuffies, though, as after their neutered and spayed and you start prebonding, the stuffies will already smell very much like them

When theyre not hormonal, almost all signs are good signs with stuffies. Ignoring it means theyre comfortable with the stuffie/other bunny’s scent in their territory. Grooming it means they know the stuffie/other rabbit is not a threat. Humping it means theyre establishing dominance/making sure the stuffie wont fight back. Boxing it/nipping it/biting it/nudging it, common in early stages of stuffie training, means theyre scared; this should die down as the stuffy obviously doesnt react to the aggression (thus showing submission to your scared bunny, allowing them to calm down).

[Nutmeg]

Thanks Mikey! I was hoping you would comment

I just want everything to go as smoothly as possible so I’m sure I’m just getting a head of my self haha. I just can’t wait for them to no longer be locked in their separate cages – I feel bad that they dont have as much free outside time in the play area as I want – which is basically 24/7! I HATE locking them up except for when I’m home and even then they have to take turns.

They will be getting Neutered / Spayed in the next few months.. so we are getting there!

I just read all these stories on here where the bunnies love each other after they are bonded and then BAM 6 months later something changes and they hate each other.

[Deleted User]

That usually happens when people aren’t slow about the process, and they just kind of rush it. It also happens when they toss them together before being fixed and assume all will be the same after being fixed. It also happens with a newly adopted bunny to an existing bunny because the existing one usually isn’t comfortable enough yet to be territorial, so they assume everything is good before letting bun settle in. You’re doing a great job though

[Nutmeg]

Thanks A&B. 
hahah that’s why I call it Pre-PRE-bonding. My hubby thinks its over kill and that they will be fine together after… I told him I would rather be “over kill” than have one actually kill the other when I’m away at work one day. 

I also think after the recent passing of our senior bunny – who was already 4.5 when we got her – has me being extra paranoid about EVERYTHING! These two little guys will go into a loaf position and move their mouth around like they are chewing gum for a few seconds and I’m like OMG Are they grinding their teeth? Are they in PAIN? But I’ve come to realize they both do it when they are fist getting comfortable and then they stop and sleep…. then if they re-adjust they do it again for a few seconds and then stop. But every time they do it I still freak a bit and its been just over a month and I know I’m being neurotic  lol. 

It’s just because its not they way my only other bunny used to act. And I was SO In-tuned with her, which saved her a few times as she was prone to stasis. So I’m trying to learn all their little quirks lol. And plus I’ve never had Young bunnies before. 

[Mikey]

No worries! Since youre not rushing actual bonding, nothing you do during prebonding and preprebonding should hurt their chances For now, the stuffies serve each bun as a way to act our hormonally in a positive way. Once spayed and neutered, itll all die down over the course of a month or few. The only thing to watch for is to make sure your little boy doesnt get rug burn! My Bombur humped his stuffy so many times his penis became swollen and needed to be put on pain killers for a few days. And even then, he still went for his toy LOL Crazy how hormones can really take over a buns mind, haha.

[Nutmeg]

OMG Mikey – OUCH! Hormonal teenage boys are crazy haha He’s only humped it 5 times in 3 days – but he’s only 3 months… plus he only has access to it when he has his outside play time and I’m around to make sure he doesn’t try to eat/ingest any of it. It would probably be a different story if he had access to it 24/7 haha.

The girl (Penelope) now just ignores hers lol. She maybe gives it a small nose nudge when she passes by it – but that’s what she does to me… its like “Hey, whats up?!” as she hopes past me lol.

[Mikey]

LOL, well its good he only has access to it when you can ensure he wont eat it. If you notice constant mounting, it might be best to remove it for a little while. We just left the stuffy in with our boys as although Bombur humped it, Blue liked to flop onto it

Your little lady ignoring it is a pretty good sign. Even if she doesnt know what it is, shes comfortable with it being around her

[Nutmeg]

LOL Thanks Mikey!
What I might do after they are neutered/spayed, recovered and bonded is eventually introduce a bigger stuffy to see how they react to it… it would be cute to see them using it like a snuggle partner lol.
But that’s a ways down the road.

And yes, they both pretty much ignore me too right now LOL – I sit on the ground at their level when they are out for each of their turns. They will give me a quick bump with with their noses as they hope past me, but are only all over me when its time for their veggies as I hand feed them that for right now. But I guess I should be happy he’s not trying to hump ME hahaha.

However, they did recently start dramatically flopping a bit closer to me the last week or will let me move closer to them to pet them and will teeth pur – which was SO Exciting as my senior bunny (got her when she was 4.5) would love to sit beside me or in front of me and just let me pet her for hours – and I’ve been missing that so much.

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