Professor Babbington, a visitor

[KweenElmer]

My friend, a proud daddy of a cashmere lop, is in between homes at the moment.  Poor guy is living in a dorm with his sister (illegally) and his bun, Professor Babbington, has been living with his ex.  Well, the professor has worn out his welcome and I have agreed to take him until he finds a home.  Can be days, weeks or months before Peter finds a place (hopefully, for Peters sake, not the latter.)

What do you reckon I should do about bonding?  Assuming it won’t be too long of a visit, do you think its too much hassle trying to bond him to my Puck (and I guess dog, Jalebi)  and just keep them seperated?   Or do you think I should try and bond them and see how it goes?

Any tips?  I mean, Puck has a pretty big claim on the house, so do you think it will be difficult with the territory issues.  (Puck is free reign, more or less, so I guess we all share a space)  Puck was nuetered last week, and it will prob be a week or so before the Professor arrives.  So in theory, since they are both nuetered they will be less territorial?  (they’re both boys, if you haven’t figured it out)

I’ve read a few bonding articles, I just thought I’d ask for personal opinions, just cause I like a dialogue with varying opinions.

 

Thanks,

Carrie

[BunnyMuffin]

I think that unless you’re planning on permanently keeping the Professor, I wouldn’t bond them. Because assuming you had enough time to actually complete the bonding process, once they’re bonded they shouldn’t be separated (at least in my opinion). It just seems wrong to me for them to become good buddies and then be split up. I don’t mean to sound harsh by saying it seems wrong, I just couldn’t think of a better way to phrase it, so please don’t be offended. I’ve just been reading some other threads where one bunny of a bonded pair passes on and the bunny left behind definitely goes through a grieving process. So I don’t think anyone would want to put their bunny through that for a temporary visitor.

I would suggest to just give them separate individual play times and be prepared for some territory marking poos in any mutual play space. But definitely keep them apart to avoid any fighting and injuries. In addition, I know it takes some time (I don’t know exactly how long, but definitely more than a week) for the hormones to completely run out of a neutered bun’s system.

I’d also like to add that’s is very generous of you to take in your friend’s rabbit in his time of need! Best of luck to you, Puck, and the Professor!

[MooBunnay]

I would also agree with BunnyMuffin, once bunnies are bonded, they should really stay together. They can often go through depression if they are separated from a bonded mate. Bonding is also very difficult sometimes, so I think that it will save you AND the professor a lot of trouble if you just allow the bunnies to have their own space and playtime.

[KweenElmer]

This is something that I also thought of and I guess I’m glad to hear one of my fears confirmed.

[Beka27]

Is there any way you could be his forever home? If you could keep him, I’d try to bond him… but I agree, you cannot bond and then split them up, that would be really bad and could cause serious depression in one or both of them.

[KweenElmer]

I guess I would be slightly less worried about Puck. He has Jalebi. But the professor would go back to being lonely, which would be sad.

[KweenElmer]

The professor has arrived.

He was out of the cage whilst Peter and I set up his enclosure. Against my better judgement, so was Puck, but I thought since I was there it would be easy enough for me to intervene. Anyway, firstly it took forever for Puck to even figure out there was another rabbit there and then when he did, he fell instantly in love. The professor was a bit skittish with all the new stimulus, so when we were done setting up, we put him away so that he would feel safer.

Puck spent the entire night by Prof. Babbington’s cage, staring longingly into it. I think there was even some through-the-bar groomage. It was actually kind of cute, except I had to phsyically force Puck back into his cage so that he could eat.

Yesterday I thought I would give it a go and see if they can at least be in the same room with one anther (possibly adding my dog, Jalebi into the mix). All seemed to go well. The professor is a bit more skittish than Puck and didnt really want to play chase, but Jalebi got the hint pretty well. And Puck. … Oh, puck…. Puck likes the professor. I mean LIKES the professor. There was a lot of humping to be had. I had to chase them around with a broom. All seems to be well. Puck just stares longingly at Babbington and follows him around.

The only snag was when Puck tried to follow Professor Babbington into his cage — Puck did not mind when the professor followed him into his, so why would this be any different — and this was not okay with the Professor. There was a bit of a brawl. I was not expecting this, because they had been co-existing for a good hour, at least. I split them up for the night, keeping Babs in his pen. It was only a mere 30 seconds before Puck was by his side again.

I didn’t plan on bonding them, but it would appear that Puck is already in love. This is not going to end well.

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