Rupert: Trying to settle and bond him….

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Hello all!

 Rupert’s settling in very nicely and as I expected, very appreciative of having lots of toys and hay! He’s sooo sweat. I pack a nature ball and big cat ball full of hay and he just loves to pull it out and eat it-what a cutie! He’s romped all over the apartment, loves the cat tunnel I have, and decided the cleaning closet is a toilet (yikes -reminds me I need to buy another litter box!). He’s had a bath (he was pretty grimy) and a nail clipping and is super soft and clean now. He goes right in his cage when I tell him it’s bed time, and he even sometimes decided he wants in himself, he’ll run up and jiggle the cage so we know he wants in. He’s virtually litter trained himself in his cage, some stray poops but all the pee goes in the litter box and that’s all mom really cares about!

 We’ve let the bunnies meet a couple of times, no serious bonding attempts yet. Here are some highlights. I’d love to know what you think of how it’s gone so far, any suggestions or tips or dos and don’ts would be appreciated. I think I’ll snap some pics or clips tonight to make the thread more interesting-or at least a little cuter!!

*When Rupert first got home, he had a seperate enclosure in the kitchen. Kahlua ran up to the enclosure and promptly bit him on the nose, so he bit her on the nose. We blocked the area off (sort of like at the zoo, where there’s a fence inside a fence) and Kahlua promptly dribbled pee all around his cage (sorry but I found this really funny!)

*We let the three meet with Dave and I hovering over ready to intervene (gave Dave a quick “pow wow’ on rabbit signals-whats aggressive etc), Rupert dodged after Kahlua with humping in mind so Kokanee charged Rupert, Rupert ran away. We settled them all seperate after, no one injured of course, hopefully no feelings hurt.

*We’ve had about three little sessions with Kokanee and Rupert set up side by side touching, while we give them both lots of nose rups and ear rubs. They both lower their noses right to the ground. Kokanee’s groomed his ears twice. When Rupert does not have his head down for rubs, he gets nervous and tries to nip Kokanee.

 

 

[JK]

It sounds like things are working out extremely well!!! What a cute guy going to bed when asked and wanting to go to bed earlier by letting you know! What a little angel. Don’t know about the bonding but it sure sounds perfectly normal. Please do get us some pics.

[MarkBun]

Yeah, what is happening is typical behavior. Kahlua’s nip and peeing is trying to tell him that he’s in her house and she doesn’t appreciate it. The head lowering and nipping is something that Maryann does to Dono but I think that this will go away with time. Unless Kokanee is a dutch.

For a first couple of encounters though, this is all perfectly normal.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

LOL Kokanee *IS* a dutch LOL But I think for the most part not too “Dutchy” I’m not sure though!

I’ll definitely get some pics tonight!

[MooBunnay]

Sounds like a good start! Trio bonding isn’t the easiest so it may take a bit of patience, but it sounds like you have some really sweet buns that once they learn their “hierarchy” will get along very well. Thats so funny that he sometimes like to go back to bed “early” – the girls should be excited to have such a nice responsibey boy around, and not a party boy!

[babybunsmum]

sounds like a good start to your trio bonding.  its very interesting reading & learning about bun behaviour   thanks for sharing

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Ok first have to apologize, my camera batteries are charging so I’ll put bonding pics up sometime this weekend!

Thanks for the encouragement! It’s a little tough, as K and K bonded within seconds (literally!!) that I had a little hope they might bond into a trio that easy (I know I  know high hopes ! hehe).

The plan is do lots of sessions with one on one, Kokanee & Rupert and Kahlua & Rupert and wait until those go really well before having all three together. I think it will get easier and easier as Rupert settles in, he’s still getting used to all the food and not having to gobble it all down or protect it! Poor guy bolted all his kibbles down the first few days he was here! Now he knows his stuff is constantly refilled and just eats what he needs (thank goodness that was so easy! He needs to be able to free feed if he’s going to live with the girls!). We’re also getting him used to hand feeding, he’ll take things from your hand but pulls them right out! lol! I keep taking it back and holding it while he eats. He loves freash food and never needs to be offered something a few times before he accepts it-little cutie

 

Oh, and anyone who has a trio of rabbits, I’d love to hear from you!!

Ok, so since I didn’t make with the bonding pics, here’s a picture of our new set up!

128445078171.JPG

[kimberleyanddarren]

wow awesome setup u got there! we would love more piccies!

[Author]

Messages