Videos of Lily/Jester’s first bonding sessions…

[LilynJestersMama]

I know some of you have good experience with the bonding process.

We just adopted Jester on Saturday- he and Lily were together in the same pen twice at the rescue center.  They showed no aggression towards each other there.  Jester groomed her a tiny bit, Lily offered no grooming.  They ignored each other for the most part.  Out of the 4 bunnies that Lily met that day, her encounter with Jester was the most successful.

Currently, they are housed right next to each other.  Close enough to see each other, but a few inches apart so they can’t bite!

Here are a few videos that I took of them last night in the bathtub.  My hubby and I remained close in case they got into a real scuffle.  Lily (the smaller one, who we had first) does a whole lot of thumping.

Any thoughts on what you see?  Good, bad or indifferent? hehe  I am open to any suggestions/thoughts that you might have.  I know this process takes time.  I’ve done lots of research but any advice from others’ trials and errors would be helpful.  Thank you

 

[Ruffles&Daisy]

I don’t have any advice, but he’s got some huge ears! Very cute pair of buns. Good luck.

[Sarita]

Well, it’s a little hard to tell really – they both seem curious of the surroundings but there is not much interaction yet. They do seem curious of each other.

How long did you have them together in the tub? One of my Dutch rabbits is a thumper too – is this normal for her? If not then she may just be voicing her displeasure at having her routine changed.

[LilynJestersMama]

He sure does have a set of ears on him! That’s where his name came from- my hubby thought his ears looked like a court jester’s hat… lol

And thank you, I hope they can get to a point where they can be happy together.

[LilynJestersMama]

Sarita-

Lily is a regular lil thumper….what is it about our Dutch bunnies? hehe The bathtub really amplified her thumps!! Good thing I don’t live in an apartment or I would have had an upset neighbor! hehe

I guess it’s good that they are ignoring each other as opposed to going after each other aggressively. We’ll keep at it! Maybe we will try a car ride too

[skibunny8503]

I don’t really have too much advice but at least he wasn’t mounting her every 5 seconds like mine was last night  

[jerseygirl]

Firstly, I have NO bonding experience………but I’m putting in my 2 cent anyway! Ignoring is supposedly good. That they did this on first meeting and have continued it is probably a good thing this early on. (Once again – I have no exp. lol) I do think he is being the more dominant of the pair though. I thought I saw Lily lower her head for grooming in the 1st vid but not sure. He pointly ignores her most of the time, much more curious about his surrounds. Then he nips at her when her back is turned, very opportunistic – or perhaps he views it as an insult?

To me, Jester looks very much like my Jersey – but without the black spots.  Not just in colouring but face and body shape and even his movements. 

[Beka27]

Those vids looked pretty good! I can definitely fly down to Arizona if you decide that you no longer want Jester LOL!!!!! He is adorable! With my two, the first few days, they were in death-rolls, so the fact that they are not viciously attacking each other is good. My suggestion, if you’re not already is to switch their pens every night. You might take out the sheet. Having a slippery surface might discourage them from hopping around and make them interact with each other a little bit mroe.

[LilynJestersMama]

Thanks for the input, guys.  Jester is sooo curious with his new surroundings- he’s definitely a handsome bun….and bigger than I am used to!  He makes Lily look so tiny!

I put the sheet in the tub as they were really slipping and sliding around and I thought it might help them.  I am thinking there may be better places to hold these date nights

From last night’s meeting, it appears that Jester is being the dominant one.  Lily thumps quite a bit.  They have stand-offs and most times, he’s the one who inititates the chase.  Lily lost just one little tuft of hair.  Aww, the trials and tribulations of having a new boyfriend….LOL

On a side note, I discovered that Jester isn’t too fond of cilantro

[LilynJestersMama]

Posted By skibunny8503 on 03/10/2009 6:17 PM

I don’t really have too much advice but at least he wasn’t mounting her every 5 seconds like mine was last night  

LOL…Jester would probably break lil Lily if he tried that too aggressively!  So far, they just give each other love nips! 
 

[MarkBun]

Lily isn’t ignoring Jester. From the Vids, she’s almost always waching him. She’s just not happy about him being around. And you can tell he’s keeping an eye on her because as soon as she turns away from him, he hops over and nips her.  It could be that he doesn’t like being given the butt.  Lily seems to be trying to show her dominance by thumping at him and lowering her head as if to say, “Hey!  Over here!  Groom me!”  But he’s just too aloof to care.  I can’t remember if the tail straight out like Lily’s is a sign of aggression or not.  I think it is but not positive.

Have you tried car rides before the bonding? that might help.

 

[Beka27]

As usual, good eye Markus. I think you’re right about the tail, I didn’t even notice that. I think that’s a “defensive” sign.

[LilynJestersMama]

Wow, good observations is right, Markus.  You pointed out things that I paid nooooo attention to!  Thank you

As for the car rides- I’ve seen people that put the buns side by side in a ‘litterbox.’  I am not sure that they’d both stay in it!

Putting them in the same carrier- is that a good idea?  That’s how we transported them home on Saturday when we got Jester.  They were of course both scared, and showed no aggression on the drive home from the adoption site.  10-15 min ride? and no other bonding once we are home?  Thanks, guys

 

[LilynJestersMama]

Tonight’s bonding session went well.  There was a little chasing- Jester is always the one to initiate that.  After they got that out their systems, he seemed super relaxed and was laying down, his eyes were even starting to close.  Lily was maybe 2 feet from him.  She would sit down, thump here and there and then flop over and lay down for a minute or so, sit down again, flop over, etc.  It was really nice to see them relaxed with each other.    

[Sarita]

Oh, that sounds like great progress!

[LilynJestersMama]

The funny part is that I’d never seen a bunny flop until I saw Jester do it a few nights ago.  It was alarming!!  I had to make sure he was still breathing!!  I had NEVER seen Lily do a flop until last night- and she did it about 3 times.  Sooo darn cute!!  Maybe she’s already picked up a new trick from Jester (or she’s always done it when I wasn’t around)

[MarkBun]

Actually, what Lily was trying to do was show Jester that she cared less about him than he did of her. A rabbit will groom or flop in front of a strange rabbit as if to say, “I’m not afraid of you, you hold no position or power here.” My guess is that when Lily saw Jester do it, she had to do it multiple times to top him in not caring – including thumping to get his attention. “You see me? You watching?” *flop* “SEE! I’m not afraid of you!”

[LilynJestersMama]

Markus, you sound like a bunny whisperer! hehe  Again, love your observations.

Makes total sense.  Lily did do some grooming in between her thumps and flops.

I am thinking this is good progress!

As for the car ride, is a plastic pet carrier sufficient?  I’d put them together in one.  I plan to do that tonight to keep on a good track

[MarkBun]

That’s what I did. It was the only time they didn’t fight when they were together was when they were in the carrier. And as for being a bun whisperer – nah. Just that the whisperer’s around me pointed out what Maryann was saying when she was dating herself.

[LilynJestersMama]

I’m happy to learn from your bonding experiences, Markus.  I appreciate everyone’s input as I don’t have any bonding experience.

We wanted to see how a washing machine bonding session would go over with them.  So I put some clothes in and got it going.  We put Lily and Jester in the clothes basket and set it on top.  Jester laid down most of the time and kept to his end of the basket.  Lily didn’t settle down next to him- she was more interested in trying to figure out how to get out of the basket; she also nipped at him on his side a few times.  They did get nose to nose at one point and side by side once.  We decided to move them to the tub and Jester laid down again (he always seems so easygoing) and Lily did a flop and laid down a few feet from him.  I just recently started seeing these bunny flops and they make my day- so darn cute!!  

What I can’t figure out- the roles they are both taking on.  Is Lily trying to be the dominant one with her behavior OR is he the dominant one and her behavior is a way of submitting to him?  Neither of them are grooming each other at all.

Here are a few photos from last night:

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[MarkBun]

Well I had always thought Maryann was going to be the dominate one but I see her grooming Dono ALL the time while he rarely, does so. However, she will still mount him so I don’t know. Roles can be in flux depending upon the mood of the rabbit.

Lily’s posture in the last photo is definitely her demanding grooming from Jester.

Next time Lily flops down in the bath tub, try scooting her next to Jester, putting them side by side. Pet Lily for about 10 seconds, then pet them both at the same time, mixing scents, for about another 30-40 seconds then stop and sit back. This is the bonding technique for the house rabbit society. However, whenever I did it, Maryann took it to mean that she should be biting Dono’s face instead of his flank.

[LilynJestersMama]

I’ve seen Lily put her head down more than once to demand grooming and Jester either doesn’t want to or he’s just clueless.  I think I will try the banana on the head trick to see if that helps initiate it.

I will try scooting Lily over next to him when she flops again and do the petting technique.

Thank you for the good info, I will use it at tonight’s bunny date!

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