Xpen Antics

[MimzMum]

Well I’ll be jiggered…I put out two xpens today and the results are astounding. ^_^

This is the first time I’ve placed Fiver near the other two bunnies. And who decides to be ‘top bun’ and let everyone know in no uncertain terms?

Pip!

First off, Fiver was terrified of the new surroundings. His ‘out’ time is usually late at night on my bed and he loves to binky and spin around for a bit, then he lays down, then he goes to investigate things…you know, the usual bunny stuff. I can have him out for about two hours this way and he gets some much needed exercise. But I know it’s not long enough.

I am limited on space, but I had to buy yet another Superyard so Fiver would have his own play area. Pip & Mim are still having trouble syncing up, so I didn’t want to throw a wrench into the works, but I have to place these pens side by side in the kitchen, there’s nowhere else to go.

So Fiver starts out in his rather afraid. What the heck is mommy thinking?? Where am I and WHY am I here??

Mim & Pip have already been in their pen for the last twenty minutes or so. Some more dominance behavior but for the most part they were doing well….

Until Pip gets a whiff of the newcomer.

No worries, the pens are far enough apart that they can’t reach each other. But she IS NOT AMUSED. She begins to redouble her efforts to show that Mimzy is HER BUNNY. (Poor little guy, I was just about ready to move him to the mini pen when the humping began to die down.)

However, Mimzy can not go anywhere near the edge of the two pens to sniff Fiver, Pip will come out of nowhere like a bat out of h-e-double toothpicks and shove him away and thump or grunt and then goes into the tent with him and lets him have it. I keep having to pull her off his head, since she can’t get the proper ends straight. Mimzy is SUCH a henpecked hus-bun! Can’t even have a day out with the guys!

Needless to say, Pippi can go sniff at Fiver anytime SHE likes! Talk about a double standard!! My bun is a feminazi!

They’ve all settled down pretty well now. I hear a little scuffling now and then, and Pip is gnawing cardboard tubes like they are my bones to let me know how unhappy she is about the whole situation, but….

I am thinking Fiver today has been the perfect catalyst to set Pippi straight; she may see she needs to accept Mimzy as her partner bunny and maybe treat him a little nicer? They’ve actually done so good in the last 48 hours or so, I am thinking if I can get a big enough night pen for them, they might be able to bunk together soon?

If Pip just wasn’t so claustrophobic. Whatever they move into together, it’s going to have to be gi-normous! 0_o

And of course, this is quite some time away yet.

All things considered, would it be okay to keep Fiver as a solitary bun? Or when Pip and Mim get more settled, should I see about bonding the three together? Or do I just be happy with this progress and take my marbles and go home?

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Hey Mimz! Well you’ve certainly discovered some interesting things. First, I would go really, really slow with this since you have two boys and a girl who really is displaying some dominant behavior. Perhaps she doesn’t want Mimzy to get any ideas from Fiver, who knows. I don’t see the harm in letting them see each other, but putting them together might be a whoel different story and I think that if you do try all three at once, Pip is going to take out her aggression on Mimzy rather than Fiver because she is hen-pecking him. What you *might* want to do is try Fiver and Mimzy together and leave Pip out of the picture and see where that goes. Just try a few bonding sessions and see, then slowly introduce the three, try a stunt double of Fiver in with Pip & Mimzy and see what she does too before any fur flies.

If you want, you can try for a trio, and you aren’t out a lot if it doesn’t work out as it sounds like you are perfectly happy either way and it isn’t a situation where it HAS to work or else you have to get rid of one of them. Personally, I would go ahead and try it. It would be easier to clean up one big run where all three are rather than multiple ones.

[MimzMum]

Well, I am still trying to finish bonding Mimzy and Pip (please see ‘I’m Confused-Are They?’ thread in Bonding) so I am not trying to bond Fiver to either of them right now. The first time Fiver was anywhere near Mimzy was when I brought them both out on my bed in my room a few weeks back and Fiver took a snap at Mimzy, so I’m not eager to do that again right now. (He earned the nickname ‘Killer’ that afternoon)

I just thought it was an interesting scenario and actually, they all spent a nice day out yesterday. (separated of course) My biggest problem was SOMEONE peed in a few places on the floor of Pip & Mimzy’s pen (I have a sneaking suspicion who) and I had a big mess to clean up. But poor Fiver seemed so comfortable in his xpen, and when I put him to bed that night he began tearing things up in his night pen for a bit after returning to it…so he has a new experience to get used to and I can see it has him a bit buggered.

No, I don’t want to do anything to rile Pip against Mimzy. He’s too docile to fight for himself I think (unless it’s to nip my hand as I come in first thing to clean his night pen) so I really want her to mellow out and feel secure. Then maybe all this dreaded humping will stop and the two will finally settle down with each other and become a happy little old couple together. That has it’s own challenges and worries associated with it so I’m not willing to take on anything further at the moment.

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