Please- Bonding three next step +sore hocks

Hi, sorry to post again about bonding but I'm getting rather worried.

It seemed to be going ok this morning but there is not Mo's fur in the enclosure. The space is not big but they seem to be at opposite ends and pretty much ignoring each other. Mo is sticking to the litter tray like glue and I'm not sure if I just haven't seen before or whether they have recently occurred but he seems to have sore hocks. I popped Mo in the middle of the enclosure to try to encourage them to interact and Roxy just nipped his bottom and chased him back to the litter tray. Barney then started chasing her and she started nipping him.

Do you think I need to start from scratch and find new neautral territory as they seem to have divided it themselves! I just don't want Mo to be bullied but nor do I want him to harrass them as he was doing on Saturday.:?

any ideas?

Do you have something else to put the hay in? Like a willow ball or toilet roll tubes so they can play and work togetehr to get at that. And p[ossibly the sore hocks are due to sitting in the litter tray when it maybe wet? So eliminate that a bit by putting the hay in other places too.

Maybe you coudl try another neutral space or a car ride, something that involves them stickign togetehr for comfort... How long have you been at it so far?
Are they good with food? Can you feed them together by hand or veg in a pile?

Oh and ignoring each other is very good!!!! Bum nipping is normal too and will settle. Sometimes it isnt love at first sight, and it may be a tolerance and they will take longer to become close... but as long as there is no fighting then woohoo!!!

Thank you.
Mo doesn't at hay at all and he's recently had teeth out so the only thing he seems to want at the moment is mushed up pellets. He's quite slow too so the other two have eaten by the time he's realised there is anything there. I think a car ride might be in order. They seem fins when they are in Mo's little tiny patch of land that they've squished him into so maybe its time to look at another space. Thank you for your advice x

Hmmm maybe it would be worth leaving them where they are a bit longer as, as emjay said, ignoring each other is often a good thing.

How bad are his hocks? I wouldn't worry if it's just a little pinkness- it's probably from chasing around on an abrasive carpet. You could put sudocream on if you've got any handy.

When i was bonding the two Gyps because she spent a lot of time sitting in the litter tray when he finally got brave enough to approach it she saw him off, thinking it was her territory. I removed it and calm reigned once again.

I have decidely put against using litter trays during bonding and I only put 'hidey holes' in when I cannot supervise because the same has happened with those too.

Mind you Charm and Lily were ingnoring each other last night, put the foam house in for them and when I woke up this morning they were asleep side by side on top of it :lol:

Sooz22 said:

When i was bonding the two Gyps because she spent a lot of time sitting in the litter tray when he finally got brave enough to approach it she saw him off, thinking it was her territory. I removed it and calm reigned once again.

I have decidely put against using litter trays during bonding and I only put 'hidey holes' in when I cannot supervise because the same has happened with those too.

Mind you Charm and Lily were ingnoring each other last night, put the foam house in for them and when I woke up this morning they were asleep side by side on top of it :lol:

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Good plan about the litter trays. I did suspect that may be part of the problem.

Mandy I don't think its too bad, they are just a bit pinky red but it looks like he's got a bit of a comb-over as he has got a lot of fur on his feet and the pink only showed through when they were wet from him sitting in his litter tray. I'll try taking them out tomorrow when I am around and take them all for a drive.

Thanks guys x

I would leave them where they are, like has been said the ignoring and the bottom pinching is very normal. Just leave them alone and let them get on with it.

I am pairing up Giselas buns at the moment and they are bottom nipping a lot but are improving slowly.

jrn1310 said:

I would leave them where they are, like has been said the ignoring and the bottom pinching is very normal. Just leave them alone and let them get on with it.

I am pairing up Giselas buns at the moment and they are bottom nipping a lot but are improving slowly.

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cool thank you. I'll leave them where they are and take the litter trays out tomorrow x