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the story so far - eric & esme....

poppymoon

Wise Old Thumper
eric met esme (fat fluff) at the fosterers house on saturday evening. usual couple of spats (as expected) but esme did begin to groom eric.

i brought them home on sunday eve to continue the bonding - yes, neutral territory, small area etc. not a huge change. sometimes they ignored each other (good:?) and sometimes they had a chasing episode. eric seemed very unsure as to how to groom esme but she was really trying to get him to, bless her. he did seem more interested in 'grooming' her back - rude boy - but she runs away.

during the following 24 hours, eric seemed very withdrawn and miserable. doing a lot of hunched sitting, bar climbing etc. esme seemed pretty happy, although still rather jumpy at household sounds.

the bonding is continuing but in the main (neutralised) living room now. they will share food, sit near each other to groom themselves (not each other) and have a sniff at the other bun but that is the current stalemate position.

esme is a people bunny too - and very very inquisitive. eric is still as big a softy as ever. he doesn't seem to like the fact that she is weeing and pooping everywhere (eric litter trained very easily. i don't know much about esme's former life - yes, there will be the territotial marking tho).

last night, eric seemed to relax a bit and started his ear shaking etc which normally leads to mad dash binkying. he'd only jumped once and esme got really spooked, hay flying everywhere and bars rattling. esme being spooked made eric cower in the corner. its sad not to see eric binkying and being eric.

i am not giving up on this but i get a feeling that at best, all we may have is tolerance of each other. i'm not saying it should be instant loved up stuff as its way too soon but a) i'm not sure 2 nethies are the best personalities to have together, b) i'm not sure esme will enjoy being a house bun (how can i get her to stop digging the carpet?) and c) eric seemed happy as he was with a lot of human interaction but with esme, he seems totally fed up:?

no idea why i've posted this long ramble, sorry. i would like eric to be 'a rabbit', be sociable, enjoy the company of another bun but i'm really not sure whether this is doing him more harm than good by watching both rabbits and their behaviour.

i've read a lot of stories of bonding and different experiences but sat here with 2 beautiful buns, maybe i'm looking through rose-coloured glasses and wanting it to work out like all of yours have but it isn't going to be.
 
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Awww, Wendy, you've already said it yourself hun but it really is far too early to tell how things will work out. :) Some bunnies seem to instantly bond really well; others it takes some time. I spent a while thinking they would never get along because Bubbles was terrified of Alfie at first.

Alfie and Bubbles have a far different relationship now to the one they had when they were first bonded almost a year ago. For the first few mths, they would spend a lot of time apart and just didn't seem so close. Now it seems as though they have a bit of invisible string joining them together - they still spend some time alone but they are always looking for each other when free ranging - if one binkies, the other one does - if one runs up the garden, the other follows :lol:. They are almost always snuggled up together & there is so much more mutual grooming than there ever was at the beginning.

Not sure what the moral of my story is really - just that there are still lots of reasons to be hopeful I guess. ;);)
 
Awww, Wendy, you've already said it yourself hun but it really is far too early to tell how things will work out. :) Some bunnies seem to instantly bond really well; others it takes some time. I spent a while thinking they would never get along because Bubbles was terrified of Alfie at first.

Alfie and Bubbles have a far different relationship now to the one they had when they were first bonded almost a year ago. For the first few mths, they would spend a lot of time apart and just didn't seem so close. Now it seems as though they have a bit of invisible string joining them together - they still spend some time alone but they are always looking for each other when free ranging - if one binkies, the other one does - if one runs up the garden, the other follows :lol:. They are almost always snuggled up together & there is so much more mutual grooming than there ever was at the beginning.

Not sure what the moral of my story is really - just that there are still lots of reasons to be hopeful I guess. ;);)


oh i am hopeful karen - not being bothered with each other is way better than being soooo bothered they fight! it is enlightening to watch really - just very tiring for me (esp as eric's poop training now seems to have gone out of the window too:roll: 'if esme can do it, so can i mum!').

i'm glad you've shared the early part of alfie and bubbles tho - i suppose most people with bonded buns quickly forget how rough the first few weeks/months were when they see them snuggled.

just trying to think of a way to get eric to groom esme nicely - without one sniff of her ears and then straight to her back:roll: blokes eh:oops:

and here was me thinking a pal for eric would free me some time - esme has already developed her unsubtle way of gaining attention from me (digging and chewing jeans and feet:roll:).
 
just trying to think of a way to get eric to groom esme nicely - without one sniff of her ears and then straight to her back:roll: blokes eh:oops:

:lol::lol: Dirty boy. Alfie still has days like that :roll: but it will get better. The early bonding days for my two seem like such a blur now, but I remember feeling so downhearted at the time, thinking it would never work. I'm sure you'll be saying the same things as I am now to somebody else in your position in a few mths down the line. :)
 
:lol::lol: Dirty boy. Alfie still has days like that :roll: but it will get better. The early bonding days for my two seem like such a blur now, but I remember feeling so downhearted at the time, thinking it would never work. I'm sure you'll be saying the same things as I am now to somebody else in your position in a few mths down the line. :)

hope so karen:)

i'm still positive, as i said - its early days and a big change for eric AND me to have a lady in the house.
they did share a sunny spot earlier tho and were meatloafed side by side:D
 
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