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Pumpkin- trying to bond a poor sighted bun bond. Day 4. Hand me the broom.

**Posting as I know the fosterer who had Pumpkin for months will want to know how the lad settles in.**

Teasel and Pumpkin are sniffing each others noses this morning and she is still mirroring his actions.

Poor Pumpkin has not noticed this yet and continues to lurch around waggling his ears wondering where the rabbity smell is coming from.

I have swapped Pumpkin into the puppy pen which smells of Teasel and placed Teasel in the large cage alongside which Pumpkin had last night.
Teasel is staring in disbelief as Pumpkin is digging through the hay trying to find her where she slept last night with what i can only describe as that sort of look on her face.:lol:

There is no real aggression they seem happy side by side but poor Pumpkin has not seen the 101 guide on bunny polite intros so I will take this slowly as i do not wnat to end up with a partially sighted bun panicing and fighting if he gets cuffed by a miffed girl bun he cannot make out.

He has nommed his way through a nice outside cabbage leaf, one thin slice of carrot a few pellets and a huge pile o dried hay and herbs so far.

The new noises in my home are still startling him but if you tell him your around he stops thumping frantically and goes back to a muttery sort of honking instead.

I think this lad is going to be a real character we we all get to know him.:lol:

Going to see if outright bribary of my eldest son will led to him showing me how to upload photos online.
 
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He has been out and about all round my kitchen and dinning room. It took him a while to work out the space but once he had he was running like a mad thing and binkying into cupboards.
He has found where the bin is and the trails of hay leading to the where I store the hay. :no:

Right now he is happliy snoozing in my eldest sons arms having worn himself out and gone flop in a happy furry puddle sleeping off his 4pm veggie noms.

Teasel is just sat there looking curious about him being a boy but aghast that he is such a muppet.
 
Pumpkin has twigged the black moving shape in the next cage is the girl bunny he meet at Becky's.:lol:

Now getting more nose rubbing through the bars between them, mirroring each others eating and drinking and a little bit of following each other side by side up and down the cage bars between them.

Its not the cow eyed love match she had with Arnie but so far so good.

Pumpkin is even better than Arnie was at blagging extra food from everyone and has taken to binkying like a dervish around my dining room. Had a few 'ows' as he worked out where the walls are in my home the hard way but so far he has not been hurt by this.

Looking good so far. Teasel has perked up but keeps giving me the 'Men!' look as he tries to impress her with binkies and flops by the cage.


I think when I get back from church stuff late this afternoon if its still looking good I will let them share a small neutral space and see how they get on. My son owes me his mortal soul for a big favour he has asked of me so I will see if I can get him to upload photos of the buns here tomorrow morning when he gets back. ;)
 
oh what wonderful updates - I do hope they get on in the neutral space..Pumpkin sounds ever so happy with his new home!:love:
 
It seemed to be going well. He did what boys always do- she let him he dropped his head -she groomed him he licked her.

Then she tried moving to the other side where his vision is very poor. He went for her she objected he missed the none verbal bun language so she went for him. Lots.

One broom and lots of fur later she is sat with her bum and tail firmly in his direction in one cage. I have placed a cover over it so she can relax.

Pumpkin is sat in his big box of hay wondering what the hell hit him and pulled lumps of fur out- no biting and no injuries but I think if I had not stepped straight in and he had carried on she would have. :roll: Pumpkin thinks he is top bun so does Teasel.

He is in the puppy cage looking sorry for himself begging for someone to give him a hug.

All seems to go well until something moves into his blind spots then he attacks.
Has anyone managed to bond a blind bun and if so do you have any tips other than taking things very slowly.

I am starting to plan side by side accommodation with a fence between so they can see smell and nose each other but not get into a fight when body language is read wrong by Pumpkin thanks to sight difficulties . :roll:
 
Awwwh. Give him a big hug from me :love: It took him a long time to settle in mums kitchen. Im the outdoor hutch he was, what i can only describe, as a maniac :? He was so scared. He will settle eventually. The bond he had with my mum was amazing - he wasnt so keen on me or my brother :? Once you speak to him, and he realises who it is, he seems ok.

I know hes in a good home with you, and i know you will look after him well. It takes a special person to adopt somebun like Pumpkin :) xx
 
:( This is not going well.

Pumpkin is lovely but he does not seem to have a clue about bunny body language. Teasel is happy to see him around and about but if he gets too close and personal her ears go back and she growls. I know her of old and that's her defcon 1 warning of 'ignore this and I will rip your guts out'. Last time she meet a bun who ignored that she cost me over £500 in Vet repairs for two battered buns so I have to listen to her.

So I have two rabbits who can get on side by side as long as there is wire between them.

Thankfully I have two strong outdoor hutches for day use. She can have her old two story hutch back once I have replaced the locks and Pumpkin can have the use of the Forsham hutch to avoid him tripping down the run.

There is enough space in the kitchen/dining room that they can each have their own space but I need to make a door using a heavy duty wire so they can see and rub noses together but not get too close. Perhaps if his sight was better I would not have this problem but she is old and stroppy and always has been a bit of a moo. She is happier having another rabbit around but Pumpkin cannot see her warnings nor does he seem to have a clue that they are and I cannot risk her starting a war.

*sigh* For now it looks like Pumpkin will carry on having huge amounts of fuss from humans and a next door neighbour who is a grumpy old lady who likes looking at young blokes but cannot be having with their physical stupidity.:roll:

At least everything has melted outside so I can begin to look at the chewed parts of the run and what I need to re-order in the way of fox proof wire.
 
:( Im so sorry Cathy :( I thought they would bond after their little love story at mums the other day :love:

If i can be of any help let me know, i feel awful for you having 2 single buns :( His eye sight is obviously worse than the vet thought :? xx
 
i can empathise completely with your situation. i have 2 single buns - that was never my intention but that was their choice in the end.

hugs x
 
I think the problem is down to his sight.:(

I think he has some sight on the one side on that side he turns but if you approach on the other his behaviour says he can see some flickers of movement that are dark/light flicks but not more than that and that is when he is liable to lunge. My guess is your mums was a place he knew well so he could cover this up and the vet who treated his eyes when it looked like he would be completely blind has worked wonders.

If Teasel stays on his sighted side he knows there is a bun there but if she moves into his unsighted he lunges at her and she refusses to take that off any male.:roll:

They do like each other but I think it may be as someone to watch and rub noses with rather than groom. Both are indoors and get lots of human grooming and fuss. Pumpkin thinks vet bed is nice to pile up and flop on but he may also think that is another bun as it smeels of Teasel.
Teasel has the snuggle safe and her fave fleece so that meets the need for tactile contact some. I think someone else on here had to set up up a side by side outdoor hutch/run set up for buns who liked each other but had issues when close together.

Rabbits really are funny things. [And when my eldest sons ghastly hangover wears off he will be loading some photos or I will not be feeding him and cleaning his room out!]
 
bunlover may have some advice as she has bonded a partially sighted bun with a wifebun. (bunlover will probably be on here after lunch tomorrow when home from work)
sue:wave:
 
Thanks for that SDF.

After a day off yesterday I am trying again.:roll:

Pumpkin has charged all over the kitchen but is no in Teasels cage she hogged yesterday.
Teasel is in the puppy pen so she can stretch her legs more and smell male. I have once again placed them side by side.
They are once again sat side by side eating but with the bars between them. [Come on Pumpkin get your male bunny behaviour right this time]

I will leave giving the litter trays a good clean till this evening as that way both will get a good sniff of the other bun.

IF they are mirroring each other when I get back from all the church services I have to do today I will with my sons help try placing them together in the bath upstairs and see if that helps. I would rather place a towel down but I think with this pair I will have to simply place them in the bath and have the broom handy.

If Teasel thinks she is a mini-wolverine I will show her I still have the shower I had to use on her last time she got nasty. It is not Pumpkin who is starting the full blown fights its her in response to his not seeing her well.
Upstairs is forbidden to buns and the bathroom smells of bleach and not other buns so this is my last ditch try.

Becky if this does not work I may need Dawn to have them and see if she can work her magic bonding touch on them. Its so frustrating seeing buns who like each other but who keep getting it wrong. At this rate I may go with the kids suggestions of calling them Spike and Moist von Lipwig [Going Postal - book by Terry Pratchett] given how they are drawn to each other but bicker.
 
*Pumpkin is now trying to 'talk' to her using various honks I have never had such a vocal rabbit here but the silly lad is not using any body language apart from ear and tail waggling.* This is going to take days.
 
Aw poor Pumpkin. Ive never bonded a partially sighted bun, though I do now have a bunny with only 1 eye, thankfully she was already bonded with Teddy before her eye had to be removed. Just wanted to say good luck & it sounds like you're doing everything that can be done & not expecting bonding to be done in a day. Keep up with the posts & good luck
 
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