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OH MY GOD! YAY for Dusk! *Floss's story post 7*

Sky-O

Wise Old Thumper
Dusk and Candyfloss have been bonded for two years.

For the very first time EVER (and Candyfloss has been here three years and Dusk is her fourth friend because she kept divorcing them) I saw Candyfloss grooming Dusk!

He's been like the long suffering chap but they have been so happy together. And now she can give as well as take!

She is pretty damaged behaviourally and maybe this means she is happier than ever. Maybe she is losing her scars.

I didn't have anyone else to tell because they all disappeared out or are still in bed.

But I'm so chuffed for them both!


(And I was so excited I entered Dusk as my screen name when I tried to sign in- I'm not sure why :lol:)
 
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Aww it must be true love :love:

What is Candyfloss's story? :wave:

She was my first rescue.

She came to the RSPCA after being found as a stray. She was in good condition, and I eyed her up instantly, having recently lost my Sweep.

She was the first and only bunny I adopted 'properly' and I adopted her because she fitted in with my Dopeys and Cloud and I wanted to try and have a quad because the Dopeys need to never be just a pair, and the more bunnies they are around, the better.

As soon as Candyfloss arrived it became clear she had problems.

She was exceptionally anxious. She drinks water to deal with her anxiety and would drink more than any bunny I have ever known. She was very people friendly but petrified of other bunnies; like running in a blind panic, type petrified.

We didn't know why.

I got them bonded into a quad but one day one of the Dopeys had some sort of seizure and it flipped Floss out and there was mega fighting and they were non rebondable, so they ended up as two pairs.

Shortly after, she didn't cope with Cloud either and divorced him too. Or rather, he culdn't cope with her and when she got anxious, he would feed off that anxiety.

Hindsight, at this point, was telling us that any change of smell and Floss would fight. I started to suspect she was blind and relied heavily on her sense of smell.

She came here to have friends and I had many available so after a couple of months alone I started bonding her with Dusk.

Dusk is a different personality from Cloud and instead of reacting to her anxiety, he would just get a bemused look as if to say 'what's she doing now'.

I tried to do the put them together bonding method but it wouldn't work because of her problems. I was scared she was going to run herself, blindly panicking, into death. So we went slowly slowly and it wasn't without tehcnical hitches. It took us three months and even then, atfer they lived together we had more fights.

It was a learnign curve. By now we knew that she relied heavily on her sense of smell and that was where all the problem lay.

I caused those fights after bonding when I was nail clipping. If I clipped his nails first, and put him back, he would smell different and she would fight him. Nowadays we are practiced and I have to do her first and literally smother myself in big Floss fluff so that when he goes back she knows he is him and doesn't think he is another bunny on her territory.

Until just this winter gone Floss would still drink and drink and drink like I've never seen a rabbit drink whenever she was anxious (and you could tally it with her anxiety or stressful events), but over winter she slowed that down and now drinks a normal amount (they aren't getting through two whole dog bowls a day, just a normal half of one).

I reckon, to be grooming him she feels even more stable and secure.

In addition to all of that Floss is the fattest rabbit I have but she only gets minimal pellets. We often wonder if she was meant to be a meat or a lab bunny. Other than being fat, she is very healthy and happy and her size doesn't cause her any visible health problems and I have no idea what to do to shift it (and neither does my vet), so we have just decided to let her be and this weight is what she is destined to be.

My Floss is a pain in the butt, but I love her loads and actually, looking back and realising that just these past 9 months or so she has lost her scars and her past makes me even happier :)

I've posted some pics here too. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=298506
 
Thats what I love and admire about you.You really get to know your buns,I mean REALLY get to know them.Theyre part of you and youre part of them.
Dont ever lose this Dolittleism.xxxxxx
 
Such a heart warming story. Thank goodness the fates landed her with you, someone who is only too happy to take the time to know her and accommodate her little ways :love:

Love the piccys too, they look so perfect together :love:
 
Thats what I love and admire about you.You really get to know your buns,I mean REALLY get to know them.Theyre part of you and youre part of them.
Dont ever lose this Dolittleism.xxxxxx

That's a lovely little word.

And thanks :)


Gemmapookie said:
Such a heart warming story. Thank goodness the fates landed her with you, someone who is only too happy to take the time to know her and accommodate her little ways

Love the piccys too, they look so perfect together

She was my only ever 'planned' adoption, everyone else came by accident, but had I not taken her, she would have been a bounce back, for sure, because at that point, she couldn't cope with other rabbits.
 
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