Hello,:wave:
I was hoping someone might be able to tell if my first bonding date went well or not... I have no idea?!
I have a 1.5yr old rescue dwarf lop called Dillon. Hes been spayed in the spring and has never been the most friendly of rabbits, hates being touched/stroked but I'd never give him up.
I have just bought a 12wk old BEW doe called Daisy. She is stunning!! I thought she was tiny but was stunned at the comparison when put together. She is happily stroked and very inquisitive, will even be held and not be too scared.
I tried out the first date last night in the run. I first put her smelly travel case hay in with him in the run, and her seperated from him in his hutch space. I left them for a few hours to get smelly/used to another rabbit nearby.
I then put them in together supervised in another neutral run. He rushed at her, growled, bit her.... and ignored her... then back to nasty again? She generally ingored/ran away but also would rush at him occasionally when peace seemed to have broken out.
Everytime they got scrappy I seperated them/sprayed with water, especially Dillon who seemed the most antagonistic and also is the larger of the two, but also pushed her so I didnt set one up as dominant rabbit.
They would then be peaceful for a while, Dillon eating and ignoring her... her hiding in the corner with her heart pounding! Then either she'd rush at him, or he'd hop over to sniff her and she'd freak out and run a mile - think she thought he was attacking her.
They spent the night seperate but next to each other, she was in the hutch with his hay, and he was in the run and shelter with her hay... and the hutch/run were side by side so they could literally lay next to one another if they chose to.
This morning they were next to each other in hutch/run and seemed happily sniffing at each other. When I opened the top hutch door to give Daisy her some more hay (she was on groundfloor level) - Dillon leapt out his run and into the upper level of hutch! I panicked as I wasn't sure of his intentions and was off to work so couldnt supervise so put him back in the run. They went back to sniffing each other through the wire again. No swiping/biting, nothing.
So is that good or bad?! I will have another supervised date tonight but I do worry about Dillons dominanting behaviour/leaping out his run to get to her.
He's a small dwarf but she is absolutely tiny, like a small mini lop - so I do really worry for her safety.
Sorry for the massive thread, any help would be greatly appreciated!
xxx
I was hoping someone might be able to tell if my first bonding date went well or not... I have no idea?!
I have a 1.5yr old rescue dwarf lop called Dillon. Hes been spayed in the spring and has never been the most friendly of rabbits, hates being touched/stroked but I'd never give him up.
I have just bought a 12wk old BEW doe called Daisy. She is stunning!! I thought she was tiny but was stunned at the comparison when put together. She is happily stroked and very inquisitive, will even be held and not be too scared.
I tried out the first date last night in the run. I first put her smelly travel case hay in with him in the run, and her seperated from him in his hutch space. I left them for a few hours to get smelly/used to another rabbit nearby.
I then put them in together supervised in another neutral run. He rushed at her, growled, bit her.... and ignored her... then back to nasty again? She generally ingored/ran away but also would rush at him occasionally when peace seemed to have broken out.
Everytime they got scrappy I seperated them/sprayed with water, especially Dillon who seemed the most antagonistic and also is the larger of the two, but also pushed her so I didnt set one up as dominant rabbit.
They would then be peaceful for a while, Dillon eating and ignoring her... her hiding in the corner with her heart pounding! Then either she'd rush at him, or he'd hop over to sniff her and she'd freak out and run a mile - think she thought he was attacking her.
They spent the night seperate but next to each other, she was in the hutch with his hay, and he was in the run and shelter with her hay... and the hutch/run were side by side so they could literally lay next to one another if they chose to.
This morning they were next to each other in hutch/run and seemed happily sniffing at each other. When I opened the top hutch door to give Daisy her some more hay (she was on groundfloor level) - Dillon leapt out his run and into the upper level of hutch! I panicked as I wasn't sure of his intentions and was off to work so couldnt supervise so put him back in the run. They went back to sniffing each other through the wire again. No swiping/biting, nothing.
So is that good or bad?! I will have another supervised date tonight but I do worry about Dillons dominanting behaviour/leaping out his run to get to her.
He's a small dwarf but she is absolutely tiny, like a small mini lop - so I do really worry for her safety.
Sorry for the massive thread, any help would be greatly appreciated!
xxx