Worried: Tango won't let Finx in their bedroom. UD 01/02

I'm worried about Finx, I've just stuffed their new bedroom to the brim with hay and straw and sat out with them to see what they think, but Tango won't let her in.

He seems to be protecting it? I've never seen him do it with their old sleeping place. He is very food obsessed so I wondered if it was all the extra hay. I don't want her to freeze while he is guarding the nice warm box with plenty of space for both of them!

If she tries to follow him in he chases her out, but when he went downstairs she went into the bedroom for a few seconds and then followed him and asked him to groom her nose, which he did.

Does anyone speak bunny language?? Any insight would be appreciated!

A little bump. Sorry for my impatience, I don't want to go to bed worrying

No idea what the space is like but could you put a cardboard box of hay on its side in the hutch / shed so she has somewhere to shelter from the cold until you can work out what to do about his behaviour?

yeah - I agree - make another warm place for her incase he decides not to let her in all night....add loads hay and a snugglesafe is poss....
If he is grooming her whilst out of that area.....could oyu not place them into the warm place together and just talk softly and stroke them to calm him down abit and give him a fresh handful of hay.....only do this is you know it wont antagonise the situation...but if it were my buns Id put them all in together.

Have either of them pooed or wee'd in there yet? Perhaps its new for him so he feels he must claim it first...perhaps put some of their poop in there...:?

Vita said:

No idea what the space is like but could you put a cardboard box of hay on its side in the hutch / shed so she has somewhere to shelter from the cold until you can work out what to do about his behaviour?

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Thanks for your reply - that's a good idea! I have a small hidey-box that I replaced because it was too small for them both, but it might just be perfect for this. Their old bedroom was this small one together with a small table, so there was a larger, igloo-like entrance (sorry, hard to explain). Maybe if they had both been able to fit in the smaller one at the same time then Tango would have been posessive all along, I just didn't see it because of the weird set up.

I would hope that they would realise it's warmer together and he would let her in, but I'm not sure. He will groom her on request (which I thought showed dominance on her part?), but when it comes to food, and now apparently the bedroom, he is very much in charge.

I'm not sure what else I can do! I'll give Finx the other box, thanks.

chelle said:

yeah - I agree - make another warm place for her incase he decides not to let her in all night....add loads hay and a snugglesafe is poss....
If he is grooming her whilst out of that area.....could oyu not place them into the warm place together and just talk softly and stroke them to calm him down abit and give him a fresh handful of hay.....only do this is you know it wont antagonise the situation...but if it were my buns Id put them all in together.

Have either of them pooed or wee'd in there yet? Perhaps its new for him so he feels he must claim it first...perhaps put some of their poop in there...:?

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The only entrance is through the rabbit-sized door, so without pushing them both in that won't work! It's a free standing box inside the hutch, as it doesn't have a separate room built in. It was home made and the upstairs was originally for storage, not rabbits! They have never pooed or wee'd upstairs at all, they share 2 litter trays between them downstairs, and both use both of them.

Hopefully he will claim it and then decide to share - they share the hutch and run happily enough usually.
Thanks!

Hope all works out well amd normal sharing of space resumes very soon. xx

Thank you. I've just been back out; Tango is making a comfy bed in the hay in the big box, and Finx has been trying to climb on me while I sort out the little one for her. It's not unusual for Tango to ignore me :lol:

For now it seems to be about the hay, they're both furiously munching their bedding - separately. Obviously there is more hay downstairs by the litter trays, as usual. Maybe once Tango has had his fill and deemed the new bedroom as part of the hutch, he will let Finx share it. If not, Finx has the little one with the snugglesafe, and Tango will be warm enough in the big one with the fleece.

I wish I spoke bunny!

Update

When I went out to them this morning, there was a big squashed patch in the bedroom that could have been 2 sleeping rabbits or just Tango digging around... the small one had been shoved around a bit so the bedding in there was all over the place.

It's infuriating not being able to monitor this!! I've not added any new bedding tonight, just left it as it is. Hopefully the novelty will wear off and they will share?

Are they both seeming well, and not stressed? :wave:

susie bun said:

Are they both seeming well, and not stressed? :wave:

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Yeah all eating and pooing is normal, and they seem fine. Tango has always chased Finx, he can very rarely catch her and she just runs and continues happily on. She can get jumpy around him sometimes, but they've never hurt each other past a little fur pulling on occasion. She stopped running when he decided to chase her earlier and proceeded to wash her toes :lol:

She does occasionally take some veg away and eat it further from him, but they share the pellet bowl and hay with no fuss. The bit I don't understand is if they weren't happy together, why does he groom her so much?? :?

sierra*323 said:

When I went out to them this morning, there was a big squashed patch in the bedroom that could have been 2 sleeping rabbits or just Tango digging around... the small one had been shoved around a bit so the bedding in there was all over the place.

It's infuriating not being able to monitor this!! I've not added any new bedding tonight, just left it as it is. Hopefully the novelty will wear off and they will share?

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How are they doing?

That is such a cute pic of Finx on the left in your signature, BTW

Vita said:

How are they doing?

That is such a cute pic of Finx on the left in your signature, BTW

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Thank you, and thanks for asking

This morning the little box bed was actually upside down, and the big one had definitely been slept in by someone... not sure who. It's impossible to tell - as soon as I open the patio doors Finx races downstairs to see me

She didn't seem grumpy, and they proceeded with the usual chasing and grooming, so that's all I have to go by. I'm guessing she would have felt freezing if he'd made her stay out of the bed all night while the other box was upside down? Everything else seems normal, they both seem well and are eating their hay and bedtime pellets together. They've always been competitive when it comes to greens - Finx ran away with hers so that Tango couldn't get it, but when I wouldn't let go of the next bit they ate it out of my hand together.

I suppose I'll just keep re-making the little bed each night while it's so cold, just in case :?

Aww, bless them. I hope all continues well but I think it is a good idea to make provision for sleeping separately available in the meantine.