I have two buns - Clover, a rescue who I've had over a year. He was neutered last April and has been on his own (other than being with hens and a cat, who he gets on with very well!!!) ever since I've had him. I got Cassie, a speyed female, on Sunday.
At the moment Clover is in his hutch, with free reign round the garden, Cassie is in a large dog cage in the garden, so she can see Clover and co. They've been socialising through the bars of the cage, and there was a wee bit of scrapping at first on Sunday, but they settled down to munch fairly quickly.
Yesterday I brought them into the bathroom. I had to bring Clover in first as I wanted to check his bum (it needed a wee wash) which probably wasn't ideal as it meant he was already there when I brought Cassie in. When she came in I brought food in with her, to distract the pair of them. He was very keen to say hallo (he wasn't aggressive, or pushy, just stretching out towards her) but she ignored him, firstly to explore, then to munch. She finally came to see him, circled him and then bit his rump. He retaliated by biting her rump (think 69 but sideways! - sorry, the only way I can think to describe it) and I separated them (didn't have gloves on, I wasn't hurt).
This happened twice more. There was no blood drawn, just fur flying, and they were easy to separate. The attacks weren't immediate, ie there were breaks in between (I wouldn't have let it continue otherwise) which I took as a good sign. After the third time they went to other ends of the room and stayed like that for 20 mins. Both seemed fairly relaxed, in as much as there was no thumping, no wide-eyed looks, but they both lay down full stretch, washed themselves, and Cassie ate. I even left them for 30 secs to go and fetch something and came back to find them how I had left them.
This morning when I let Clover out he bounded straight for he and they greeted each other. They are very interested in each other and I am fairly confident things will be ok. Or am I being too optimistic?
I'm planning on bringing them into the bathroom again each night for a wee while, then have them together in a box in my bedroom Friday night, assuming things are going ok. Is there anything else I could be doing? I'm wary about swapping over their accommodation, as Clover takes himself home at night and if he has to go somewhere else it could be hell trying to get him to go home. But it is an option.
Any thoughts, advice, words of wisdom?
At the moment Clover is in his hutch, with free reign round the garden, Cassie is in a large dog cage in the garden, so she can see Clover and co. They've been socialising through the bars of the cage, and there was a wee bit of scrapping at first on Sunday, but they settled down to munch fairly quickly.
Yesterday I brought them into the bathroom. I had to bring Clover in first as I wanted to check his bum (it needed a wee wash) which probably wasn't ideal as it meant he was already there when I brought Cassie in. When she came in I brought food in with her, to distract the pair of them. He was very keen to say hallo (he wasn't aggressive, or pushy, just stretching out towards her) but she ignored him, firstly to explore, then to munch. She finally came to see him, circled him and then bit his rump. He retaliated by biting her rump (think 69 but sideways! - sorry, the only way I can think to describe it) and I separated them (didn't have gloves on, I wasn't hurt).
This happened twice more. There was no blood drawn, just fur flying, and they were easy to separate. The attacks weren't immediate, ie there were breaks in between (I wouldn't have let it continue otherwise) which I took as a good sign. After the third time they went to other ends of the room and stayed like that for 20 mins. Both seemed fairly relaxed, in as much as there was no thumping, no wide-eyed looks, but they both lay down full stretch, washed themselves, and Cassie ate. I even left them for 30 secs to go and fetch something and came back to find them how I had left them.
This morning when I let Clover out he bounded straight for he and they greeted each other. They are very interested in each other and I am fairly confident things will be ok. Or am I being too optimistic?
I'm planning on bringing them into the bathroom again each night for a wee while, then have them together in a box in my bedroom Friday night, assuming things are going ok. Is there anything else I could be doing? I'm wary about swapping over their accommodation, as Clover takes himself home at night and if he has to go somewhere else it could be hell trying to get him to go home. But it is an option.
Any thoughts, advice, words of wisdom?
