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Daisy and Olly - thoughts appreciated please!

ripminnie

Wise Old Thumper
So, I am planning to try and introduce Daisy to Olly over Christmas, while I have a few days off... This is a bit daunting. For anyone who doesn't know, Olly is a mini lop weighing about 2kg, who has been alone since his sister Honey died in April 2013. He is quite strongly bonded to me. Daisy is a New Zealand White, weighing almost 6kg... So considerably larger than Olly! She is very gentle, and I have never seen her display any sign of aggression at all. Her bonded friend Digby died this November, and she is craving company. I just wondered what people think about this possible bond? Olly is quite territorial. There is nowhere completely neutral in my house, so I intend to neutralise as best I can a part of downstairs, where Daisy lives, as she isn't territorial at all... I am also a bit worried about the size difference - I know that a big bunny and a little bunny can be bonded like any others, I would just be worried about Daisy squashing him! Any tips or suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance :wave:
 
I wouldn't worry about big and little too much, my two bonded fine and whilst the difference isn't quite as big Barney is still twice the size of Anna. You may have to watch their feeding habits, the little ones weight etc though. It's her I have to watch with dominance behaviour/chasing etc sometimes, not him.

What I would say though is to be careful over the Christmas period with vets being closed etc. I know it is unlikely that things would escalate to this point as you'll be there to watch them, but do make sure you are able to get them to a good vet if need be, just in case there is an accident or a fight. I may be being over-cautious here (I also don't like my buns having ops/dentals etc on Fridays in case there is an issue over the weekend) and it is unlikely, but better to be prepared.

I hope it goes well and that they are both excited to have a friend :) it sounds promising that they have both been bonded before.
 
i've never bonded rabbits before so can't offer advice there, but just wanted to say that they would make such an adorable couple! i so hope it works out for them :love:
 
Thanks guys :) - Nessar, I did think about the vet thing, it's definitely something to consider... It's just that if I don't do it at Christmas, it will be Easter before I get chance again...
Something else I'm not sure about is feeding... Olly only gets 8 pellets a day, whereas Daisy gets considerably more. And there are certain fresh foods that Daisy likes but Olly can't have due to calcium issues. I don't know how I could feed them separately though :( I really don't know if this would be workable!! It needs more thought...
 
I know my two don't quite have the same size difference (1.7kg and 3.3kg) but Lilly still seems lots bigger than Arthur! Lilly is like Daisy, very gentle and submissive and not at all territorial, I didn't know if Arthur was territorial or not until I started bonding them, in fact I'm still unsure, I don't think he is! But he was definitely dominant and humped Lilly lots! Lilly was terrified of the humping because she's so gentle, so I "dated" them for a few days (in the bathroom) before properly starting bonding and keeping them together, that gave her a chance to feel more settled from the beginning as he wasn't quite as randy after having met her a few times already so she wasn't pestered continuously. If Daisy is very stressed about Olly's territorial behaviours maybe dating might work for them initially like it did with mine? I was worried Lilly would turn on Arthur because she was so scared which would have been awful due to her being so much bigger, she didn't at all luckily, but being able to separate them so she got a break and could calm down was definitely beneficial to her and if she had been getting aggressive back I think it would have helped (although always make sure you end dates on a high even if they do spat!). I know dating isn't that highly thought of on here though, just thought I'd let you know what I did and why I thought it was useful in my case!

I hope everything goes really smoothly :D
 
I've only bonded Will and Nancy. Nancy is twice his size and still humps him now occasionally. Your two's size difference is obviously more. Also Nancy was introduced to Will's (neutralised ) space. The size issue I would say doesn't matter but the territorial issue I don't know about I'm afraid.

Hope it all goes smoothly.
 
Good luck and I hope it all goes ok! I am also going to be doing some festive bonding!

My NZW was bonded to a nethie (5.4kg vs 1.3kg!) and they were the best of friends.
 
Could you separate them during feeding time each day and give Olly some one to one when Daisy munches her greens etc (assuming that they bond ok)?

I hope you find a good solution, it would be so great for them both to have company again.
 
I had similar worries, I've just bonded a trio, a little nethie, not sure what he weighs but I often worry he'll blow away on a windy day! A medium lop, about 2kg, and an English giant who weights about 5 1/2kg. My big bunny humped both smaller buns when they were first introduced, my heart was in my mouth that the smaller buns would get squished, but everybun was fine, thankfully the humping didn't happen very often.
Give it a go, if one bun is less dominant hopefully it will be an easy bond.
Here's a photo which shows the size difference quite well
c2563ed2c5e83b0d3165bb1aa01648d5_zps128b6b07.jpg
 
I had similar worries, I've just bonded a trio, a little nethie, not sure what he weighs but I often worry he'll blow away on a windy day! A medium lop, about 2kg, and an English giant who weights about 5 1/2kg. My big bunny humped both smaller buns when they were first introduced, my heart was in my mouth that the smaller buns would get squished, but everybun was fine, thankfully the humping didn't happen very often.
Give it a go, if one bun is less dominant hopefully it will be an easy bond.
Here's a photo which shows the size difference quite well


c2563ed2c5e83b0d3165bb1aa01648d5_zps128b6b07.jpg

Thank you, that's awesome!! :love:
 
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