Few questions.. answer please? xx

Hey all,

So sorry to keep these posts coming, but I really don't want my bunnies to go through what my last baby went through with mucoid enteritus, so I want to check everything out with you lot - as you're alot cheaper than vets, lol, and you're all a damn sight more helpful and supportive too

My first question is about their sleeping patterns. Are rabbits mainly nocturnal? From common observation I notice that my two are VERY lively from say 3am until about 7am every morning... then they go a little quieter until around lunchtime, in which one of them is only slightly livelier and Kitt, the naughty one, seems to have a childs 'mad hour' where she will dance, and run and cause mischeif. As they're house rabbits, and live in my bedroom, the 3am wakeup from them running back and forth in their living quarters isn't really appreciated - I have purchased some earplugs to see if this helps, lol, but is there anything else I can do? I don't want to move them rooms, as the spare room currently houses my hamsters and isn't very big for the pen they have.

The second question I have is regarding bonding. How do you know when a pair are bonded? My 2 get on great - I've never seem them fighting, they seem to egg each other on alot, especially when they're just out of the hutch... Kitt will come back in for Jamie, who is a lot shyer, and seem to entice her out of her hutch. I've also found that, since introducing Kitt to Jamie (the day after Jamie was purchased), Jamie is alot more confident and less shy - and seems to love being handled. They also groom each other. These 2 are definately girls, but I'm concerned about the bonding as they're a weeks difference in age, purchased one day apart and one is a dwarf lop and the other a mini lop.

I hope someone can clear this up for me, I really do appreciate it.

Lou xx

hi, rabbits are crepuscular (sp) meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk (which is why you get the early wakeup call!!).
My rabbits seem to sleep and dose for most of the day, then run around like idiots in the evening.

A pair have definitely bonded when they BOTH groom each other. When i paired my two up, Buffy was grooming Henry a few days before he started to groom her. I didnt let them spend the night together in the cage until they were both grooming. This is the sign of true love!! They will start off sitting with each other and spending their time together, but its when they groom that you know they are truly bonded.

No need to worry about bonding if your two are already living together and happy. Bonding at that age doesn't usually cause problems anyway as they don't have the hormones yet to stir things up

I think an extra rabbit often helps the confidence. In the wild rabbits would share look out duties so with two sets or ears/eyes on the job they can be more relaxed. Plus if one buns does something the other usually wants to be involved too

Tam

yeah thats def true of my bunnies about them giving each other confidence. We had henry from a baby so he's really chilled out, but we got buffy when she was 8 months old as a rescue. she was always really skitty, and now she is so much better but is def better when henry is with her! She looks to him for support, bless her!