48hrs into Bonding....I'm a jibbering wreck ! U/D .day 4...pics too.. day 8

[PippinWarren]

Bonding has to be the most stressful thing ever. All the rescues and bonders out there deserve a medal as big as a dustbin lid.
I'm new here today (please visit my introduction post for background) and are hoping someone will hold our hand through this as I so want to get it right.

I started my bonding on Monday this week on the veranda of the Wendy House (as they are both outdoor buns), I sat with the bunsters all day outside in the freezing cold and just kept a watchful eye on them. Firstly I seperated them for 10 mins with a mesh screen and then gently removed it. They were quite reasonable and did all the normal stuff chasing, sniffing, humping, sharing food from a bowl, sharing a big pile of hay. However whenever dusk approached their behaviour changed She started running away and he became an insistant head humper.

I know this can be dangerous so I kept having to move him off. As a result I had to put them back in their seperate hutches at night. After 2 days I could not hack the cold so spoke to our lovely rescue lady Angie from BARC :wavepatience of a saint) and decided to continue the bonding indoors in a extra large dog crate. So since 11am Wednesday they have been indoors and we have sat with them night and day (OH kindly did last nights shift)

McVitie is insistant on humping Misty's head so I keep having to take him off, he grunts too and fur pulls. This has made Misty skittish and she is now constantly running away if he approaches her. When he settles and stops trying to hump her they are quite happy to sit together, grooming has happened but not frequent to say they are grooming.

Just wondering if Ive got this right and when can I expect either a brawl or kisses? Any advice would be great.

 

[lucy24]

hello:wave: just have a few questions to start. are they both neutered? is the crate they are being bonded in completely neutral, as in they have never been in it before?make sure everything in the bonding are hasnt been used previously as sometimes this can cause problems. otherwise i think all this is generallyt normal although every bond is different. im not the most experienced on here but i did my 2 a few months back. your doing the right thing as regards head humping and keeping them supervised over night etc...:thumb: what do you have in the pen? as eating is a social activity i put a large pile of hay in the middle with scattered pellets and fresh food.you can have a look at my bonding thread if you like.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?314281-bonding-begins-)DAY-4-question-p28

 

[chul]

When I bonded my two, Bunsk humped Belle so much she was scared of him, ran away from him and even jumped out of the pen a few times. I left mine to it, keeping an eye on them, and they settled in a couple of days. Good luck!

 

[PippinWarren]

hello:wave: just have a few questions to start. are they both neutered? is the crate they are being bonded in completely neutral, as in they have never been in it before?make sure everything in the bonding are hasnt been used previously as sometimes this can cause problems. otherwise i think all this is generallyt normal although every bond is different. im not the most experienced on here but i did my 2 a few months back. your doing the right thing as regards head humping and keeping them supervised over night etc...:thumb: what do you have in the pen? as eating is a social activity i put a large pile of hay in the middle with scattered pellets and fresh food.you can have a look at my bonding thread if you like.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?314281-bonding-begins-)DAY-4-question-p28

Hi Lucy :wave:yes both are neutered/speyed. Misty is only one who has been in crate after her spey overnight but it has been neutralised with vinegar solution. By day McVitie generally is docile, sleeps or tries to cuddle by dark he's a bonking machine. Misty by day panics, thumps feet and runs around cage.

The cage has water bottles, dishes with food x 2, newspaper and piles of hay. Nothing else

How long should I keep them inside? When will I know its the right time to put them in Wendy House together overnight?

 

[lucy24]

i was told that until they have been ok with eachother-no fights etc... for 48-72hrs its best to keep them where they are. until your confident that they're arent going to be a risk to eachother on there own. Misty sounds like honey lol she thumped and all that as well so its all sounds very normal-just persevere they are probably still working out the heirarhcy (ehem i cant spell haha) :wave:

 

[PippinWarren]

Would I need to expect set back when I put them out into the Wendy house? So far, no fights but they are sometimes snuggling and sometimes ignoring each other. Misty sits with her ears pinned firmly back most of the time thats when she isn't running away from humpy McVitie

 

[Elena]

Have you neutralised the wendy house too? Sometimes accommodation that a previous rabbit has been in can unsettle the bond, as can simply moving to a new area, especially if it's larger. Reducing the space for a while can help, and then gradually increasing it.

 

[PippinWarren]

Have you neutralised the wendy house too? Sometimes accommodation that a previous rabbit has been in can unsettle the bond, as can simply moving to a new area, especially if it's larger. Reducing the space for a while can help, and then gradually increasing it.

McVitie has had the run of the Wendy House but I plan to fully scrub and neutralise it before I put them in together and as I have CCTV I plan to just give them the inside space to start with. Would this be ok?

 

[Elena]

McVitie has had the run of the Wendy House but I plan to fully scrub and neutralise it before I put them in together and as I have CCTV I plan to just give them the inside space to start with. Would this be ok?

That should be fine. I would keep a good eye on them not only for scrapping but also because a few days inside and then out in the cold again can spark off health issues sometimes. Have you been able to keep the room they are in unheated and cool?

 

[PippinWarren]

.... 60 hrs in ...

60 hrs in and mostly calm on the western front McVitie is calming down with the humping. The pair have been laid together, feeding together and a little grooming but since McVitie has become frisky again Misty is running rather than waiting to find out what he wants. He did creep near to her very gently and laid stretched out next to her for a little while.

They are now sat in opposite corners of the dog crate! Sulking maybe?

I just know they going to wait until bedtime and then kick off. Tonights going to be the first night without the lamp on.......oooooo scary...... for me not the buns....I won't be able to see them EEEEK! :shock:

 

[PippinWarren]

......nearly 84hrs in.......

Well I expected last night to be fun and games without the light on but it was pretty calm.

Today I can see Love is in the air. They both been laid side by side all day. With the odd sneaky grooming. Misty does not run as much because McVitie is not trying to hump as much.......OOO he is such a good boy.

Misty's ears are still pinned flat back though, I'm not sure what this means? Can any rabbit language peeps help?

 

[PippinWarren]

......nearly 4 full days in ......

Well last night was fine as far as I know... I went to bed and left them to it. Checked on them early doors and all was calm.

So I've moved them out into their Wendy House this morning they spent the day investigating their new house and chasing around binkying like loonies. Dont think they have sat together for 5 mins!

Darkness has fallen and so far so good they seem to be settling although Misty Moo has decided to take up the full bed, McVitie has just managed to claim a corner:lol:

Think this is the start of a new marriage , fingers crossed it stays that way.

Anyone one know what a female is doing when she is flicking her tail?

 

[PippinWarren]

Pics of the new bunny house and the buns are in !

Not sure how many pics I can post but here goes.

The new bunny house still under development huge run to built on side.

Lets go inside

Lower Floor

The water bottle

Bed area

Newly Married couple moving in.

McVitie Heads straight for the bedroom!

Yep the bed is comfy...Wifey come here.

Erm hang on I need to check out the loo !

Yep that seems nice and clean

Think we going to be happy here

 

[lilgems91]

Wow their house look so lovely. they are very lucky bunnies :wave:

 

[happybun]

they look lovely, and their accommodation is so luxurious! i've really enjoyed reading this. if someone could now bond a four, and write about it, just to give me confidence for the christmas holidays...:shock:

 

[PippinWarren]

Wow their house look so lovely. they are very lucky bunnies :wave:

Oh we haven't done yet. There are plans on the drawing board for an upper floor and outside run.

We have modified the Bed area already this morning, we have extended it as Misty was taking up the whole bed. So they now have Kingsize bed :lol:

 

[PippinWarren]

they look lovely, and their accommodation is so luxurious! i've really enjoyed reading this. if someone could now bond a four, and write about it, just to give me confidence for the christmas holidays...:shock:

Ha Ha here here, I'm so tempted to do a four but I will wait for someone else to give us a blow by blow account first. Plus don't want to upset the apple cart with the newly wed's

 

[PippinWarren]

nearly 8 days in to bonding

Well the bunsters have been bonding for nearly 8 days now, but day 4 of them in the shed........ Misty Moo (doe) appears to be running away from Mcvitie (buck) wagging her tail at him. She is such a tease. He (McVitie) is dying to snuggle with her but as soon as he gets close with his grunting and chin rubbing she bolts and wags her tail at him.
There has been no fighting at all, question is will these too ever be head over heels in love or will they just be in agreement to live together? Has anyone any experience of this?
McVitie is so dying to snuggle with Misty.

 

[lucy24]

sounds good to me mine took about a month to groom each other so give it time and they will be complete love birds oh sorry lovebuns, in no time

 

[Bumblebee Megatron]

Wow - amazing! Really enjoyed reading this and looking at the photos. Their new place is amazing!!! I feel bad that I haven't provided anything the same for my boys.

Please can I ask - do you think I will ever be able to bond my two bucks? One is 4 and the other 2.5 years old. Both neutered. I tried a couple of years ago, started off okay but then they started on each other. The youngest kept humping the eldests head and in the end the older one had enough and tried to bite him (but luckily I put my hand in the way - ouch). We tried on neutral territory too.

We gave up trying as it was really stressful, horrible to watch and we didn't want to risk injuries.

Do we try again? They see each other every day as they live outside next to each other, they have free run of the garden so see each other that way. Some times the will have a go at each other through the bars so have to put stuff in the way

You think it's best we give up? I hate it as we got the second one so the eldest had a companion so find it really sad.

I wish that there was a centre near by to take them too but there isn't.

Well done with your bonding though and I hope you don't mind me asking on your thread.