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Bonding - U/D HELP WITH MILES PLEASE!

UPDATE 20:40

Okay, things have been calm for almost 3 hours now. They're still ignoring each other, but there's no fighting. I'm going to go in there in an hour or so and clean up the fur , wee and poo that is now covering the floor in there and creating quite a smell (Miles is like his Dad - stinky poos!! :lol:)

I'll keep the updates coming! Thanks again for all your help everyone! :D

AMETHYST
 
:roll: Don't envy you the cleaning up!! I remember my bathroom the following morning ...... :shock: All worth it though!!
 
Update: 9:00am 03.01.07

Righty, update! Great news!! :D They have all made friends with each other except for Miles who still hates everyone apart from Miffy! :roll: His trouble is he seems to lunge at the other rabbits before he even works out who they are (so yes, sometimes Miffy gets lunged at before he realises it's her!). But Rocket - what a breakthrough!! Yesterday he was grumpy and aggressive, and he lunged at all the other rabbits including China! This morning though, I saw Benny grooming him, and all 5 of the rabbits other than Miles were happily interacting together! :)

Progress, methinks! I just have to persevere!

AMETHYST
 
Well done! Perseverance is definately the way forward - Miles will come round! Keep us updated and get some photos on!!!!!
 
UPDATE 9:00am 04/01/07

Miles is still causing trouble! He seems to be generally okay with Rocket, but he's very aggressive (lunging, scrapping a bit) with Benny and he also lunges at the others too. All the others are really good friends now! It's so lovely to see Rocket being groomed by Domino, and Miffy snuggling up with Benny! :D

Does anyone have any tips to get Miles and Benny to like each other? Benny is only aggressive when Miles has already started the fight :?

Thanks!

AMETHYST
 
I think you have to remember that rabbits won't always get along just because you want them to and because groups work for others. I planned to bond my 5 but Joey would get jealous of other buns going near Nina and she'd do the same, and Squishy would squabble with Rex and Mary as soon as he saw another bun near him! The closest I got was Mary cuddling Nina, and even then she got stroppy all of a sudden when Joey got near and chased Mary off.
Chasing, mounting etc is all part of bonding but I think if one bun was very hesitant to interact with the others and was aggressively lunging at them, I'd be wary about keeping them as a group.
 
Is he actually hurting any of the others? Or is it more just chasing them off?
I'm not sure you can do very much except be patient. It really is early days so it may just take more time. Leave them to it for a few more days and see how they go.
 
Spacegirl said:
Is he actually hurting any of the others? Or is it more just chasing them off?
Click to expand...

Definitely just chasing them off. As soon as they're out of his personal space he leaves them alone. Just grunts and lunges until they leave! :roll:

Spacegirl said:
I'm not sure you can do very much except be patient. It really is early days so it may just take more time. Leave them to it for a few more days and see how they go.
Click to expand...

I'll leave them all a few more days, but I'm not quite sure what to do if he still doesn't like them. Miffy, his bonded partner, has made friends with all the others and I'd feel bad about splitting her from the group, but obviously I can't leave Miles on his own.

When they're bonded they will all have full run of the living room/kitchen which is stacks of space so they can easily get away and stay away from each other. Would that be okay if Miles was still just grumpy and lunged a bit when the others got close, or would you advise against this?

Thanks again!

AMETHYST
 
As I don't have any experience with groups of this size I'm not sure I can really say :?
I would think though that its definitley worth letting them get on with it for a while more to see. It may be that he just tolerates the others - I guess not all buns will become loved up! The dynamics may also change again when they go back into the permanent living space so he may feel happier there?
I would stick with it and see what happens - over all I think they're doing pretty well so far :D
 
Spacegirl said:
How are they doing now?
Click to expand...

Same as! :roll: Miles just hates his space being invaded, but he never attacks the others just "because", so I guess that's good. Miffy has been putting Miles in his place as well... by humping him! :shock: :lol: It's very funny! She does it if he's been aggressive towards the others, and it shuts him up! :lol:

We're going to leave them in until tomorrow evening, and then let them back in here if there's no change or there's an improvement. Tomorrow we'll be cleaning the whole living room with a vinegar solution to get rid of any bunny smells, doing the same with the hutches, and letting them out in different areas of the room than they're used to. Hopefully Miles will just learn to tolerate the others as long as they don't invade his personal space!!

Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted!

AMETHYST
 
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