bunny has been sad since bonding

[doobles]

hello!

i am newbie so hello to all :wave:

i was wondering if somebody could help? we have a make rabbit called doobles. he LOVES snuggles and is incredibly affectionate. we originally got him to bond with our female but she passed away only two weeks into the bond (she was heart broken at loosing her previous partner). so then doobles was a house bunny with a bedroom all to himself. he was a very happy sole and binky'ed more than i have ever seen a rabbit binky. he loves being downstairs with and he has his own asualt course that he loves to run over and over and over in the front room. however when we returned from work every day it would take us a couple of hours to get him out of his lonely depression. he seemed very sad if left in his room all day.....which was 5 days a week.

so in comes jojo! a lovely young bouncy girl also from the rescue centre. bonding was immediate. she is the boss and he is fine with that. they groom, follow each other and sit together etc. They don't snuggle too much yet but it really is a great bond. however......... they have been together two weeks now and doobles has not done a single binky. even though he seems happy-ish, he seems to have lost all of his spirit and it's really sad to see. i feel as though i have actually made him more unhappy...... but by trying to do the right thing. he is still eating like a trooper, but he really isn't himself.

do you think i just need to give him more time to get used to the set up and that he now has to share the house.....and us? we give equal attention to both bunnies. i have always been obsessed with rabbits so if i'm in the house - i'm playing with them!

any help or tips to cheer the wee lad up would be great

thanks

 

[bunslave]

Hi :wave: I think it's still very early days and they're still in the courtship phase. As Jojo seems to be the dominant one he's bound to be a bit quieter. I feel some bonds develop and strengthen over time rather than overnight. Is he still being snuggley with you?

 

[doobles]

thanks for the reply. Yes, he is still being a big softy with us..... he drops his food for snuggles! He still licks us all the time as well. It's just hard to see him sat there looking on into space when usually he doesn't know which way to flip next. I think you are right though.......maybe I am expecting too much of him too soon.

 

[VickiP]

thanks for the reply. Yes, he is still being a big softy with us..... he drops his food for snuggles! He still licks us all the time as well. It's just hard to see him sat there looking on into space when usually he doesn't know which way to flip next. I think you are right though.......maybe I am expecting too much of him too soon.

Awww I'm sure he'll relax a bit more in time, maybe lots of TLC will help him

 

[Tamsin]

I don't think the lack of binkies necessarily translates to being unhappy. They are perhaps just going through an adjustment period. It maybe that Jojo is still settling in and isn't ready for binkies yet and as a attentive partner that means Doobles is staying close and not doing them either.

Laying around snuggling with his new companion can be just as much a sign of happiness as bouncing about