Alfie1010
Young Bun
Hi, I haven't been on here in a while but, we have a house bunny called Alfie, and we've had him about 3yrs now. We have just got a girl bunny as a friend for him as we go on holiday for 2 weeks every year and we have a neighbour come in and feed him but we always felt guilty leaving him. Our bunny is a male neutered rex, 3yrs old, and very friendly; the girl (who we have called Lily), is an unspayed lop 2yrs old. We are hoping that in time, they will be friends and will be happy together.
At the moment though, the girl seems rather solitary and not very confident; this is fine as we know that everything is new to her and needs to get used to her new home. We are just a little worried how long it might take as in her previous home, she was an indoor/outdoor bunny. In the summer, she lived in a hutch outside in the garden, by herself. In the winter, she lived (we were told), in her teenage daughters bedroom, I'm guessing in a cage. We don't know how much attention she received while with her previous owner and we didn't like to ask. We met the owner to collect her face to face and asked a few questions. She is rather timid and does seem rather alone, like she's not used to other bunnies, or having lots of human contact/attention. When we went to meet her owner and see the bunny, the owner said she grunts alot when you try to pick her up, but once you hold her, she is fine. This is exactly what happened when the owner picked her up - 'grunt, grunt, grunt.' Then she passed her to me, but she sat in my arms comfortably (despite me being a stranger), and didn't struggle or complain; she seemed quite happy
Now, we have only had her since Bank Holiday Monday so its her 3rd day in our house so, its really early days yet. She lives in a big cage in the dining room where Alfie lives (roaming free, and with his own cage etc), so he can go right up to smell her etc. Alfie goes right up to her cage and follows her when she moves about (so cute to watch), and she goes up to bars and they touch noses and make contact with each other. Other times, she ignores him, while he is trying to get her attention.
The reason I'm posting is to find out if she will become more confident? Will she stop grunting before being picked up? (I haven't picked her up since we brought her home though, as don't want to scare her). I stroke her when I feed her, and sometimes through the bars, I gently rub her nose; she seems ok for a few seconds, then runs away. I'm hoping for some advice for 1st time bonding, and any tips. We let her out last night to run around on a blanket (we have wooden floors, bit slippy). Alfie was on the other side of the child/pet gate that we have, dividing the dining room, and living room. She was very active running and hopping about and even stood on her hind legs and put her front paws on my knee (I was sat on the sofa). However, she did wee or spray the duvet quite a lot! I didn't see her do it though. There were quite a few patches on the blanket. Is this territory marking?? Will it stop if we get her spayed? Or will it calm down once she is more used to her new home?
I'm probably worrying over nothing but just want to make sure everything will be ok
At the moment though, the girl seems rather solitary and not very confident; this is fine as we know that everything is new to her and needs to get used to her new home. We are just a little worried how long it might take as in her previous home, she was an indoor/outdoor bunny. In the summer, she lived in a hutch outside in the garden, by herself. In the winter, she lived (we were told), in her teenage daughters bedroom, I'm guessing in a cage. We don't know how much attention she received while with her previous owner and we didn't like to ask. We met the owner to collect her face to face and asked a few questions. She is rather timid and does seem rather alone, like she's not used to other bunnies, or having lots of human contact/attention. When we went to meet her owner and see the bunny, the owner said she grunts alot when you try to pick her up, but once you hold her, she is fine. This is exactly what happened when the owner picked her up - 'grunt, grunt, grunt.' Then she passed her to me, but she sat in my arms comfortably (despite me being a stranger), and didn't struggle or complain; she seemed quite happy
Now, we have only had her since Bank Holiday Monday so its her 3rd day in our house so, its really early days yet. She lives in a big cage in the dining room where Alfie lives (roaming free, and with his own cage etc), so he can go right up to smell her etc. Alfie goes right up to her cage and follows her when she moves about (so cute to watch), and she goes up to bars and they touch noses and make contact with each other. Other times, she ignores him, while he is trying to get her attention.
The reason I'm posting is to find out if she will become more confident? Will she stop grunting before being picked up? (I haven't picked her up since we brought her home though, as don't want to scare her). I stroke her when I feed her, and sometimes through the bars, I gently rub her nose; she seems ok for a few seconds, then runs away. I'm hoping for some advice for 1st time bonding, and any tips. We let her out last night to run around on a blanket (we have wooden floors, bit slippy). Alfie was on the other side of the child/pet gate that we have, dividing the dining room, and living room. She was very active running and hopping about and even stood on her hind legs and put her front paws on my knee (I was sat on the sofa). However, she did wee or spray the duvet quite a lot! I didn't see her do it though. There were quite a few patches on the blanket. Is this territory marking?? Will it stop if we get her spayed? Or will it calm down once she is more used to her new home?
I'm probably worrying over nothing but just want to make sure everything will be ok