Harvey_Rabbit
New Kit
A little background:we have had our male neutered bunny Harvey for a year and a half now. We tried to bond him with another neutered male, Paul, was unsuccessful. We decided to let them live adjacent to each other as they did enjoy the comfort of seeing one another. Unfortunately Paul passed away suddenly from a suspected heart attack and I noticed Harvey genuinely seemed depressed. Just so happened a friend who runs a rescue was at full capacity and had a bunny dumped (barely still alive!) on her driveway in a sealed and taped up box so we took her in. She was spayed 3 and a half weeks ago and the vet gave us the thumbs up to mix them. It went pretty well, we mixed them first in the shower and Harvey nipped Bailey a few times- she hopped a way but it didn't scare her and she never hid or kept away from him, this went on successfully with no fights and no more nipping after the first 10 minutes from Harvey- think the session was 40 minutes in the end and ended with a very contented smush together! On the second day we repeated and they had a stand off, Harvey tried to push her out of the way to get some kale she was sat on and Bailey panicked and ducked her head down. They were left touching noses, both heads low and and Bailey decided to start grooming him. Harvey seemed a bit surprised but he completely relaxed and laid down! Genuinely think he had his head down just to shove her out of the way :lol: But anyway Bailey then hopped away and all was fine.
Today we decided to take them on a drive as nothing was really happening. Bailey isn't phased by being in a car so it seemed quite good at softening Harvey up. She moved around a little but he snuggled right into her. We then decided to try them in an outdoor pen (in the front garden where neither had been) and it seemed great! Bailey groomed harvey again and harvey also gave bailey a little groom when she requested it. There was then 2 seconds of mounting from Harvey to Bailey (didn't have to push him off, he hoped off himself before we had chance to count to 3!). We also think Bailey mounted Harvey for a second or two but she fell off so we weren't too sure if she was just climbing over him. She has a habit of climbing over him and Harvey is never phased.
We tried one more stress bonding, and before we had started driving (they were squished quite closed together) Harvey bunny flopped and she then proceeded to lay down sprawled out looking totally relaxed!
We were weighing up whether to keep them together tonight, they have now been in their neutral bonding space in the living room for 12 hours and as it's in a playpen with a towel on the ground we were weighing up moving them into the bedroom so we could keep an eye on them throughout the night. Neither have ever been in the bedroom so it would still be neutral.
Also we are a bit hesitant as to what to do next. They seem pretty bonded to me, grooming one another, deliberately going to snuggled with each other whenever they lay down and Harvey bunny flops into her when she's laying down. Usually she will then proceed to lick him!!
Bailey has been set up in the conservatory while Harvey has his kingdom of a 6 ft hutch, massive rectangle run on the patio and then two puppy play pens on the grass (all tube connected) also with a tube to the kitchen which is opened in bad weather. We've read about how it's not a good idea to give him too much space immediately so we have doors to shut off areas. But we're also concerned about the fact Harvey has been living in it for a year so surely is going to be naturally territorial? Sorry for the essay and thank you so much in advance for any replies! THankyou
Today we decided to take them on a drive as nothing was really happening. Bailey isn't phased by being in a car so it seemed quite good at softening Harvey up. She moved around a little but he snuggled right into her. We then decided to try them in an outdoor pen (in the front garden where neither had been) and it seemed great! Bailey groomed harvey again and harvey also gave bailey a little groom when she requested it. There was then 2 seconds of mounting from Harvey to Bailey (didn't have to push him off, he hoped off himself before we had chance to count to 3!). We also think Bailey mounted Harvey for a second or two but she fell off so we weren't too sure if she was just climbing over him. She has a habit of climbing over him and Harvey is never phased.
We tried one more stress bonding, and before we had started driving (they were squished quite closed together) Harvey bunny flopped and she then proceeded to lay down sprawled out looking totally relaxed!
We were weighing up whether to keep them together tonight, they have now been in their neutral bonding space in the living room for 12 hours and as it's in a playpen with a towel on the ground we were weighing up moving them into the bedroom so we could keep an eye on them throughout the night. Neither have ever been in the bedroom so it would still be neutral.
Also we are a bit hesitant as to what to do next. They seem pretty bonded to me, grooming one another, deliberately going to snuggled with each other whenever they lay down and Harvey bunny flops into her when she's laying down. Usually she will then proceed to lick him!!
Bailey has been set up in the conservatory while Harvey has his kingdom of a 6 ft hutch, massive rectangle run on the patio and then two puppy play pens on the grass (all tube connected) also with a tube to the kitchen which is opened in bad weather. We've read about how it's not a good idea to give him too much space immediately so we have doors to shut off areas. But we're also concerned about the fact Harvey has been living in it for a year so surely is going to be naturally territorial? Sorry for the essay and thank you so much in advance for any replies! THankyou
