What to do for Leo?

Leo is dumb basically :lol: It's not his fault, I think his stroke/EC and the fact he had very little human contact for 5 years went towards this. The things he does are just :shock: sometimes.

He is the problem with the bonding though. I haven't started yet but he was the one going for Kerbie, he is the one that sulks. Whenever I go into their room he is running all over the place, getting under your feet and 3 times now he has practically sat in his bowl and kicked the water everywhere. He was never handled so makes horrible squeaking noises when we have to get him to dry him off. It hasn't happened for a few days thankfully..

If I catch him asleep though, because he is deaf, I can do the litter trays and everything before he realises and starts 'acting up'. It's just getting worse though. Him and Kerbie are fine with the puppy pen separating them, no aggression or anything. But once Leo starts darting about, so does Kerbie.

I just don't know what to do :? We can't really have a pair and single in that room if Charley and Kerbie are fine together, but there is no where else for him to go if the trio didn't work. I'm not allowed any more rabbits and the only place left is Charley's hutch and run.

Needed to write this down, no one irl is listening to me and as cute and soppy as Leo is, I could bop him on the head right now! :lol:

Arrggghh, why can't rabbits behave and get on :evil: :lol:

I empathize. Mimzy is deaf and as such very hard to 'communicate' with. I love him dearly but there are times I wish I could get him to hear me again so I could sit him down for a telling off. :roll: I've been trying to do a little 'stealth bonding' between him and Fiver and I can already see he's going to be a stubborn git about it. He just has become too aggressive since his head tilt two years ago.

I think any bunny with a disability tends to be a bit more 'bullish' with other bunnies and humans. They have to make themselves look tough. I've handled Mimzy most of his life and he was almost bonded with Pip when we first had them together but his constant URI's frightened me that he'd make Pip sick...long story short a certain lop bunny I know is likely going to be single to the end.

I feel your pain. ((((((((((Hugs))))))))) I wish I had an easy solution.

MimzMum said:

I empathize. Mimzy is deaf and as such very hard to 'communicate' with. I love him dearly but there are times I wish I could get him to hear me again so I could sit him down for a telling off. :roll: I've been trying to do a little 'stealth bonding' between him and Fiver and I can already see he's going to be a stubborn git about it. He just has become too aggressive since his head tilt two years ago.

I think any bunny with a disability tends to be a bit more 'bullish' with other bunnies and humans. They have to make themselves look tough. I've handled Mimzy most of his life and he was almost bonded with Pip when we first had them together but his constant URI's frightened me that he'd make Pip sick...long story short a certain lop bunny I know is likely going to be single to the end.

I feel your pain. ((((((((((Hugs))))))))) I wish I had an easy solution.

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He gets in there first, he was going for Kerbie when Kerbie was just hopping by him so then Kerbie would retaliate. And because Leo is much bigger than Kerbie, he would just flip him in the air :roll: I didn't like Leo for a few days after that, he is the biggest ditz ever but he is the worst bunny bully I have when he wants to be. Even worse than Lola and she is a complete terror sometimes!

They are both incredibly food driven too, I would scatter feed but Kerbie would sit on the pellets and Leo would flip him out of the way so Kerbie would try and flip Leo back :roll: Had to hand feed after that!

Deep down I think my dumbo lop bunny will be a singleton too.. but he was fine with Kerbie for nearly a year. Ideally I could do with another rabbit and go for a quad! All he does is sleep really. I just have no idea where we would put him if it didn't work.. Grrrr! :lol:

Could you make a quad with Poppy, Charlie, Leo and Kerbie? It may help the bucks bond to have two around (may).

It did the trick with Frosty and Snowflake. Snowflake was willing to let Frosty be the boss, thankfully.

I think Mottle may be hard of hearing. He sounds very similar to Leo.

Hope you find a solution.

tulsi said:

Could you make a quad with Poppy, Charlie, Leo and Kerbie? It may help the bucks bond to have two around (may).

It did the trick with Frosty and Snowflake. Snowflake was willing to let Frosty be the boss, thankfully.

I think Mottle may be hard of hearing. He sounds very similar to Leo.

Hope you find a solution.

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Unfortunately not Leo, Kerbie and Charley would just eat all of her food and because she can't eat hay, she needs access to pellets 24/7. I tried bonding her with Leo before and it breaks my heart thinking about it now because she loved snuggling with him, but 1) he was thick as anything and this was before he got ill and 2) he just ate all of her food. She needs a toothless husbun really, or one that can be around food all the time. If I could find one then I could probably beg a bit because all she wants is a bunny friend

Aly&Poppy<3 said:

Unfortunately not Leo, Kerbie and Charley would just eat all of her food and because she can't eat hay, she needs access to pellets 24/7. I tried bonding her with Leo before and it breaks my heart thinking about it now because she loved snuggling with him, but 1) he was thick as anything and this was before he got ill and 2) he just ate all of her food. She needs a toothless husbun really, or one that can be around food all the time. If I could find one then I could probably beg a bit because all she wants is a bunny friend

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I'm sure Furry Friends in Coulsdon have some toothless bunnies in (I think they do!)

Aly&Poppy<3 said:

Unfortunately not Leo, Kerbie and Charley would just eat all of her food and because she can't eat hay, she needs access to pellets 24/7. I tried bonding her with Leo before and it breaks my heart thinking about it now because she loved snuggling with him, but 1) he was thick as anything and this was before he got ill and 2) he just ate all of her food. She needs a toothless husbun really, or one that can be around food all the time. If I could find one then I could probably beg a bit because all she wants is a bunny friend

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Awww. Perhaps you could ring round rescues and tell them you are on the lookout for one, you never know ...

It's like a soap opera :lol:

If they like food, you could try scatter feeding veggies instead of pellets - it's a bit bigger so easier to tug out from under big feet.

The other thing, which teeth is she missing? Just the front teeth and the chopping is the main issue so it would be worth trying fresh grass chopped to an inch or so. If that doesn't work, chop it down a bit further. If she's chewing pellets up okay I'd expect her to manage on the grass. If it works you could get the two of them together and just separate her for half on hour an pellet time so she can eat her fill in piece. (Obviously introduce the grass gradually and build up slowly).

I think lots of people on here have bunnies that don't eat hay bonded with buns that do. Maybe ask how they manage it? I would think that separating her, as Tamsin mentioned, would be the best thing if she were bonded. Not eating hay shouldn't prevent her from having a friend, especially if she wants a friend.

She has one front tooth and 3 back teeth, I've tried everything to get her eating other things but she just looks like she's eating it and it comes straight back out again all soggy. I chop things up and she just sniffs them. I tried cutting up some readigrass for her last night but after an initial sniff she wasn't interested

I know she needs a friend and I know she wants a friend, but I'm still living at home and have people around me who don't get the fact they need their own kind. That's why she's in the bedroom so she gets loads of attention. I did find a rabbit before who was the same as Poppy, looked exactly the same too just with lop ears, but he had already been rehomed If it were up to me she would have a husbun right now, but I constantly have everyone saying no more to me It literally makes me feel like the worse bunny mom ever because I can't give her what she wants

Have you tried actual fresh grass? It's quite different in texture to hay/readigrass.

Tamsin said:

Have you tried actual fresh grass? It's quite different in texture to hay/readigrass.

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Yeah she just won't touch it she did when I first gave it to her but it went in her mouth and came back out again, they were only teeny bits too. Every other attempt since has been ignored, or sat on:roll:

Aly&Poppy<3 said:

Yeah she just won't touch it she did when I first gave it to her but it went in her mouth and came back out again, they were only teeny bits too. Every other attempt since has been ignored, or sat on:roll:

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What about forage?

You are not a bad bunny Mam, she gets lots of attention from you, so she won't be very lonely.