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my bonding nightmare, continued

sparklefairy

Wise Old Thumper
As a few of you may know, I have been having a nightmare trying to bond Storm with Aurora. Aurora had been living in a pen in storm's room. The 2 bunnies were ok, even sleeping side by side with the barrier between them. As soon as the barrier was lifted we had rolling fur flying fighting bunnies :( I tried the bath tub bonding, it kind of worked before, not this time. I tried the actual bath room. We had bunnies jumping into the bin and getting stuck behind the toilet :shock: i decided to leave it for a bit. I left aurora in the pen in storm's room and no more introductions for a while.

3 days ago, after I had cleaned the bunny room, I took storm out of the room to groom him and clip his nails. I opened the pen and let aurora hop round the room, as I have done each day, but this time I left the pen open when I put storm back into his room. Aurora was hopping, skipping and binkying all over the place. I had forgotten how fast and agile a young bunny could be. I guess storm had too. It has been a while since he has seen such behavior. His beloved gypsy was 10 years old. They had been together over 8 years, an old married couple. Maybe storm does not understand aurora's behavior? Maybe he is confused or even see's her sudden movement as a threat? I just don't know :?

I am not sure how well storm can see or hear these days. Aurora had been out of her pen for an hour and he didn't seem to notice her. She even went right up to him but it didn't register. It was only when aurora went right up to storm's face that he suddenly realised what was going on. He chased her away. Aurora seems to want to be friends. She kept going back to storm and he just chased her or tried to bite her. He even pulled some of her fur.
Despite this I left the pen open. Storm went to eat aurora's food, she went to eat from storm's bowl and they pooped in each other's poo trays. They pretty much ignore each other now:cry: I had bought aurora a little house, just incase she had to get away from storm. She goes inside some times, but she is not afraid to sleep in storms house too. Storm will still snap at aurora if she gets too close, but so far no fur pulling. I have been on night watch too. One advantage of having a baby who won't sleep. We can sit and watch bunnies at stupid o clock!
 
I have this theory about bunnies that they get very attuned to their partners. We would too if we lived in isolation with only one other person for years on end. When Norris and Nutmeg bonded fur flew for weeks. I was on the point of returning Nutmeg to the rescue as it was mainly his fur!

In the end, the weirdest thing happened when we went to stay with my parents at Christmas. They had slippy wooden floor which was mainly covered in huge rugs. Nutmegs paws are very fluffy, so when she stepped off the rugs to explore, Norris took advantage and wouldn't let her back on unless she kissed him! :love:

They became very bonded. Visitors to my house remarked on how in love he seemed, but it took time. She scoffed all of the pellets in one go, whereas he was a dapper little bunny who liked to graze on them all day. It took a while for him to lick her into shape, but they got there in the end.
 
Sounds very stressful :cry:. Hopefully the fact they're ignoring each other mostly is a good sign. Perhaps it just takes longer for some bunnies than others to establish the heirarchy, especially if they're used to another rabbit. I hope things improve.
 
To be honest it sounds pretty good if they're mostly ignoring each other and the room already belonged to storm.
Have you tried the old small neutral space thing? I started bonding yesterday and had a lot more success in a tiny 2x2ft pen than a 2x4ft pen because they simply couldn't run away from each other.
 
Bunnies are funny complex souls. I love to hear about how others managed to bond theirs and happy ever afters. I think that storm and gypsy were soul mates and so very in tune with each other. Aurora is so different. It will take storm time to adjust.
Yes I tried the small space bonding. First in the bath tub and then in our tiny bath room. Storm would get all defensive and they both got stressed and I also think they picked up on my nerves.
I am not sure why I decided that taking the side of the pen off was the best move :? It could have immediately gone so wrong! They are still ignoring each other, with the ocassional chase which doesn't go far as storm gives up chasing her. Bless them, I wish I knew what they were thinking
 
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