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Bonding 5 2.0 + dealing with severe fear aggression

tlcwrites

Mama Doe
Spoilers, but all I'm getting for my birthday is a Blueberry Muffin... ;) Which I will be renaming of course. :p

This time, I'm bonding 1 into 4.

Yuki's been very unsettled since Arce's passing. Although he's taken comfort in my darling Elphie, it isn't quite enough for him. :roll:

So, we'll be welcoming a long-termer Honeybunny into the family. "Blueberry Muffin" - now Enfys, pronounced "En-viss" has been at Honeybunnies for in excess of a year. She has severe fear aggression (and I mean severe) which has obviously put off adopters/only received offers for homes which weren't right for her for all this time. Apparently she's made very little progress, too. However, I wanted to adopt a hard-to-home rabbit in the wake of Arce's passing (but only as the group has been unsettled) because it tugs at my heartstrings and I think we're up to the challenge.

Whilst I've dealt - and deal with - fear aggression (due to blindness) in lovely Morning, I just want to know if anyone had any tips or tricks for helping her out. Aside from endless patience and taking it incredibly slowly, of course!

As for bonding, this time, the suspects are:

Enfys Blueberry Muffin - Opal otter dwarf/mini lop
Elphie - Blue self dwarf lop
Morningstar - Blue white marked rabbit
Niji Taco (aka Potato) - Sable nethie-cross rabbit
Yuki Winter - white agouti marked blue-eyed rabbit
 
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No experience /advice but hoping it all goes well. Lovely reasons why you are trying x

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Oh how exciting! I saw her on the website when I fell in love with Loganberry. I do hope it all works out. She looks gorgeous!
 
Oh how exciting! I saw her on the website when I fell in love with Loganberry. I do hope it all works out. She looks gorgeous!

I love(d) Loganberry from his pictures too, which made me extra pleased he got such a good home with you (and the lovely Moondust). To be fair, Marsala's whole litter was stunning, as was mama bun herself.

I knew Enfys had been there a while, but hadn't seen a pic of her for a little bit, when I enquired. For a little while, we had a toss-up between 2 does, both lops: Beechnut and our girl. OH liked Beech (but I believe she's been rehomed too now) but I felt for Blue/Enfys as she'd been there so long because of her fear aggression. Ultimately, that's why we swayed to her because we KNEW Beech would be easier to home. And as Jill felt comfortable that we were aware and willing to face up to her challenges, she came home today. :)

OH is completely smitten but denying it. She has "Arce eyes" which helps. (Brown eyes, ringed with white fur, making them look even larger than a lop's eyes normally look.) She is cute as a button and really curious about everything. But even if she looks like butter wouldn't melt, we know difficulties could very well lay ahead soon.
 
Sending loads of vibes for your bonding. It is so lovely that you have adopted this rabbit and given her a wonderful new home.
 
Day One - 11.45an

Been a bit of a dramatic morning, but finally... peace. Of sorts.

OH is now not the only one particularly interested or enamoured with Enfys Button. Niji is mostly just trying to keep out of the way, been busy eating etc. Same with Elphie, really.

Miss Morning and Enfys are both pretty stressy. I'm not surprised at either of these. Morning has fear aggression due to being blind, and bonding naturally exacerbates it. However, sweet girl is very submissive and has now flopped out in a corner. Enfys gets startled by almost anything. She has given Elphie a hump. Mostly she's staying huddled in the corner by the drinker. She and Morning had a bit of a scrap; I'm not surprised, given that they are the 2 stressheads.

Right now, the original quad are cuddled up in the corner. Morning is grooming and has groomed her Elphie.

All things considered, I'm reasonably happy with how things are as a start. I usually expect a few scuffles right at the beginning as everyone adjusts to new surroundings and new faces.

https://youtu.be/UBbHAHjlxO0
 
Day One - 8.40pm

Still occasional scuffles but lovely little Enfys is beginning to ask for (and receive) and give out grooms. Mostly to and from Yuki. She asked Elphie too, but she's barking up the wrong tree there. :lol: Boys are unsettled with one another occasionally but hoping this time in a bonding pen re-settles then. The made charges round in panic are normally started by Enfys, Morning, or Niji. Yuki is currently laying next to Enfys right now. He is pretty enamoured still. :love:

OH is smitten and still denying it.

I've taken another video today but it'll be uploaded tomorrow. I'm in lots of pain today. :(
 
Sorry to hear you are in pain.

Lovely to see Enfys with rabbit company. See what you mean about her lovely big white ringed eyes. Hope all continues to go well.
 
I hope you are feeling better tomorrow. Fingers crossed bonding will go well :thumb:
 
Day Two - 11.15am

Enfys and Morning still occasionally startle each other. They are all settling and relationships are getting better over time. Yuki and Enfys are particularly getting on well which is so lovely. :love: Curious girlie is curious, and incredibly fastidious with her grooming. I've even seen her sploof briefly now! Right now everyone is really chilled. I just hope they can stop startling one another!

https://youtu.be/mnF8JGUs88A (last night)

https://youtu.be/e8dwcm7uFhc (today)

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Wow Yuri really does love her he doesn't seem to be far from her at all hiding by pics and vids :love:

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Day 3 - 11.40am

Enfys has occasionally tried to assert dominance. Poor old Elphie often gets caught in the fray, often ending up on her back briefly. :( It really highlights just how frail the poor girl can be these days. As usual, we've had the whole Morning and Enfys starting each other off on occasion, and that's when things happen. But, none of it has been particularly fear inducing in terms of the future of the bond. I do think that Morning and Enfys simply need to work out their boundaries with one another, and that is only something that will come out over time. Because they are both easily spooked, it starts each other off, and as the space is so small it catches everyone up. I think I might move them into the next phase tomorrow in spite of this, because it might actually help with when things get overwhelming.

Yuki remains smitten, of course. He absolutely adores her. There's been lots of grooming involving Enfys, including Elphie actually grooming her briefly. Same with Yuki and Niji both giving and receiving them from her. The only rabbit that doesn't really interact with her is, of course, Morning. And as I hoped, Yuki and Niji are irritating each other less. So, over all, I am happy.

And also, yesterday, this happened:

https://youtu.be/frwieP5jxxk

8d5Ga6q.jpg
 
Oh wow, just adorable!! Looks like it’s all heading in the right direction. Fingers crossed that they all continue to behave themselves and moving into phase 2 is successful!
 
It's been a while but I thought I should update. They are still all together and doing well.

Given how skittish Enfys and Morning are, I eventually decided to throw the rulebook out the window and try things differently. About 2 weeks ago, I unblocked their pipe and gave them their entire space. Including a little more than previously used to. Enfys is a lot happier knowing she has a safe place to dart - into the pipe. Morning can now go up and downstairs to her heart's content (although blind, she's the only one who does! Aside from Elphie, we occasionally take downstairs the boys and even Enfys.) And they are all doing well together, in spite of the heat. Doing this has more-or-less eradicated all of the chasing and squabbling. I couldn't be happier. I think Arce's happy too; she sent me a white feather, clinging to my car door.

Enfys will never not be a timid bunny, but today, I gave Elphie her pain relief and tried to sneak some pellets. All 5 begged for some, INCLUDING Enfys Button. She even happily rested her paws on my knee and gently accepted a couple of pellets. I'm so proud of them. :love:
 
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