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Re: fostering **update page 11**

Thank you Sky-O. Well, I got a text at about mid afternoon saying that on Sunday, she was doing an adoption handover and she got contacted on Monday by the person to say they had just tested positive! So understandably she decided it would be best to postpone whilst she herself tests. Hopefully she will come round all being well, towards the end of this week.
Bugsy is doing ok. It’s very warm for him and we are doing all we can to keep his set up cool. He had a run out this morning after Flo - who I must say was noticeably calmer after the amazing pedicure she had on Monday - she’s never been that calm before. She knows bugsy is about - and is getting keener to go and ‘investigate’ but they are being kept firmly apart. Bugsy is a pellet monster so he’s on very small amounts - which he wallops down. He supplements this with whatever is left growing in the scorched garden.
I’m still finding it incredibly hard to take it all in tho.
Craig x
 
I’m super glad your friend was sensible, and also that Flo was super chilled. She did really well.

Glad to hear Bugsy is all ok too- funny little chap that he is.

Hopefully you’ll feel more settled in time, as you move through their bonding process and your own grief.
 
Some of my bunnies never met a pellet they didn't like! My Heidi, Amber, and Zorro will take them from me one by one, so pellets may be the way to get Bugsie to trust you.
It is good he is eating!
 
Bugsys been here a week exactly now. I think given the circumstances, he’s coped remarkably well. He had been at his previous foster carers one month exactly so the move to us was hugely unsettling for him as he had only just got used to a routine there. It probably explains the lack of appetite at first and the lack of poop, which I’m glad to say is very much resolved. Ooh - he’s just run under my sun lounger bed as I’m typing! It’s been a difficult week for him - ooh, he’s having a big old drink of water from his bowl now too.
Yes so it’s been a hard week for him as the weather has been horrendously hot every day. Over 30 degrees every day and he has found that hard despite our efforts to keep his area cool. He can’t enjoy the lawn because it’s just baked grass but he forages crispy triffid leaves where he can. He has a defined toilet area which has a mound of poops. I’ve slept outside opposite him the last 2 nights plus tonight and tomorrow and I tell you the noise of the freight trains during the night here is horrendous so he’s doing very well to not let that noise get to him through the night.
I cleaned both bunnies areas out today in an effort to move things on. Bugsys hutch didn’t have a single bum nugget or wee in it. Not one. So I’ve put some of flos hay and straw in his hutch and there’s plenty of Flo mines in with that. I’m flos toilet area I’ve put a liberal helping of bugsy bombs so she can get used to the smell. Bugsy was most curious when I was cleaning everything out in 34 degree heat and insisted on a sniff of flos toilet box outside - which he did.
What we will do now is keep the metal divider fence up as it is and then let bugsy in his secure run by his hutch then let Flo out so they both see each other outside but neither have any sort of contact. I’ll have to watch flos body language as well as bugsys. I may do this tonight or tomorrow but this will be what happens for the next week - which thankfully is getting cooler - only mid 20s by next week. Then we create a no mans land barrier by the metal fence and let them get closer still without any contact or chance of. See how that goes.
We’ll also do some swapping of areas for brief periods to see how that develops.
Our friend from the rescue came round on Thursday and was pleased with how bugsy had settled.
That’s where we are at the moment. I’ll do some video when I’m not feeling fed up and hot.
Craig x
 
Quick update as I haven't posted anything for a while. Flo and Bugsy have been living in a co-habital state for the last 2 weeks. They greet in the morning at the fence, share breakfast either side of the fence and then sort of go their seperate way. Flo sits outside for a few hours and Bugsy tends to stay out all day (Jan is on holiday) and then tea time Flo comes out and they have tea either side of the fence and both tend to stay out til about 7:30pm when I put bugsy away (usually under some considerable protest).
I have been swapping items and stuff but neither have met. Flo has been in Bugsy's patch, Bugsy in Flos. Flo is happier in Bugsy's area but Bugsy is definately more aprehensive in Flo's and does seem thrown by it. But the co-habiting status cannot go on and I do not have the self confidence to facilitate any bunny to bunny liaison and so I am at state of limbo. They obviously cannot continue like this and so I called upon teh rescue centre to help.
Tonight - in about 15minutes to be exact, their bunny bonding expert is coming round hopefully to supervise some sort of introduction. I have no idea how it will work, or what will happen. Things are not ideal as we have no neutral area but from what I can see both Flo and Bugsy seem relatively comfortable either side of their fence line.
I will update the thread once we have had the expert round and see what happened. It might be good or it might not.
CRaig
 
Quick update as I haven't posted anything for a while. Flo and Bugsy have been living in a co-habital state for the last 2 weeks. They greet in the morning at the fence, share breakfast either side of the fence and then sort of go their seperate way. Flo sits outside for a few hours and Bugsy tends to stay out all day (Jan is on holiday) and then tea time Flo comes out and they have tea either side of the fence and both tend to stay out til about 7:30pm when I put bugsy away (usually under some considerable protest).
I have been swapping items and stuff but neither have met. Flo has been in Bugsy's patch, Bugsy in Flos. Flo is happier in Bugsy's area but Bugsy is definately more aprehensive in Flo's and does seem thrown by it. But the co-habiting status cannot go on and I do not have the self confidence to facilitate any bunny to bunny liaison and so I am at state of limbo. They obviously cannot continue like this and so I called upon teh rescue centre to help.
Tonight - in about 15minutes to be exact, their bunny bonding expert is coming round hopefully to supervise some sort of introduction. I have no idea how it will work, or what will happen. Things are not ideal as we have no neutral area but from what I can see both Flo and Bugsy seem relatively comfortable either side of their fence line.
I will update the thread once we have had the expert round and see what happened. It might be good or it might not.
CRaig

ohhh i was just wondering last night how you and the buns are. You can tell a lot from introductions ime, all paws crossed
 
Thank you J&B. Well, it didn't go quite as I had anticipated. The centres expert was pleased with what he saw - Flo and Bugsy were both outside and appeared quite relaxed.
The centres expert suggested we remove the smaller dividing fence on Flos side. This would leave the one single high metal fence where both could interact through the bars so we could monitor the interactions. If these liaisons go ok then we can then look at introductions in our hallway. There's no timescale for that so I don't know at what point we'll be doing that. Perhaps next weekend? I will keep updating this thread. I'll post some photos over the next few days.
Craig xx
 
An update - Monday 29th.
We removed the smaller fence yesterday - nervously. The following videos show what happened:


I swapped Bugsy and Flo over so they were in opposite areas and they spent about 3 and a half hours in each others patch. Bugsy eventually ventured into the kitchen and was quite fascinated by Flo's area. He remained anxious at times but also chilled at others. I swapped them back for the rest of the day. Flo came inside - as she does, Bugsy sat outside. At tea time they shared their own tea each side of the fence. Theer didn't seem to be any hostility.
This morning, after only one day of having the fence down, they had breakfast and then I watched them do this:
8gq7xWO.jpg
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They sat like that for a good half an hour before both going their own ways - Bugsy up the garden, Flo came in. Before that photo, Flo poked her nose through the bars and requested nose licks from Bugsy who I think responded. I'll drop that video on later.
Flo has been in since about 9am and Bugsy is still out.
Will update later
Craig xx
 
That's looking pretty positive, I think! I'd be careful, though, that one doesn't bite the other's nose. In the first video, it looked like Bugsy was trying to do that.
 
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