ShivyRex
Mama Doe
So....dont you hate it when you've kept rabbits for 13 years but you still get frightened when you have to bond bunnies, especially when it's not been a good start [emoji849]
3 weeks ago my boy bun Buddy was put to sleep - he was 8/9 and in his life with me had 2 wives. He was bonded with Jessica for 3 years (shes about 5 now) and their bonding was fairly straightforward as was his wife before. Jess is albino, deaf and cannot see well but spritely and feisty in her own way.
I've rescued a boy - Flopsy (renaming him Freddie). He's 5 years, fairly grumpy but this has been put down to being on his own all his life, living in a garage and children grabbing him. Hes had some treatment on his eyes and is quite underweight. They were happy to home him with me due to my experience and setup.
So I've bonded 5 couples over the years. All varying in severity but the last two have been very easy.
I collected Freddie yesterday and put them both in the kitchen (neutral territory) in a pen separated by a pen panel. They were pretty much ignoring each other so I thought this morning I'd go for it and see how they got on....
Not good!! Jessica bit him on the bum and all hell broke loose which no amount of water spray would stop. I think Jessica may have drawn blood as there was a mark on her dew lap but I've checked them both over and can't see anything. She's bright white so you'd see anything.
So they've been separated again since then. I've made the pen a bit smaller and they're still pretty much ignoring each other. It's made me pretty anxious about doing it again. I'm leaving them as is for tonight so that will be 36hours in each others company by the morning, albeit separated.
I'm happy to give it a go tomorrow again but just wondering - given this feels like the most aggressive reaction I've seen - should I sit in the pen with garden gloves, water spray, towel ready to separate? If they go for it, how long should I separate again? I've swapped them over a few times already.
I'm not in huge hurry - if they need to stay as is over xmas that's fine (we're going to family but have pet sitter visiting). Don't want them to get get territorial of where they are now.
Pic for cuteness. Any advice appreciated.
Many thanks
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
3 weeks ago my boy bun Buddy was put to sleep - he was 8/9 and in his life with me had 2 wives. He was bonded with Jessica for 3 years (shes about 5 now) and their bonding was fairly straightforward as was his wife before. Jess is albino, deaf and cannot see well but spritely and feisty in her own way.
I've rescued a boy - Flopsy (renaming him Freddie). He's 5 years, fairly grumpy but this has been put down to being on his own all his life, living in a garage and children grabbing him. Hes had some treatment on his eyes and is quite underweight. They were happy to home him with me due to my experience and setup.
So I've bonded 5 couples over the years. All varying in severity but the last two have been very easy.
I collected Freddie yesterday and put them both in the kitchen (neutral territory) in a pen separated by a pen panel. They were pretty much ignoring each other so I thought this morning I'd go for it and see how they got on....
Not good!! Jessica bit him on the bum and all hell broke loose which no amount of water spray would stop. I think Jessica may have drawn blood as there was a mark on her dew lap but I've checked them both over and can't see anything. She's bright white so you'd see anything.
So they've been separated again since then. I've made the pen a bit smaller and they're still pretty much ignoring each other. It's made me pretty anxious about doing it again. I'm leaving them as is for tonight so that will be 36hours in each others company by the morning, albeit separated.
I'm happy to give it a go tomorrow again but just wondering - given this feels like the most aggressive reaction I've seen - should I sit in the pen with garden gloves, water spray, towel ready to separate? If they go for it, how long should I separate again? I've swapped them over a few times already.
I'm not in huge hurry - if they need to stay as is over xmas that's fine (we're going to family but have pet sitter visiting). Don't want them to get get territorial of where they are now.
Pic for cuteness. Any advice appreciated.
Many thanks
Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk