Cinnabun14
Alpha Buck
Welcome Maggie! She and Terry look lovely together, I hope all goes well with bonding. Terry seemed pretty sad without a bunny friend, so maybe he'll be more inclined to accept Maggie?
Terry and Maggie
- Thread starter Orenoko
- Start date
Orenoko
Mama Doe
I hope so! Although we've had a minor setback this morning as Terry has shown signs of stasis. Popped him to the vet and they couldn't find anything other than a couple of small spurs on his teeth. I'm thinking it's either that or a stress response. He has pain relief and gut stimulants so will see how he goes for the next week or so, but for now all bonding plans are on hold until I know he's up to it.
Typical isn't it! It might have been a gassy digestive pain, which has now gone away either with the moving around getting to and from the vet, plus examination, or with the pain relief.
Hopefully, he will remain OK now. Good news is that it probably isn't a stress response to Maggie, based on developments.
Hopefully, he will remain OK now. Good news is that it probably isn't a stress response to Maggie, based on developments.
Orenoko
Mama Doe
They do always have excellent timing don't they! Mine have a history of getting ill before I'm due to go away!
He is also moulting now as well so could have been a combination of things potentially. I took the opportunity at the vets to pluck lots of his coat out. I'll see how he goes with a few days of the meds and take things from there. Not sure if Maggie missed him for the hour or so we were gone but she had lots of zoomies when he came back!
Orenoko
Mama Doe
Just wanted to update here after Terry's awful adventures at the vet (which he thankfully seems to be recovering from). All formal bonding is on hold as I don't want to stress Terry unnecessarily until I'm 100% sure he's up to it. Given Maggie is now 11 weeks her hormones will probably kick in soon, so I'm prepared tp leave them side by side until she's spayed and recovered.
There is one odd thing I've noticed about Terry. Their room is split lengthways, they each have one side, and there's two layers of bars between them. Their whiskers can touch but that's about it. They regularly sniff each other and seem overall nice and calm in each other's presence, but if they are both near the door Terry gets a bit nippy towards her if she comes over. Terry has never come out of this room by choice and also never went anywhere near the door ironically until he came home from the vets last week and started exploring, so I'm not sure what it is about this specific part of the room that gets him on the defensive. As soon as Maggie moves away they're happily sniffing each other again, it's a little unusual!
That's probably the only update this thread will have for a while, unless I feel able to go from two layers of bars to one but I don't think we're there yet.
There is one odd thing I've noticed about Terry. Their room is split lengthways, they each have one side, and there's two layers of bars between them. Their whiskers can touch but that's about it. They regularly sniff each other and seem overall nice and calm in each other's presence, but if they are both near the door Terry gets a bit nippy towards her if she comes over. Terry has never come out of this room by choice and also never went anywhere near the door ironically until he came home from the vets last week and started exploring, so I'm not sure what it is about this specific part of the room that gets him on the defensive. As soon as Maggie moves away they're happily sniffing each other again, it's a little unusual!
That's probably the only update this thread will have for a while, unless I feel able to go from two layers of bars to one but I don't think we're there yet.
I'm glad that Terry is recovering and also that they are behaving well side-by-side.
I've no idea why Terry is reacting differently when Maggie is close to the door. But I would bet it has something to do with his decision to go exploring after his vet visit. I think that it's something that will gradually disappear from his behaviour. I'd put it down to bunny weirdness!
I agree there is no need to rush with the bonding, especially with the need to fit in Maggie's spay. They are both getting benefit from the closeness of the other bunny currently
I've no idea why Terry is reacting differently when Maggie is close to the door. But I would bet it has something to do with his decision to go exploring after his vet visit. I think that it's something that will gradually disappear from his behaviour. I'd put it down to bunny weirdness!
I agree there is no need to rush with the bonding, especially with the need to fit in Maggie's spay. They are both getting benefit from the closeness of the other bunny currently
Orenoko
Mama Doe
Haha definitely bunny weirdness! He is like a totally different rabbit so we're discovering all these new things about him. Maggie isn't phased at all if he nips her, she just sits there as if to say why can't we just be friends! I just hope I can remove the second layer of bars in a couple of weeks and extend both of their areas a little bit more. I weirdly never bothered with two layers of bars previously when I brought a new rabbit home but am doing a belt and braces approach here.
Cuthbert&Dillon
Warren Veteran
Wow Maggie is so chilled - I would have thought nipping by a bunny would hurt!
Orenoko
Mama Doe
It's not been a serious nip from what I could see, more of a "who are you and why are you in my space" type of thing. I've just left them with two layers of barriers to get used to each other. This morning I removed the second layer temporarily as I wanted to adjust the layout a bit to give Maggie a bit more space as she's growing, and they are quite chilled with each other, although he scared her by sniffing her while she was lying here in this pic and she shot off like a rocket haha.
I've decided to start scent swapping blankets today, I'm just taking things slowly as I suspect some of Terry's recent stasis episode was linked to stress over the new bunny appearing in his room. She's 13 weeks now so I imagine hormones will be kicking in soon. She weighs enough to be spayed although obviously isn't old enough yet, so there's no rush, but she does sit by the barrier just looking over at him as if to ask why they can't be friends.
Attachments
Orenoko
Mama Doe
Just wanted to share a weird non-bonding experience that I'm worried might have implications come bonding time.
My dad was staying over last night, and because the bunnies sometimes like a bit of bunstruction in the early hours I thought I'd shut the door to their room overnight so that they didn't disturb anyone. As soon as I shut the door Terry was thumping like crazy! I opened it to check on him and he had that frozen alarmed posture that bunnies get, shut it again, he started thumping again so I had to leave it open.
I was pretty surprised as he doesn't even leave the room so I had no idea he'd react so strongly to the door being closed, he's clearly not afraid to communicate when something has upset him. It got me thinking about how he might react when I have to move them both to neutral territory for bonding, and I'll be honest I'm a bit worried he might find it too stressful. Obviously I won't be doing this for some time but just wondering if anyone has any tips? Could I introduce him to the neutral area at some point just so it's not totally alien when the time comes? Or do people think that the bonding itself might distract him from any territorial stresses?
My dad was staying over last night, and because the bunnies sometimes like a bit of bunstruction in the early hours I thought I'd shut the door to their room overnight so that they didn't disturb anyone. As soon as I shut the door Terry was thumping like crazy! I opened it to check on him and he had that frozen alarmed posture that bunnies get, shut it again, he started thumping again so I had to leave it open.
I was pretty surprised as he doesn't even leave the room so I had no idea he'd react so strongly to the door being closed, he's clearly not afraid to communicate when something has upset him. It got me thinking about how he might react when I have to move them both to neutral territory for bonding, and I'll be honest I'm a bit worried he might find it too stressful. Obviously I won't be doing this for some time but just wondering if anyone has any tips? Could I introduce him to the neutral area at some point just so it's not totally alien when the time comes? Or do people think that the bonding itself might distract him from any territorial stresses?
I am surprised at his reaction and think if it were me, I would repeat the experiment this evening. I can't imagine why he would be upset with the door shut, especially as he doesn't leave the room.
I wouldn't introduce them to the neutral area before you're ready to bond. In my view, it's better that it does feel totally alien to both of them.
This is only my gut feeling about this, as I haven't had experience of anything similar.
I wouldn't introduce them to the neutral area before you're ready to bond. In my view, it's better that it does feel totally alien to both of them.
This is only my gut feeling about this, as I haven't had experience of anything similar.
joey&boo
Wise Old Thumper
Eddy tantrums at anything out of the norm and a closed door would be enough to set him off if it had previously been open all the time. It will be interesting to see if he chills with it. Maybe he was a bit in edge with an extra human. When it comes to bonding I think his interactions with Maggie should usurp his concerns about physical space. Maybe you could try the removing the separating divide instead?
Orenoko
Mama Doe
Haha glad to know Terry isn't alone in his tantrums! Going to try the door thing again a bit later once it's darker and see how he reacts. I was debating the barrier thing instead, I know I have plenty of time to decide how best to approach it so am probably overthinking, I just don't want him to go into stasis again. Have started some minor scent swapping of blankets every day just taking things slowly, but they both seem very interested in each other's smells. I know some people swap the rabbits into each other's spaces so I could see if they tolerate that, but got some time to decide!
I think if you swap the rabbits into each other's spaces enough times and if that is tolerated, you won't need to consider a neutral space and could just remove the barrier for bonding.
Cinnabun14
Alpha Buck
I wonder if it was the closed door that upset him, or the fact that he couldn't see you anymore. Do you often walk by the door? Maybe he finds it reassuring to be able to see you whenever you pass by. I'm especially curious because it sounded like he was doing fine with the barrier between him and Maggie, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it (then again I know next to nothing about bunny bonding, so take it with a grain of salt!)
