Pics of some sleepy bunnys chilling together at about half 10 last night!  We have gone nearly 48 hours now and at least 24 without a scuffle!  I'm a bit nervous about leaving them for a few hours today but it will be during their quiet time and they have been so good overnight

I have my fingers crossed for you both, and Miranda & Ariel too! If you are accustomed to having the tv or radio on while at home, you could always leave that on (normal volume) when you go out tomorrow. It might keep them settled.

Thanks Jerseygirl, the TV is usually on so i'll give that a go I think!

I can't take the suspense... I need an update.

I'm with Petzy! How did it go?

Lol! "Always leave them wanting more"...

Wellity, Anita went out to a well known Scandinavian homeware store today and left the bunnies on their own together for a whole 6 hours!  which I find wholey irrisponsible, lol! Only kidding. I came home from work to find the bunnies snuggled nicely in the corner of their pen, content and actually looking like "this is our bedroom now, get your noisy butt out of here, and whilst your at it, turn that frigging TV off!". There was no fur anywhere (except where it should be, of course). I gave them their tea of greens, a bit of carrot and some cucumber and at one point they were both eating from each end of one bit of spring green!!

I think it's fairly safe to say we're nearly there now. We are going to wait another half day and extend their temporary pen for playtime by joining our other pen to it. After that I guess we're properly into the 2 week cementing phase and in that time we'll deep clean the whole living room and get some new toys and things together for them.

In the meantime, I took a really great picture of them, having finally worked out how to use all the features on the digicam. Liontastic

 

 

 

Your bonding story reads like a book. It's all there: two young females that *seem* to get along as kits but then turn ugly, the unpredicability, the set-backs, the logistics, the happy ending! Love the whole thing

Yay! They look so adorable (and innocent) together.

Thanks for the comments couldn't have got here without the site and your help! Cheese over!

Not quite happy families yet! I gave them a couple of boxes this morning to chill out in Miranda decided she wanted both and chased Ariel out. I took them away, Ariel was lamb chopping and Miranda ran up and took a bite of fur out of her bum, she's also chased her a couple of times since but me shouting soon stopped them! Miranda has just demanded grooms from Ariel and Ariel has obliged and now they are both chilling out in opposite corners of the pen. I guess Mirandas just acting like a kid with a fort who doesn't want to share with her sister and now Ariel has groomed her maybe she's forgiven?

Lesson learned - bunnies not ready for boxes!

How are they for litterbox sharing?

Absolutely fine with the litter box, they only have one in the pen at the moment and it hasn't caused any disagreements!

Interesting. Well, I would still leave out any boxes, hidey huts, etc, until at least two weeks of cementing are up.

Thanks Petzy, I will stay away from anything like that for now! They still seem a little less friendly than they were before Miranda decided to take a chunk of Ariels fur, hopefully they'll get over it fairly quickly though!

Into day 5 of cementing now, and all is still well (with the bunnies anyway - we're still seething after some low life scumbag decided to try and kick our front door down last night - will rant about this ad nauseum in another thread I think)

We did their first playtime last night for 3 hours by extending the pen they're in using the other pen we have into the bedroom. They pretty much had the entire room to run around in and they absolutely loved it. Binkies galore and no sign of any territoriality.

One thing we've noticed is that where we thought Miranda was aiming for "top bun" status, it's actually less clear who the dominant one actually is. They groom each other equally and generally without prompting...Any ideas? Could it be Miranda is still slightly dominant but chooses to exhibit the behaviour less?

I still peg Miranda as the more dominant. It's interesting as a few posts back I was thinking its really Miranda that you'll have to see a change in in this cementing phase. Ariel can't do anymore really, it's Miranda that needs to make this happen. It's good that this may be happening and you are seeing mutual grooming. It happens like that - they just chill and everything is rosy.
Sorry to hear about the attempted break in. You'll have to set some thumping bunnies onto them. Set Miranda onto them!

I think you're right actually. Miranda still has a few dominant tendencies, but I guess they're just less pronounced than we anticipated, which can only be a good thing. She's still gives Ariel the occasional "get out of my way" nudges and demands grooms

It's day 8 of them being together, and they're just sooo good together now. They're even cuter when they're together 'cos they huddle, snuggle, eat and play together, they're practically inseperable! It really is a delight to witness . I think we'll try and get a video of playtime tonight.

Laterz.

 

Hello all!

Well its been nearly 2 weeks since we moved the buns in together in our bedroom and they seem 'cemented'!  We have cleaned the lounge with vinegar and have set up a new home for them, complete with logs for them to climb on! 

One question - when we move the buns in do we have to watch them for 24 hours like you do when you first put them in together or should they be ok with a few supervised hours just to make sure?

Here's a vid of playtime together with their favorite toys!

 

 

Hip hop hooray! This is good to see~congratulations! I think supervising them a few hours should give you an idea of how they'll be. If it we me I'd camp there just to be sure but thats me being paranoid. You could use a baby monitor maybe? If they've been penned for 2 weeks already then they should be good. Put them into the new area earlier in the day (or evening) so they can explore and sort out anything while your up and about. Hopefully you'll see them settle into their normal routine by the time you retire. btw, I have one of those treat balls - they're great! Looks like the girls are getting caught up in World Cup fever.

Edit to add: lol  I just read your world cup comment over in habitats and toys!

Hehe, thanks Jers. I reckon they act more like "WAGS" than actual footballers !

Well they've been in their new "habitat" for a good couple of hours now and they're good as gold and absolutely loving it! I'm going to tempt fate now by changing the title of thsi thread to "bonded". Pity we can't crack open any champagne (as we don't have any) but we're definitely celebrating. This is the bunnies enjoying their new abode:

Once again, we'd like to offer gratuitous praise to all of you who gave us advice and guidance along the way, and to those who have shared your experiences through bonding journals, and of course to BinkyBunny for running this forum and providing sage advice on the website. Without all of you we wouldn't have had a clue where to even start.

 

Congrats on the newly bonded girls!!! They are adorable!
I was browsing through your pics and I have to say, I LOVE that wood pile idea.

Nice habitat... I want the tree stumps.

I just wanted to jump in to let you know that i just spent the last half hour reading this entire thread. I wanted to cry at the end - so happy for you guys. I know the stress of it all too well. As I have said, you guys are my inspiration right now. I am following your story like a playbook! Wish me luck!

Also, your girls are SO SO SO cute. So sweet and funny. Buns are the BEST.

-Jackie