Or maybe try walking around with them in a box, which works with our buns. We also tried vaccuuming around a box with them in it which worked well too

Great vids btw, and super-cute bunnies!

Last night was the longest I've had them together...an hour and 1/2!  She only gave him a little warning nip but that was all.  And I was soooo excited because they were so comfortable around each other!  Sandy must have flopped 4 times and Archie 2 times!!    Granted they are still in the tub but today I'm going to put them in the tub a little bit until they're comfortable and then put them outside the tub and hopefully everything will still be ok.  Archie is still a little humpy but only did it a few times instead of most of the session.  He still goes after Gracie though but I just gotta monitor him and make sure he doesn't get too happy and hump the other end   He did try that with Sandy in the tub last night and quickly told him no.    
I have some amazing video to show you guys and yes I caught both of them flopping over!!  I had to pretend I was reading my book (it does get quit boring sometimes.) because they would just stare at me if I was look at them and filming  

I put a fleece blanket in for something different so maybe the transition to outside the tub might be workout better??  And this time I put Sandy's litter box in because the other day Archie peed on the blanket.  They did really well with the litter box, no fighting.  They both used it too.

I'm trying to train Sandy that grooming = good.  Everytime she grooms him, I give her a raisin.  She did pretty good today, most I've seen her groom him in the past few days. 

Posted By mrmac on 02/12/2010 10:00 AM
Those videos are great! They are really making progress! Those flops are priceless! Sandy is so big now! Is she bigger than Archie? They really seem to be getting much more comfortable around eachother. Go skibunny go!

Yes she is!  She's about 7lbs now!  She's a mini lop and Archie is a holland lop (I think he's about 3.5lbs or so).  Let's hope they're as comfortable outside the tub than they are in the tub.  I can't wait to get Gracie in there   She's been pooping all over the cage recently...it's so fun haha!

Petzy, I KNOW, I don't think I've ever followed through on a New Years resolution   I'm kind of proud of myself.

LOL well then maybe you should get a 4th so you can start bonding again   I really wanted to bond them tonight but I forgot about the Olympics (plus my brother's b-day is today) so I'll bond them tomorrow morning

Last night I bonded Archie and Sandy for about an hour.  I did a 1/2 hour in the tub.  Sandy flopped over twice (so cute!) and they did pretty good with the litter box.  So after the 1/2 hour I put them out of the tub and let them roam the small bathroom.  They did really well, a lot better than they have in the past.  I put her litter box in the corner.  They did have a few nips.  It's always when he gets to close to her behind.  He went behind the bathroom door to find out it didn't go anywhere and had to "shimmy" backwards.  As his butt wiggled towards her, she got nervous and nipped him   But after I yelled at them they stopped and didn't try to attack each other anymore.  I think by next week I might be able to get Gracie in the mix  

I put them in the bathroom tub for about 2 hours and then I moved them out into the hallway, caging off all doorways.  They're on 3 1/2 hours so far and are doing pretty good.  Sandy's still territory about her litterbox when she's in it and Archie gets near her.  My husband decided to do a little exercising and with his feet thumping on the floor it was actually a stresser   Archie thumped a few times and they cuddled together.  If they're ok today until 9 or so (and then I'll let Gracie run around) should I try putting Gracie in tomorrow (in the tub) or should I do another long day with the two of them together?  

Yesterday I did a bathtub session for about 3 hours I think.  I had to stop since someone peed on the blanket and I had to clean it up so I put them back but they ended on a good note...actually there was no bad note at all they didn't fight.  So being tired of sitting in the bathroom all the time we decided to put them in the living room but with towels on the ground like we did with Archie and Gracie's bonding session.  It makes it a neutral area even though it really isn't.  We don't have to many neutral areas here.  The first minute or two was ok, they ate some hay, pellets hopped around a bit.  We tried making some noise with a paper towel roll going across the x-pen to make them a little scared.  I don't know what happened but I have NEVER seen Archie like this.  He attacked Sandy and made the loudest growling sound and when we tried to separate them he growled at me, trying to bite my hand.  He sounded like a little pig grunting about.  He was pure evil at that moment.  It's like we were getting somewhere and Sandy finally is trusting Archie and not attacking him and now we're back to square one and he's attacking her.  I don't get it.  My husband is convinced that this isn't going to work out and I'm starting to think so to.  We can't do tub sessions forever.  

I feel I want to add to what I posted yesterday, skibun, as I was in a rush and had to log off.

You mentioned that you are running out of neutral areas. I was wondering where you are planning to house the rabbits for their cementing phase once they are bonded. In this context I figured you may want to think about taking down Sandy's existing condo, use the grids to make a cube for sessions such as mrmac mentioned: motion stress on top of a washing mashine or walking around with the 2 inside the cube and shaking it up a bit etc. Then you can build a new pen for Archie and Sandy in a different spot, away from Gracie's condo, in another room, your kitchen for example. You would start out small, and build it up. You would be using Sandy's condo grids to do this. You'd want to rinse the grid panels beforehand in your shower. Since Sandy still needs a condo to live in until she can move in with Archie, you would take down her condo gradually, as you increase the bonding pen for her and Archie.

I used the cube a lot for my bonding to speed it up.

At some point I replaced the rug at the bottom with a sheet of newspaper and hay and also attached a water bottle so the rabbits were able to eat, drink and potty. They won't in the beginning, though, so you keep those sessions short until they get more relaxed in the cube.

I guess we were going to cement their bond in the hallway like we did with Gracie and Archie since it's outside our bedroom (but it's not really neutral).  I kind of get what your saying about the cage....if I read it right.  I wouldn't even know where to take apart her cage because she loves sitting up on the 3rd level all afternoon.  With bonding 2 all we did was spray down the floor and whip it up and redo their cage a little but I guess it's different with 3.  In the meantime; today I went over to my parents house, about a 15 min. drive (lots of weaving through pot holes from the winter season).  I put them in separate travel cages because I was the only one in the car and I didn't want to chance them fighting and it's hard to put them in one carrier (I need a bigger carrier for Sandy pretty soon!).  Drove over there and set up the x-pen and blankets in the basement.  Put them in there and they did ok for about an hour or so.  It's def. Archie that is now starting the fights.  He kept going to over to Sandy all the time and putting his head under her to be groomed but she wanted nothing to do with grooming and would shove her head under his.  She was being very demanding and persistant of that.  I think Archie finally got fed up with her and started nipping at her.  She got a big chunk of his fur and even bit ME!  That hurt a lot too, I didn't have gloves on at the time but it didn't matter anyways since she my arm.  I picked him up and let them cool down for a bit.  Put them back and a few minutes later he attacked her again (even started growling) and got a big chunk of her fur (so they're even now).  The phone rang for me and I put Sandy in her cage.  After the phone call (my husband) explaining everything that had happened, I put them both on the couch and made them sit next to each other and then gave them a treat and ended it.    So now we know why he's attacking her but I really don't have any idea how she can groom him.  They are absolutely fine in the tub and she will even groom him like crazy but outside, nothing.  I was going to close in the x-pen some more so they have less room because maybe she wanders off because she has more room than in the tub and feels she can just walk away.  It just seems so hard and we're not even on the 3rd one yet!  Archie and Gracie took about 2 weeks and I hardly had patience for that   It's been 2 months just for the two of them.    Can I just fedex them over to you, Petzy

I found covering the pen sides with a sheet helped with my 2.  Sorry, I don't have much to offer, just some bonding (((vibes))).

Posted By skibunny8503 on 02/21/2010 01:49 PM
the washing machine is a no no for us since no matter how careful we were to try to keep them in they tried to jump out o_O

that's why I used the cube. It has a lid. Don't let the bunnies dictate what goes and what doesn't. if you want to use the washing machine, you will. If Archie wants to attack Sandy, you will stop him by pushing his head down. You are in charge. These rabbits are not allowed to drive you crazy.