Posted By Petzy on 06/16/2010 12:01 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Monkey is so tiny.

*steals*

 

oh, you could be right, they all pay attention when Chef Ramsey is yelling!

hehehe they do enjoy their NCIS and Burn Notice lol.

What on earth?!!!?

I was only gone for 5 days... and you basically have a quartet?!!!!

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Beka!

Yes, I have to say I'm shocked too. Originally as Head Rabbit who had had enough of Pringles and Lola being so nasty to each other and trying to fight their way out of their condos to get at the other, I was just going to force them together for awhile, not bond them. So they would accept that neither was leaving and they weren't going to be allowed to fight.

Now, a week later I'm planning for a bunny room minus condos, which would be my idea of bunny heaven. It has been baffling, those girls have been so God-awful towards each other I was NOT expecting it to go the way it has to say the least...lol

Been a long weekend so far.............................................sorry for the long post.

Started out early Sat. morning by putting the two couples in a 2x2 grid box for a few hours, one bunny at a time, but as quick as I could fetch them. They bunched together at first, no fighting, no humping, nothing except being united against the crazy woman who thought this was a good idea.

After a while they separated into couples, but a flick of my swiffer wand and they'd pile back together. We did this for an hour and they all went to sleep.

I decided to bunny proof against a bunch of peeing and turn them loose and see what happened.
Here's the room with cardboard in the corners, double fencing around the wood stove because that would be their favorite place to run and hide, plastic, towels and blankets to protect the couch and chairs. It's a classy look I know........lol, glad no one came over so far.

 

 

I picked the grid box up and they ran 4 different directions, Daisy had a ball in the big litterbox, Lola ran into a corner behind the couch, Toby on the coffee table and Pringles simply claimed the big rug in the center of the room.

From noon to evening they just kinda swapped places all over the room. No fighting, no humping, if someone moved into another's space, the first one just moved somewhere else. There was a bit of funny charging, mainly between Lola/Pringles. They'd run toward each other, at the last second they jump in the air and each run a different direction. The first time or two I squirted both of them, but stopped doing that when I realized they weren't making contact. It was kinda funny to watch.

Around 7pm I put out pellets and greens in several different places and everybody ate (I snuck Toby his grated carrots and cut up veggies under the coffee table)I decided to get the carpets and rugs out of the condos and put them in the living room to see if there would be any jealousy over 'their stuff'. Nothing.

 We watched movies until 2 am and I turned the lights off and slept on the couch. I heard some moving around, nothing much.

Got up at 6am and found each couple had staked out a spot overnight, Lola/Daisyy in the chair and Pringles/Toby under the coffee table. They all scattered out to eat and went back to snoozing. 

 

 

Everybody's grooming themselves and pretty laid back, if not mingling. Daisy has been binkying like crazy all morning up and down the rugs. The only fussing has been a bit of Toby and Lola charging at each other. Again, not touching, just launching into the air and passing each other.

During the last day and half they've been together, I've seen no humping, circling, some bluffing, but no real aggression. Pringles has established herself as alpha queen and lounges out in the middle. Lola has been the piss ant of the group. For the first few hours she hid behind the couch, coming out to peek around the coffee table, thumping like crazy for hours.

Daisy is one happy bunny binkying everywhere. Toby is just laid back moseying around and occasionally challenging Lola. There were a few minutes where all four were in the middle of the room, some would run and the others would leap straight up in the air as they ran under them, crazy. It's about 9:30 am and the couples are each snuggled up and sleeping.

I'm think of taking their condos out of the bunny room and trying them back in there later today. Do you think I should leave the area open or maybe put some boxes, the mazes back so they can hide? I don't know whether I should keep them in the open or give them places they can claim as couples. I could put the chair and coffee table in there for a while.

I have their litterboxes, rugs and bowls in the living room and there seems to be no fighting over their stuff. I'm going to clean and mop the bunny room with vinegar and try to make it look as different as I can.

Great!

Yes, do it: set up the rabbit room minus their old enclosures, but leave the room bare to be safe.
My trouble in bonding my quartet was that Neigey would end up singled out whenever I did sessions with all four. In this respect, bonding two pairs with each other has an advantage as there are two equal fronts and each bun always has somnebunny join up with.

Don't take your eyes off them yet though, they will have to get to sorting out some things amongst each other first.

Sounds good, Petzy. The troublemaker seems to be Lola, she starts staring at someone from across the room and seems to agitate them into making a move on her, but I'm squirting her and not the one she's goading so maybe she'll give it up before someone beats the crap out of her. Toby is her size and Pringles is almost twice as big. (you think she would have noticed this by now)

I was really prepared for a royal mess in the room, but outside of very few shotgun pellets, there's really nothing. Nothing like they would do outside each other's condo. Even the rugs that came out of their condos are pretty clean. and I notice I must have used the word 'crazy' a thousand times already, but it does seem so crazy the way it's going. I expected some humping but haven't seen a single incident.

The poowars will come, I am sure of it. But you know what? Ever since I quarteted by buns up there has been no more humping at all! Deirdra tries but it never materializes. It's odd.

geeez, I'm tired. But I can now hit a fly at 20 feet with my squirt bottle. Between Lola and Toby sitrring up squabbles it was a busy day.

Lola I caught and put back in the little box with Toby and she was pretty much ok afterwards. Toby kept chasing Daisy and didn't care if I soaked him through and through, but he responds to a loud ack ack no! Not that he can catch Daisy who's wicked fast, but I didn't want him to get in the habit.

Feeding was sort confused, I hadn't really thought that through. Luckily Toby was sulking behind the hay box so I could slip his plate with grated veggies out of sight of the others. No one's eating much yet, but everybody's pretty tired out.

I came back and found some chunks of white rex fur, but Lola's shedding so heavily it wouldn't have taken much to pull it off.

I have to go to work tomorrow  morning,but I'm coming home around 3pm so I can check on them. Hopefully they'll do their snoozing thing all day.

I took a photo of the room before dismantling the condos (without the big litterbox and rugs usually in it)

 

and one just now. I like Pringles kicked back thinking "It's good to be queen"

 

I think they are gearing up for a face-off, krals. I would mix up the pairs now in close sessions of two rabbits at a time.

ok, I'll start as soon as I get home. I sat in the room a bit this morning and saw both Lola and Daisy individually come up to Pringles several times. They would touch noses, Pringles would sit still, but the other bunny would turn and quickly hop in another direction. Toby was also out touching noses and not attacking.

Didn't see anymore of Lola's hair lying around, but each couple seems to have staked out a corner of the room again. Lola and Daisy don't seem to mind when the others come to their area, but Toby's still snarky if they come near his corner and has marked around it. I'll give him some box time with Lola and Daisy this afternoon.

one thing I wasn't expecting, but is very nice. The bunnies are all very open to hopping up to me and letting me pet them, even *gasp* Daisy. If they're sitting on the window box it's even easier.

Edited to add: Oh yeah, I forgot. Charlie's condo overlooks all this and he's really trying to get out and join in. I had to add another layer of nic grids and a roof and super tie the door. Then he tried to chew his way through the cloroplast. I feel sorry for him, but he's just going to have to wait a bit.

I admit I forgot about Charlie over all this! Poor feller... what will happen with him? A quintet?

Absolutely amazing.

Charlie will have his day soon.

Second day:

The entire floor was covered in poo. Not piles, just thousands of them carefully spaced one inch apart. I'm kidding but you know what I mean. Just a few puddles of pee.

 I came in to sweep they got mad and all four ran to Toby's spot behind the blue box. All of them squeezed behind the box.  Together. For about 15 minutes, no fighting, the ones I could see were loafing or just comfortable.

I put the greens out and peeked back in a few minutes later...... yes that's Mr. Isolation Toby out there eating with everyone. Maybe he knew I was going to stick him in the box again tonight and decided to get along. There was no fur anywhere.

At one point, all four were lying in a square, like 2 feet apart just chilling. or scheming.

 

and here's Charlies new compound, I had to completely grid him in to keep him from climbing out to join the group.

Progress? I think we're all very tired. I'm going to watch them for an hour or so and go to bed.

 

I am just loving this! I check in on developments with your crew and it cheers me up.

LOL, krals, you know it's a lot of rabbits when you have to label them!

I don't know if it's just because I'm so tired, but I'm really proud of how they behaved today while I was gone.

Wow, very cool to see the progress!
How come Charlie can't be added to the group?
Is Toby the only boy?
I wish I had a bunny room like this!

Daisy is a boy too

I love this thread - and all these pictures! That is so great you have been able to provide us with that.

And congrats on such an easy bond. So, I guess the next mission is a five-group (bah, don't know the fancy word )?

That is really amazing to see.

It's just a roomful of bunnies. I think you need to teach them to play bridge, with Charlie as the substitute when someone wants to sit out. That should keep them busy for a few hours while you're at work.

or they could all play poker!

Charlie baffles me as well. The vet says he's intact and of the age he should be a bratty hormonal teenager, but he doesn't act like it, and the others don't act like there's an intact male in the area either. But I think I'd rather go ahead and have him neutered before introducing him to the group. And it gives me a bit more time to make sure the couples are comfortable together before bringing in yet another.

Yikes, four years ago when my son asked for a bunny for his birthday, I only envisioned a sweet little brown bunny..............

Are the staying together f/t already?

They're been together since Saturday morning when we took over the living room. Sunday I just opened the right doors when I had the bunny room ready and they all hopped back there eventually. It's only 4:20 here so I have a little while before I can go home and see whats happened. I would love to have a bunny cam, but would freak out if I saw a fight.

I am very curious how it goes on, your dynamics are very different than mine were at this stage; but I had a trio and a single to start out with.

Lola and Daisy still seem to be very dependent on each other, no matter how far they roam they frequently wind up snuggling on that green rug that came from their condo. Pringles and Toby each have their same favorite spots to lounge as when they would just get out for playtime. They were always snuggly inside their condo, but pretty independent outside and that seems to have stayed the same.

But get THIS Petzy. This morning I peeked in the window and saw Daisy licking Toby on top of the head!!!!!!!

this is against all odds, krals. I am surprised. I kind of have to laugh how all this time you have been portraying these buns as nasty devils on a kill mission.

Daisy licking Toby - no way...LOL - I mean that is no surprise since he's a first class groomer.

LOL Petzy - that's so true what you say too.