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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING Nelli has a new husbun named Luke!

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    • Dee
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        Well, I ended up adopting the younger boy bun that Nelli met yesterday! He is adorable, looks a lot llike BunBun actually, but bigger and less white on his nose and none on his chest. I’m going to try to update their bonding story regularly, since I know I find it interesting to read bonding stories myself.

        When they met yesterday, Luke was very shy and Nelli, surprisingly , was the more outgoing bunny. When they went nose to nose first the first time, I held my breath, remembering Nelli’s last date who kept nipping at her. But Luke was perfectly sweet, you could almost hear him saying “Don’t hurt me!”. Nelli actually groomed him lightly all over his head and ears, which is a miracle for Nell since she hardly ever groomed Bun. They hung out for a few hours and Luke’s foster mom was very pleased. I was relaxed enough the walk away to make a phone call- it was obvious that they wouldn’t fight at that point. There was one incident after Nelli was groomed by the foster mom- I had forgotten that she tended to do this with Bun, but as soon as she was out back with Luke, she ran over to him and jumped his head. Luke was horrified, but made no attempt to fight back. However, he did not submit to her jumping but ran away from her. Before that he had actually started backing up to her for comfort when something startled him. I can’t believe I met a more timid bun than Nervous Nelli, but I think I did!

        NOTE: Lukes foster mom, an experienced bunny bonder, told me not to separate the buns even at home because they had begun their bond and separating them could set them back. That is why I’ve done some things different than most rabbit people recommend.

        The car ride, both in the same carrier, went great. It waS an hour drive, and during the drive Luke laid against Nelli and kind of leaned over her to peer out the holes in the carrier. Nelli, being her usual energetic self,just lay there for the whole ride. When we got home, I opened the carrier and Nell immediately took off into the living room, leaving Luke behind. He slowly ventured out on his own. At that point I let my husband take over because I had plans to go with my son for a few hours. My hubby said that Nell stayed in the living room and whenever Luke ventured in there, She ran under the couch. I thought that was fine, as long as there was no aggression it was all good.

        When I got home, Nelli came out to the kitchen and Luke came out of the box where he was hiding (I left the carrier open and made him a new box hideout so he would feel safer. Luke was very frightened of Nell, who tried to approach him a couple times. Luke ran away from Nell, who started chasing him. Luke was really scared, he made a growling sound when Nelli got too close. At that point I decided to close the gate and leave Luke in the kitchen and Nell in the living room with me overnight. I didn’t want to wake up to any bleeding bunnies. Luke also smelled like he might be getting soft poops when he ran from Nell, which concerned me. But in the night, he explored and are and did nice big poops.

        This morning, Nell crowded up to the gate when my husband was going into the kitchen, so we let her in. Luke came out and lowered and outstreched his head,,seeming like he asking for grooms. Nelli went up to him and started sniffing his ears, but she looked like she might hump his head again, so I put my hand out, which startled both bunnies ?. Talk about being overly nervous, I’m a wreck about this bonding thing! After that, Nelli kept pursuing Luke, even going into his box after him, until it became clear that she was chasing him. He growled a few more times but at no point seemed to fight or show anything but desire to get away from the big furry monster chasing him. I caught Nell and separated them because she was seeming aggressive at this point and I didn’t want Luke to either get too traumatized or attack her in defense. There was a tuft of what looked like Nelli fur afterward, but she could have just lost it in the scuffle when she cornered him.

        So that’s where we are now. I’m going to go back to the bonding strategy that I an more familiar with and start putting then together only on neutral territory. I am going to switch their places, Luke to living room and vice versa, but I want to wait until Luke seems more comfortable. He hid for hours after his encounter with Nelli, and left two soft gooey poops in the litter box. I certainly don’t want him to get sick from the fright.

        The car ride was good for them but again, I think,poor Luke needs to relax before having any more stress added to his little life.

        What do you guys think? Anything I should be doing differently or any suggestions? Any advice is welcome!


      • LittlePuffyTail
        Moderator
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          I think that’s probably what I would do. If they are not bonded enough to be together unsupervised (and it sounds like they are not) then I would do bonding sessions in a neutral area and gradually increase space and time as they progress. You can add some stress bonding if neeeded and Luke is not too nervous.

          Keep in mind, I’m not very experienced at bonding so, hopefully, someone else will be along with advice.

          Congrats on your new bun. I would love to see pics of the new couple.


        • Dee
          Participant
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            Thanks, LPT! It’s always good to get reassurance- and believe me, you’re probably more experienced at bunny bonding than I am!

            Today I had the bunnies swap rooms. Luke was so excited to be in the living room- this is his first house because he has been in a shelter for his whole life- all 12 months of it (he’s younger than we thought). He plays with everything, it’s so cute, like he has such enthusiasm for it all. He’s in love with the oat hay from Binky Bunny!

            Anyway, I gave Luke a stunt double, a stuffed animal that I rubbed all over Nelli, who was none too appreciative of being ravaged by a stuffed animal. But when Luke got his “Nelli stuffy”, he sniffed it over carefully, then gIve it the most thorough grooming I’ve ever seen! He continued to groom his “Nelli” over the course of the day.

            I also rigged up a gate so they can see each other. I had to add some NIC type metal grids because it has vertical bars and at first Nelli almost got her head stuck between them in her excitement and then Luke managed to squeeze himself through a space that was probably about 4X4″. He started poking his nose through and I wasn’t concerned since the space was so small- then his entire body followed! I caught Nell before she managed to get at him and switched her back to the living room for overnight.

            So about the gate interactions – at first they were very nice, trying to touch noses and just looking at each other. Then later in the night, I heard Nelli making her unhappy piggy noises and caught them trying to nip each others noses through the bars. I added some more metal grids to the gate just in case. The gate is becoming extremely high security lol. At midnight I closed the solid wooden gate so they wouldn’t keep me up all night with their attempts to break through the new gate. They both try to sneak through at every given opportunity- not sure if it’s to see the other (obviously forgetting that they are terrified of each other) or just to get into forbidden territory.
            And that’s the end of Day 3 bonding!


          • jerseygirl
            Moderator
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              Very happy to read you’ve brought a new bunny home.
              Sounds promising!

              I also rigged up a gate so they can see each other. I had to add some NIC type metal grids because it has critical bars and at first Nelli almost got her head stuck between them in her excitement and then Luke managed to squeeze himself through a space that was probably about 4X4″. He started poking his nose through and I wasn’t concerned since the space was so small- then his entire body followed!

              This made me laugh! Rabbits will always show us how effective out “proofing” is, won’t they? glad you were there to sort it out.

              Good luck with the bonding.


            • Dee
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                Thanks Jerseygirl! I thought I replied to you before but I probably forgot to hit Submit- I tend to do that ?. Computer genius here!

                So we let the bunnies chill for a couple weeks cuz Luke was so nervous. Then Thursday night my husband and I did a bathtub session (well, Luke and Nelli did!) . It went pretty well. Nelli was bent on humping Luke, who was almost unable to move at first, he was so frightened that he was stuck in a bathtub with the big mean furmonster aka Nelli and the awful humans looking over and daring to touch him ?. I let Nelli mount him for maybe 20 seconds if that, while Luke just huddled there. I didn’t let her latch on to his fur with his teeth because it felt like she was being really rough. I’m such a wimp about this!! Then Luke relaxed and started to move, he put his head down for grooms a few times, but Nelli responded by trying to mount his head. I was thinking maybe should let them work it out more rather than interfering. At one point Nelli got Luke to groom her for a moment, but then he got too rough and nipped her nose lightly, which caused her to snort and jump up, which sent Luke back to a state of motionless terror. They started laying down and we made sure to smoosh them together and pat them both so there were lots of cute cuddling times. At one point Luke leaned into Belli and closed his eyes blissfully- it was precious. So we separated them on a happy note.

                Friday I noticed one of Nellis ears smelled off, so she needed to be started on Orabax and ear drops as well as the course of Panacur shes doing for possible EC symptoms (slight hind leg weakness). So I have her a night off to let the antibiotics kick in.

                Yesterday morning I was upstairs and thought I heard Nelli being awfully active down in the hallway. Finally I heard the telltale thumping sound of Nelli humping somebunny, so I went downstairs to investigate. That little weasel Luke managed to remove one of the twisty tiesfrom the gate and squeeze under the teeny space he created ?. When I first saw them, the bunnies were in a standoff position in the hallway so I let them be. There was a lot of fur in the living room where Nelli probably assaulted Luke upon his entrance. Most of it was Nells though! Luke ran into the tunnel after a few minutes and ended up with his nose poking out inches from Nelli. They sat nicely for a while, then Luke tried to get out of the tunnel and Nelli jumped him. After that, Luke became the aggressor. He started repeatedly trying to hump Nelli. I intervened a few times then they settled down so I backed off. Finally he went at her again and they ended up circling in a tight knot and what looked like some tussling. I got too nervous and grabbed Nelli. Her heart was pounding so hard! In retrospect I should have put them down and smooshed them together to end things well, but I didn’t.

                So I’m thinking next step is another bathtub session…? Or a car ride and trip to the new house (neutral territory) ? I guess my real question is should I be letting them repeatedly mount each other or should I be stepping in like I have. I feel like I’m preventing them from working things out but at the same time, that little tussle yesterday looked like it could have been becoming a fight since neither bun was backing down.

                Any advice? Thanks everyone ☺!


              • LittlePuffyTail
                Moderator
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                  I think the general rule is allow some humping because you’re right, they do need to work things out but if it gets really excessive and/or one of the bunnies seems really upset by it, intervene. Some stress bonding might help. And never allow face humping because bunny can get his/her naughty bits bitten and get seriously injured.


                • Dee
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                    Thanks LPT! Its weird, Nelli always goes for the face humping so I usually have to pull her off Luke anyway. With BunBun they had been bonded for so long and I knew Bun so well I didn’t worry much. Well I worried more about Bun getting squashed actually cuz she would literally flatten him to the floor!

                    Now we have a new issue- I was inspecting Nellis ear last night and noticed the skin on her neck is all red with a tiny area of broken skin- she was too agitated for me to really look really closely but there was no huge swelling or infection smell. I’m in health care and have learned that you can tell a lot by certain smells- gross but true!

                    I will bring Nell to the vet tomorrow- he is booked today- just in case. I’m thinking of bringing Luke along for stress bonding but he likes to hide in the carrier so I’m worried he might think its his now and get territorial with Nell..?

                    Ugh I am way too much of a worrier for this bonding deal- it makes me miss Bun even more ?. It was such a comfort to have two long time bonded rabbits that never fought. Sometimes I worry that Nell is too old for this but I don’t think shes happy alone, and now that we adopted Luke I would never return him. That would be so cruel- he waited a year to get adopted cuz he is just a plain little black bunny so I guess people overlooked him ?. I think he’s beautiful though!


                  • Dee
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                      Oh yeah- so now I’m not sure if the neck thing is a bite or scratch from Luke. I guess it happens but it it is, then I’m really glad I separated them instead of letting them tussle.

                      And now I have the solid wood gate up so there will be no more accidental meeting for the bunnies. Twice is two too many times and I’m lucky they didn’t really hurt each other ?.

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                  Forum BONDING Nelli has a new husbun named Luke!