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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING Ms Tilly and Lord Duncan – Bonding big buns

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    • Cottontail
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        Okay… So I know I should be waiting 3-6 weeks for hormones to ebb from Duncan’s system, but I’m really itching to get them both in the same room together; or at least able to travel together to the new place in the next (probably) 2 weeks.  Duncan had his appointment on the 21st of last month, so effectively it’s been about a week and a half. Here’s the breakdown so far:

        • Duncan and Tilly had an impromptu meet and greet last week when I had to clean TIllys room.  Zoey supervised. No aggression.
        • Duncan’s litter habits have greatly improved; and he has only piddled outside the box once — when he decided he desperately had to go but I was in the midst of dumping his litter box, so he boxed my hand that was holding the scooper and peed on a towel instead.  I figure that one was my fault.
        • Duncan no longer smells of onions; and he no longer tries to drink his own pee.
        • Tilly has been desperate for a cuddle/grooming buddy lately.  She has accidentally run off Zoey several times, and even got herself swatted for trying to bathe the kitty. (No injuries, just a loose tuft a fur and a disturbed kitty!) She’s even taken to waking me in the middle of the night for love… but only because her daddy is a heavy sleeper.
        • Duncan spends much of his time without the attention that I feel he deserves because I have to divide my time between household chores, re-packing, and the 2 rooms (his and the ladies’ room.)  I hate that he can’t sleep with the rest of us.

        Do you think it would be tempting fate to start bonding sessions early?  I want to start as soon as possible, but I don’t want to create a set-back because of smell changes or jumping the gun.

        I figure that our bonding process will begin with short bunny-dates, bunny dates with a kitty chaperone, and plushy swapping. 

        This will be my first real attempt at bonding since I figure Pete was a whole n’other story in socialization.

        Edit to Add: This will be a bonding journal for Tilly and Duncan.  It may take a while, but we’ll see how it goes to bond 2 over-6lb-buns and a 16lb senior kitty named Zoey.


      • Roberta
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          If Tilly is spayed I would say it’s safe to start. Have you done some toy and blankie swapping to share smells ?


        • LBJ10
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            Waiting the full 4-6 weeks is just the recommendation. If the bunnies seem okay and there is no aggression (and Tilly is spay, which she is), then it might be okay to start the introduction process.


          • Cottontail
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              They’ve had some shared/swapped toys, and don’t seem to care one way or the other that someone else has touched it as long as they have it now.

              Tilly tries to groom the Duncan fur off my pants when I come in after spending time with him, but I haven’t exchanged their stuffies yet, as I had been waiting to get Duncans smell on his really well. I read up on the bonding section and saw a note about putting fur in/on the plushy, and I figure hat will be simple since he’s in shed mode and his fur is EVERYWHERE.

              Also, they are both piggies… so food trumps everything else. Period. Even when Tilly and Pete had spats it was an instant break in fighting if they heard a treat bag. I haven’t seen the slightest hint of aggression between them yet, so I’m hoping that it stays that way.


            • JackRabbit
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                Piccie loaded bonding journal!!!!!


              • Cottontail
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                  Alright; so I had nearly identical reactions to the stuffies when we swapped them this morning.

                  • Both buns were upset we took the stuffy.
                  • Both sniffed the “new” toy and licked it several times before trying to get it to groom them.
                  • Duncan also chinned “Buddy” (Tillys stuffy); while Tilly lightly chewed the fur on his, mid licking.
                  • After the stuffy refused to groom them, there was more licking, followed by rolling the stuffy and finding food.
                  • After food, stuffy was re-licked, then ignored.

                  I brought in a ball of Duncan fur and let Tilly sniff it, since he hasn’t had the stuffy as long as she has and it may not have as strong a scent.  She sniffed the fur in my hand and started furiously bathing my hand and sniffing the fur.  After a couple minutes of hand-bathing she rested her chin in my hand with her nose up against the ball of fur and just sniffed.

                   

                  I’m taking this as a good sign from them as I didn’t see any real aggressive or obviously negative behaviors.

                   

                  Now I’m thinking maybe we can do another bunny date later tonight.  I don’t want to do it right now as they have the invading stuffy in their areas, and I want to see if there is any plush damage through the day.


                • Cottontail
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                    After 2 days of the stuffy exchange, neither bun is really too interested in the stuffies anymore. 

                    We put some tufts of Duncan fur between the ears of his stuffy that we gave Tilly, just to add more of his scent.  She licked the ears a couple times, but for the most part ignored the  little plush bunny.

                    Tillys stuffy (Buddy) was already pre-coated in her fur and pee and saliva… so we figured it didn’t need more fur added for the Tilly-scent.  Duncan spends more time with the plushy than Tilly spends with his.  He’ll sit next to it, roll it, and lick it.  Other times he could care less if it’s there or not.

                    Bunny Dates! (#2)

                    The first date was impromptu, and in Duncans room.  It went smoothly, with no aggression. Lasted about 30 minutes.

                    The second date took place 2 days ago, this time in Tillys room.

                    • I put up the gate so that they would have a barrier between them, and let Duncan out of his carrier.  There was a higher level of interest this time as both bunnies tried to investigate through the bars.  Tilly, upon deciding what he was, charged the gate and rammed her head into the carpet/bottom-of-the-gate to demand head-licks.  Duncan sniffed her, then went about his normal business of trying to yank down the gate.  Tilly was not amused by the lack of tribute and decided that the solution was to HELP Duncan to tear down the gate!  So there I sat, trying to secure a gate and managing to tick off 2 bunnies at once because I was holding them back from their goals. 
                    • I decided to neutralize the situation by opening a treat bag and instantly had 2 bunnies trying to climb on me to get treats.  (The gate was only secured on one side, I was blocking the other side, so they both had access to me to prevent jealousy of “Mommy is on the wrong side of the gate.”)  I tried to offer them both a treat at the same time and they BOTH went for the other ones treat!  It was a smooth transaction since they had the same idea at the same time… and once they were don snarfing down the biscuit they sniffed each others mouths and started pawing at me again.  Once the treats were put away they started back on the gate, so I figured a brief 10 minute date would be fine until I figured out a more secure date-barrier.

                    Over all, the second date had Tilly and Duncan much more excited, and I figure that it was probably due to the fact that Tilly has marked this room a good bit in the past, and that she views it as her territory.  She’s also always been very aggressive in her “LOVE ME NOW” charges, and I’m not sure Duncan quite knows what she wants.  I figure the next date will probably be either back in Duncans room or possibly in the bathroom, since there is little other space that I can bond them in until we move.

                    Zoey’s Opinion on the Date

                    There was no aggression, but she kept her distance from the whole situation and watched from the far corner of the bed.

                    Apparently 3 is fine in the other room (which is smaller), but she’s not sure about 3 fuzzies in their room…. even if there were 3 before.  I think she’s just worried that Duncan will try to touch her, like Tilly… or that Duncan will try to eat her food, again, like Tilly…


                  • JackRabbit
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                      Sounds like things are going great!

                      Can’t wait for the next update!


                    • Cottontail
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                        I’ll have another update here later, after out bonding session; but just wanted to make a quick note on the plushy situation.

                         

                        Tilly has groomed all of the fur from the Duncan-toy.  Considering that there was a good bit of fur stuffed in it from him, I’m going to give her a little bit of simethicone to help grease her tummy and prevent another “string of pearls.” She has been getting along with Zoey better for the most part, but occasionally gets hissed at and bopped (without claws) for trying to sniff her face or steal food.

                        Duncan has been cuddling with Tillys “Buddy” a good bit.  He grabs celery and goes over to the plush to eat, then returns to his food.  He also grooms it regularly.  He will roll it under him, like he rolls the towels or blankets on the floor; and occasionally try to smooth the carpet under the plush and push it from one place to another in that way.

                         

                        I’ve got some cranberry biscuits that both bunnies go nuts over, so I’m thinking that I’m going to only give them those biscuits when they are together (in hopes of a positive reinforcement to the other bunny existing.)  I did this a bit for a while with cranberries for Tilly and Pete, and although they were never truly bonded they did establish some personal bubbles and knew that fighting would delay or prevent cranberries.  I do the same for Tilly and Zoey, they only get treats at the same time, and if there is a fight the treats are put away and they are separated. 

                        I’m thinking this time I’m going to let Tilly back into Duncans room with the gate up and we’ll see how it goes. (like the first date) If he jumps the gate during the date, I’ll likely put him back on his side for now; just because they haven’t had a lot of limited interaction yet.  If it goes well we’ll have another tomorrow; if there is some aggression, then they’ll have a day off and try again.


                      • Cottontail
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                          Bonding Session (#3) (~45 minutes)

                          So I decided to do a morning session today before Tillys nap time, and well before the hubby got home.

                          I apologize for no piccies, but hubbys phone is the one with the camera… so it will have to wait.

                          I let Tilly hop down the hall to Duncans room and we sat with the gate up for a while.  The gate had to be shifted a bit to limit Tillys space, because she kept getting distracted by her daddy’s stuff and ignoring poor Duncan. This seemed to work pretty well.  They both pulled at the gate a bit, and he chewed her head fur a bit (not snipping it, but in a grooming sense) through the bars.  There was lots of sniffing and some licking and nudging through the bars. At one point, Tilly flopped against the bars and Duncan just sniffed her.  Near the end I decided that since they were being chummy through the bars that I might open the gate a bit and let them actually have contact.  Here’s how that went:

                          • Lots of sniffing of sides and tails (no biting)
                          • Some mutual head licking
                          • Lots of shoving heads under other heads
                          • They snuggled against each other a moment and then Duncan started grooming her again.  Next thing I know I hear little honks and he started to mount her.  She scooted forward a bit, then allowed him to hump without much upset; but I ended up seperating them after a minute because Duncan started to smell a bit musky. His honk was almost a squeak when I picked him up off of Tilly, and Tilly seemed concerned that I was taking her new boyfriend.  He had a small tuft of her fur, but it appeared to be just from her shed rather than being uprooted.
                          • I put the gate back between them and the went back to sniffing.  Because he was still a bit musky I decided it was a good time to call it quits for the day so  gave Duncan some pellets to distract him, while I lured Tilly back down the hall to her room with some pellets for her.

                          Over all, this bonding session went well.  I figure I need to keep them spaced out a bit for now, considering Mr. Man still seems to have some reserves left… but they seem to enjoy each others company.  Within 5 minutes of separating them, the musky smell was completely gone again.  Tilly finished her pellets and got to nap time (about on schedule).  Duncan wanted to go see Tilly though!


                        • JackRabbit
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                            Wow! Duncan grooming Tilly! She may finally get all the fuzzy love she’s been after!

                            Probably best to let Duncan’s hormones calm completely down before much time with Zoey — I doubt Zoey would be pleased with “Duncan love”!


                          • Cottontail
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                              Bonding Session (#4) Gate Up

                              Tilly and Duncan had a nice little session today.  The gate was left up the whole time to prevent humping and muskiness, but there was still lots of love.

                               Tilly got initially distracted when we brought her into the room…

                               

                              Daddy things are always distracting to Tilly…

                               

                              But she soon returned to Duncan…

                               

                              And then there was thinking…

                               

                              And then there was more love…

                               

                              And you can love at multiple spots along the gate…

                               

                              It wasn’t a very long session; but it was positive with lots of kisses and no nipping. 

                              At one point Tilly got completely distracted by daddy’s laundry basket and hopped in, disappearing from Duncan’s view.  The poor boy became temporarily distraught and started making whiny-little honks until she popped back out and came back to the gate.

                               

                              After the date Tilly went back to her room and then realized that Duncan was not allowed to follow and proceeded to attack my leg in her attempts to get back through the door.  She settled down once presented with pellets.  Duncan also was calm once there was food.  Their daddy is currently fixing their dinner-salads, so we’ll see how they’re doing apart.


                            • Little Lion Head
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                                Awww it sounds like it’s going really well CT! I can’t wait to see full on flopped out snuggle pictures!


                              • IsabellaRobyn
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                                  It sounds like theyre doing great!! I love the little Tilly and Duncan kisses through the gate – very cute!


                                • Gina.Jenny
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                                    Awww… sounds and looks like its going great <3


                                  • Cottontail
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                                      Bonding Session (#5) Daddy Sits In

                                      I’m sorry I didn’t get this one posted last night, but we waited until after dinner for their bonding session this time so that Daddy could sit in for once. 

                                       When we opened the door and asked Tilly if she wanted to go see Duncan, she perked her ears and went hopping down the hall straight to his door (which I have gotten in the habit of cracking open before getting her now, so that she can just push her way in.)  It’s starting to be a nice little routine.

                                      Once we got down there we closed the door and Daddy sat on Tillys side of the gate, and I sat on Duncans side.  The bunnies were initially very distracted by having their people in the room, so it was a slow to start session.  After a while they started sniffing through the bars and TIlly would lower her head for licks;  at first Duncan just responded by shaking the bars, then he nipped her brow–although it seemed to be an accident because they both seemed startled.  Tilly ran behind her daddy and Duncan stood up (periscope) and stared at me and then put his paws on the gate and tried to see where TIlly went.  After a moment, Tilly circled back around Daddy and put her head back against the bars like before.  This time, Duncan smothered her little head with kisses til her fur was starting to get wet. 

                                      After a little bit we decided to open the gate for them, since there were two of us to break up any unexpected fighting or distress.  Immediately there was mutual butt-sniffing, followed by Duncan nipping (but obviously not hurting or disturbing) Tilly once or twice on the back hip.  This was immediately followed by him licking her back once or twice and then he started to make his little honks like he did before when he mounted her.  Before he could even start to move she bolted behind Daddy.  After a pause and a couple confused honks, Duncan slowly followed around Daddy… then there were a few minutes of slow motion “ring-around-the-Daddy” where Tilly calmed down and it seemed to turn into a game.

                                      After that, whenever Duncan seemed like he was trying to mount, Tilly would bolt away, and then rush back for head kisses from him. 

                                      We ended the session with a few minutes of the gate back up between them, and Tilly got those kisses she was wanting.  It was a good point to stop and end on a positive note, so Daddy tried to lead Tilly back to the bedroom… This took about 3 tries, as she would get most of the way down the hall, then turn around and come back to Duncans gate.  When she finally went back to her room they both got their treat balls filled with some pellets.

                                      Overall positive session.  Tilly doesn’t want to be humped, but will risk it for Duncan kisses.  No muskiness today.

                                       

                                      Surprise Session (#6)

                                      About an hour later, I was sitting in Duncans room with the door open, scooping his box and cleaning up his area.  He was doing his usual thing of keeping a close eye on me and what I was doing with all of his litter/poops; and then I heard Daddy down the hall talking to Tilly.  Next thing I know, here comes Tilly through the door like it’s nothing and comes up to the gate.  This time, Duncan wasn’t paying attention to her because I was still messing with his stuff… Apparently being ignored by Duncan is not allowed, and she THUMPED at him.  This immediately caused him to lay his ears back, turn to her, and do his pitiful sounding little thump back before sticking his nose, quite literally, back into what I was doing with his box. 

                                      Daddy tried 4 times to get her back to the room with no luck, so we closed the door and let them have another gated session.  This one lasted about 10 minutes and there was lots of head-grooming through the gate once Duncan was sure that I was done with the fresh litter. 

                                      I broke a cranberry biscuit in half and gave them each half, and then her Daddy herded Tilly back down the hall to her room for bed.  Duncan stood against his gate and just stared at her going down the hall… he’s so pitiful.  She tried 3 more times, unsuccessfully, to get back out her door last night.  When we turned out the light and said good night she hopped over to the door and started digging at the door.  We told her “No more Duncan dates tonight, Tilly; you have to wait til tomorrow.” She did not approve.  She turned to look at us with her grump face and left a huge piles of poops up against the bedroom door in protest.

                                      Another short but positive session.

                                      • Tilly’s thumps are impressive, and you can hear across the house and shakes the floor.
                                      • Duncans thumps are timid, and you can hear if you happen to be within 5-10ft of him and shakes nothing.

                                       

                                       This morning, she tried to get out the door again, when we got up after the alarm.  We’ve got some plans for today, so todays session won’t be until evening.  I’ll update again after, and hopefully I’ll have some pictures for you.


                                    • Gina.Jenny
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                                        sounds like its going great, they both seem to want to be together, which is a big positive


                                      • Little Lion Head
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                                          I kept thinking why do you have to herd her? I’m so used to use picking mine up and moving them if they need to be moved. But then I remembered how big yours are and I don’t think I’d want to fight that fight! lol

                                          Looking forward to more pics!!


                                        • MissGabbster
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                                            Their bonding is doing really well! They seem to enjoy being in each others company.


                                          • Cottontail
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                                              LLH – we could get away with picking her up and bringing her to and from the meets, but I figured that letting her go herself would make her feel more in control of the situation. She’s not bad to pick up (at least not compared to what we went through picking up Pete!), but she does turn into what appears to be a scared koala when you carry her from place to place. By that I mean that she cuddles up against your chest and clings… My mother described her as looking like a plush koala and it seemed to fit so that what holding TIlly is now; koala-mode. She thinks she’s hot stuff when she gets to walk down the hallway, though.

                                              Todays session is going to be a bit late; as we just got home from errands and traffic; but I’ll be doing another post later tonight (or first thing in the morning if I doze off!)


                                            • Cottontail
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                                                Bonding Session (#7) Gate down most of the date

                                                I apologize for this one not being as eloquent or picture loaded as I had planned, but I am exhausted and we didn’t get many good pictures today… lots of blurrs and not much else.

                                                 Here’s how it basically unfolded tonight:

                                                • Ask Tilly if she wants to see Duncan.  She periscopes, then happily hops down the hall to his room.
                                                • Instant distraction due to shopping bags. (I should know better by now.)  Cleared the bags, and reintroductions begin.
                                                • Duncan licked her head, chewed her head fur, chewed the gate, and tried to get her to bathe his head… after a moment of her not doing anything, she recieved the bunny butt from him…. This backfired as she decided that meant it was time to find something else to do in the room.
                                                • repeat a couple times, then it’s time to take down the gate.
                                                • Immediately they rush to each other and there is butt-sniffing, head licking, nudging, and light nipping (like grooming)
                                                • after a couple minutes there’s a honk and Tilly is off running.. followed by a slow paced Duncan. 
                                                • The chase ends with Tilly lapping Duncan and then shoving her head under his.  Repeat grooming, honking and chasing several times. 

                                                Although it’s obvious that Tilly does not want to be mounted, she wants to be snuggled up to Duncan.  He has no trouble snuggling her a bit but apparently her big round bottom is just too irresistible, and he honks and tries.  He tried humping her face once or twice and I quickly put a stop to it each time, but honestly Tilly didn’t seem to mind that near as much as him being behind her.  In fact, when I removed him from her head, he’d make his little confused honk and she would rush forward and put her head under his chest as I was trying to put him back down.

                                                There was some minor fur pulling from the mounting, and my poor Tilly lost some tufts (no injuries though.)  Both got a bit stressed from being separated multiple times due to mounting, and the each had a few stress-poops… so we decided it was time to call it a night and separate them for the evening.  They got some treats, which they ate while climbing over each other and eventually laying on each other.   Shortly after they got a couple pellets in their treat balls and got their dinner salads.

                                                Tilly was strangely not interested in her celery (usually her favorite part), and only really wanted the dandelion.  She did eventually finish her salad, after leaving another “protest pile” next to the door.  Duncan was not so dramatic.  He did tip his water bowl, but when he saw the celery sticks in his salad he took the biggest one and galloped off under the bed with it.  Both salads were eaten and both bunnies are now doing fine.  

                                                Tilly did try to go back to Duncans room after dinner, but I refused to open the door for her and walked her back down the hall, letting her know that she could either go back on her own or Mommy will just have to pick her up and move her… She went back to her room.

                                                 

                                                 Over all not a bad session.

                                                Too much mounting for my taste, and for TIllys, but not traumatizing to the point of Tilly wanting to avoid Duncan.  I found that I can place my hand on Duncans chest when he starts honking and he’ll simply lean towards her rather than rushing and humping… so that helped.  Tomorrow we’ll try again.  No musk today.


                                              • Cottontail
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                                                  Bonding Session (#8) The Dinner Date

                                                  Daddy took it upon himself to start this bonding session.  I was making dinner for us, so he made salads and got Zoey’s food ready.  He gave Zoey her food, and led Tilly down the hall to see Duncan.

                                                  Unfortunately I did not get to see their dinner portion, but apparently it went smoothly.  Both were focused on inhaling their salads, and once they were done they went back into their normal session modes.  Duncan watched impatiently at the gate as Tilly got distracted by things around the room.  There was some sniffing and licking through the gate, but lots of distraction on both their parts.  Tilly wanted to investigate the laundry baskets and Duncan had to see what Daddy was doing on the bed.

                                                  We let them have some private time, gate up between them, while we ate our dinner.  After dinner, we went back in to find Tilly had left poops all over her part of the room, but otherwise, they were just sniffing and licking and shaking the gate.  Zoey came in with us for some family time this time and hopped up on the end of the bed.  Daddy stretched out on the bed with his DS and spent some time on Duncans side of the room, while I sat with Tilly. 

                                                  Dunny-bunny seemed a bit pouty that Tilly would cover me in kisses, but not him; so he hopped up on his Daddy for some love and attention.  He even went down to the end and greeted Zoey (who was still very cautious of him, but not aggressive.) I tried to get a shot of them sniffing each other, but Dunny turned and moved at the last moment. The look on Zoey’s face is actually her being defensive of her tail and she relaxed pretty quickly.

                                                   

                                                   

                                                  We let the gate down for a little while and there were moments of leaning against each other or pressing foreheads, but Duncan still seems to have just enough hormones in tact to be a bit one track minded when he can reach Tilly’s rump.  She thumped at him the first time he tried to mount her, and there was a bit of chasing; but whenever the chasing was broken up Tilly would turn around and rush back to Duncan for an attempt at head-kisses. 

                                                  After a while we put the gate back up and gave them treats together at the gate.  They sniffed eachother through the bars and Duncan gave some more kisses… and finally it was time to end the date for the night.  Duncan got some pellets and we opened the door and let Tilly head back to her room.  When she got to the door she tried to turn around and go back to Duncan’s room, but we turned her back around and got her some pellets, too. 

                                                  **Duncan Kisses**

                                                   

                                                   

                                                  It was a good evening.  This was by far their longest session, but still no real aggression.  There was humping, and some fur pulling during that; but it wasn’t upsetting enough to Tilly to make her want to be away from Duncan.  They obviously want to be together, but Duncan is just a bit too hump-happy, still.  We’re thinking that for their next session we may try putting a blanket in the tub and letting them sit together there, since neither has ever been there before.


                                                • Little Lion Head
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                                                    Bathtub time will be some forced snuggling! PumpRock was super cute in the tub together!!


                                                  • Bam
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                                                      I sincerely hope there will be pictures from the bathtub-session! Yay for bathtub-buns!


                                                    • Cottontail
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                                                        I apologize for the delay, but tonight’s bonding session will be updated tomorrow, as Mommy is exhausted and has not finished moving the pictures from the phone to the computer yet.  I will instead leave you with this for now: Today’s Daily Duncan.

                                                         


                                                      • Cottontail
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                                                          (#9) The Bathtub! (and blanket)

                                                          Alright; this was supposed to be a 10-15 minute session, since it was the first time either had been in the bathroom before, but it turned into about 30-40 minutes instead.  Tilly and Duncan got some gate time together in Duncans room while we got the bathroom ready for them… then Daddy got his TIlly and I got Duncan, and off to the bathroom we went.  I put Dunny in the tub with little trouble; but Tilly was quickly becoming a squirming squeaker; so I helped in lowering TIlly into the tub onto the clean blanket.  After a moment of just sitting still, they both started cautiously head bobbing and sniffing around.  They quickly figured out that if they put their paws on the sides of the tub they would just slide due to lack of traction, so that was out. 

                                                          There was some head-butting initially, and that was followed by a lot of humping.  (we had to reassure Daddy that that was normal.)  The big difference here is that TIlly didn’t mind.  Duncan wore himself out a couple times, and as the session went on he would mount like he was going to hump, but instead just hold her with his front paws and bathe her shoulders and ears instead. 

                                                          He shoved his head under her a couple times trying to get licks, but when that failed, that’s usually when the humping would start.  Over all, there was more bathing of TIlly than there was humping.  The air vent had been on for the first half of the session (white noise and more strangeness) but we cut it off about 20-25 minutes in.  This lead to more head bobbing and periscoping, and then back to headbutts and cuddles.

                                                          Daddy disappeared from the session just before that, and didn’t come back until it was time to separate them.  I was a bit confused as to where he went, but found out that he went to make us dinner (yay!) and came back to help put the babies away and give them their post-bonding snacks. 

                                                          The session ended with Tilly starting to look uncomfortable (but still snuggling Duncan) and Duncan deciding that he cuddling wait anymore and peeing a river in the corner of the tub (complete with small poop mountain.)  Once we got them back to their rooms, Duncan dove into his food (almost literally) and Tilly ran STRAIGHT to her litter box and peed and pooped… then she found her food.

                                                           And now, for what I’m sure everyone is waiting for;  PICTURES!
                                                          (I’ve got plenty, but here are some that I have transferred.)  Enjoy!

                                                           

                                                           

                                                           

                                                           

                                                           

                                                           


                                                        • Bam
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                                                            Aww, they’re such beautiful bunnies! It sounds like a really good session.


                                                          • IsabellaRobyn
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                                                              Ahh so cute! Sounds like that was a good sesh in the bath tub! I’m loving this thread so much.


                                                            • Little Lion Head
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                                                                Hooray!!!! You’ll be at overnights in no time!


                                                              • Cottontail
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                                                                  I meant to update this before, but unfortunately I’ve had a few things happen that take precedence over even bonding or posting.  I may explain that at a later date, but suffice to say it was, and ongoing is still, important.

                                                                  To the bonding session! 

                                                                  Session (#10) In Tilly’s Space
                                                                  This time we waited until they had their full tummies from dinner and then brought Duncan into Tilly and Zoey’s room.  He was nervous at first, but once he was set down on the floor he started doing the cautious walk and stretch the nose out as far as he could.  He got about 4 or 5 feet doing this before Tilly ran up to him and plopped down, asking for head-kisses.  He apparently took this as a sign that he was welcome and promptly ignored her to explore the room!

                                                                  Duncan must have chinned EVERYTHING within reach; chin the wall, chin the bungalow, the outside of Tillys cage, the inside of the cage, the water-bottle, the hay rack, Tilly’s poops, the furniture, the carpet, Tilly, every edge of the litter box… it was apparently his thing to do.  He was in the room for about an hour, and during that time he spent most of his time completely ignoring TIlly and Zoey, and just having a blast.  Tilly followed him around and gave pitiful looks when he didn’t give her any affection, but still insisted in following him and pushing her forehead against his side, his chin or his bum and waiting for love. 

                                                                  Once or twice he did do his inquisitive sounding little honk and sniff Tilly’s bum, but that generally ended quickly with a thump from TIlly as she swung around and presented her head instead of her rump.  There was a small chase at one point, but it subsided to more of the same—Tilly asking for love and Duncan getting distracted by everything else.

                                                                  At one point; he did stick his nose too close to Zoey.  She picked up her front paw and waved it at him in confusion for a moment before pulling back and bopping him square on the top of his head between his brows (no claws) and hissing.  He hopped back and was phased for about a second before realizing that there was more to chin!

                                                                  Duncan also let loose with several binkies; which start with him slamming his front paws on the floor for take-off, and causing a light thump in the process.  He was creeped out by the floor vent this time, as he had never been over one… but was generally just over excited and happy.  He left poops EVERYWHERE… on the carpet, in Tillys cage, in the litter box…. but at least he enjoyed himself.

                                                                  The whole session lasted about 45 minutes or so, followed by him returning to his room and getting fed some pellets.  Tilly hopped down the hall to spend a couple minutes (about 10-15) on the other side of the gate in his room, before returning to her room for bed.

                                                                  Overall I wouldn’t say it was a bad session, but I expected Tilly to display a bit more dominance since it was her territory.  Instead, she let him pretty much do whatever he wanted short of humping her.  She didn’t get any kisses until they were back in his room with the gate up between them, poor thing.


                                                                • Cottontail
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                                                                    Session (#11) In Tilly’s Space

                                                                    So last night I did a follow up session in TIllys room after dinner.  This one was about 2.5-3 hours long of them free roam in the room, with me only interrupting when Tilly or Zoey started to show stress.

                                                                    This time Duncan was not nervous.  He was full of binkies and re-chinning everything in sight!  He got so excited at one point he actually sprayed the carpet (at an old set-in Peter stain), then sniffed it and rolled in it like a dog. lol  Tilly just stared at him and then proceeded to wash her face… I don’t think she approved but she wasn’t offering to go see him be a dufus either.  

                                                                    There was more chasing this time around, as Duncan was more confident, and I broke it up when it picked up speed or when TIlly was getting visibly upset; but I was hoping that she would get fussy with him and put him in his place.  He started trying to mess with her bum and she just pressed her tail to the floor; which resulted in him nipping and her circling him and nipping.  I didn’t let that go on too long but it happened 4 or 5 times over the course of the first 2 hours.  Finally, Tilly and Duncan decided that they had had enough and Tilly flopped on half of her vent, joined shortly by Duncan flopped on the other half with their faces smushed together.  They sat there for a while like that; and when Duncan lifted his head and perked his ears to see what I was doing, Tilly smushed her face further under his chin.  They sat like that for a good 15-20 minutes.  Eventually Duncan started bathing her ears and they went back to smushing faces together because for whatever reason Tilly just wasn’t bathing Duncan.  After a while he got pouty and got up and went back to random binkies and chinning stuff.  Tilly stretched out over the rest of her vent.

                                                                    It was about time for bed so I went to pick up Duncan to bring him back to his room, usually an easy motion, and he actually bounced out of my grasp.  He looked at me, then bounded over to Tillys cage and chinned it again.  Tilly came over when I picked him up again and periscoped to see what I was doing.  When I took him back down the hall to his room Tilly followed, so they had another 20-30 minutes of gate time while I took care of some necessary things before bed.  After, Tilly came back to her room willingly and they both went to nibbling on their hay for the night.

                                                                    I’m thinking that today I’ll probably do another session this afternoon… but have not decided whether to do another marathon session or another tub session.  I may do tub just because both buns are so easily distracted by the presence of either food or space.


                                                                  • Cottontail
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                                                                      Playing Catch Up

                                                                      Short Session (#12) Tilly’s Space

                                                                      So yesterday I decided I would try letting Duncan back into Tillys room so that I could relax a bit while they ran around and so that Zoey could get more interaction with Duncan.  This didn’t last too long as Duncan was happy, doing binkies, chinning everything as usual… and then wanting to hump Tilly.  Naturally, TIlly got upset and a good bit of chasing ensued… At one point Tilly honked at him and nearly knocked him over using her head as a battering ram.  This upset him, and he nipped her butt… so I broke them up.

                                                                      There were good points during the session, where Tilly laid next to him and buried her face in his fur… and at one point he went over to her and full-out-flopped on her vent.  She pressed her forehead to his and they stayed like that for about 3 or 4 minutes.  His little one track mind kicked back in after, so the peace was not to last.

                                                                      I brought Duncan back to his room and Tilly insisted that she was going to follow.  I made her wait an hour or two before letting them see each other again.

                                                                      Short Session (#13) Duncan’s Room, No-gate Dinner-Date

                                                                      I gave Zoey her food and called Tilly out into the hall.  She hopped her way past me to Duncans door and waited patiently for me to turn the nob so that she could push her way in.  To her surprise, I had taken Duncan’s gate down and Duncan ran to greet her.  She thumped at him and he paused in confusion… Then they realized I had food. Que ravenous bunnies.
                                                                      I put their salads down next to each other between them; this time they had a special topping: shredded carrots.  They both dug in and inhaled most of the dandelion and carrots.  Duncan located the largest piece of celery and ran off about 4 feet to finish it before rushing back.  Tilly ate about half her salad and then got distracted exploring the room while Duncan worked on his food.   After a couple minutes he shifted and stole a piece of celery from her plate before returning to his salad.  After a little while Tilly finally returned to her salad and finished it up. 

                                                                      After they were done eating, it wasn’t long before Duncan became obsessed with Tilly’s rear-end.  There was some more chasing and Tilly ran to me for protection.  I decided it was enough stress for TIlly that evening so I let her out the door and back to her room… where she promptly flopped on her floor-vent.  Both got their pellets for the night and settled down.

                                                                       

                                                                      Today’s Session (#14) Marathon in the Bathtub!

                                                                      For the last 3.5-4 hours, Tilly and Duncan have been sharing the tub together.

                                                                      I put down their white fleece i 2/3s of the tub, gave them a make-shift litter pan, and put in the bungalow full of fresh hay.  I also gave them a small water-dish, though it’s gone largely untouched.  I pulled the curtain so that they couldn’t see me most of the time; though I would open it back up on occasion.

                                                                      Currently, they are still in the tub.  Duncan has done lots of flopping, and most of the grooming; but we’ve made some progress as Tilly finally deemed herself able to bath Duncan’s ears.  He was so happy that he started tooth-purring.  I put them in right before their regular afternoon naps, so their schedules have been deeply disrupted; but it seems to have helped. The only aggression was more of a warning, when I first placed Duncan in the tub with Tilly.  He sniffed her bum and she thumped a mighty thump that shook the tub with an echoey sound.  He froze for a moment and then shoved his head under hers.

                                                                      There’s been lots of hay munching, lots of Duncan flops, TIlly loafs, self grooming, Duncan grooming Tilly, and a little Tilly grooming Duncan.  More than anything there has been head-pressing.  Tilly shoving her head into Duncans fur and visa versa.

                                                                      I’m going to bring them some celery shortly since they haven’t drank much, and we’ll see how much longer they stay in the tub today.  So far so good!


                                                                    • Cottontail
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                                                                        Session Continued (#14 from earlier today)

                                                                         

                                                                        Alright.
                                                                        The tub adventure lasted about 6 full hours today.  There was no fur pulling. There were no panicked bunnies. There was progress.

                                                                        They got their celery and nommed it in the tub happily.  They seem to have an understanding between them that you take food from the hand that is in front of the other rabbit, not the one in front of your own face.  After snacking, Duncan mounted Tilly and started humping, but stopped after about 2 seconds and just slumped over her and bathed the back of her ears and her cheeks.  Then he slinked over to her side and tried to get head-kisses, but he should know by now he doesn’t get kisses after “assaulting” her rear end.  Instead, she shoved the top of her head against his until he kissed her.

                                                                        They scooted around the tub a bit, ate some more hay, peed on the blanket (so much for the litter tray), and did some more cuddling.  At one point, our noisy neighbor decided to rev his motorcycle loud enough that we could hear it and Tilly got scared.  She shoved almost her whole body inside the bungalow with just her little rump sticking out.  Duncan was dumbfounded.   After a moment of reassurance she came back out and shoved her head back under Duncan for comfort.

                                                                         

                                                                        At the end of the session I decided to do something different.  Instead of taking them one at a time back to their rooms, I brought in the carrier and loaded Duncan in first.  Then I lowered in Tilly.  There was some circling (nervously) and Tilly thumped, but I picked up the carrier and that was it.  They huddled tightly together with their faces smooshed to the bars and cheeks smooshed together.  I set them out in the hall like that for a minute or two before bringing them into Tilly’s room, where Zoey immediately began crying at them.  I left them in the carrier, in the room, for 2 or 3 minutes before opening the door and letting them “escape.”

                                                                        Duncan did his usual thing of chinning stuff and peeing in Tilly’s cage, but other than that they started moving together around the room.  Tilly hopped up on the bed, then Duncan cautiously followed.  Duncan saw something interesting in the opposite corner, Tilly followed and nudged him with her nose.  They finally settled in Tilly’s favorite spot behind the AC unit, where they loafed against each other for the next hour in a nap. 

                                                                         I brought up their salads differently, too.  They always get separate plates/bowls.  Tonight they got one giant plate to share.  It went over wonderfully.  Tilly got distracted to see if she could get any of Zoey’s food after a while, but I noticed that when Tilly left the plate that it looked like Duncan actually slowed down his chewing/inhaling.  He started to clean his paws and face a bit here and there between bites until Tilly eventually returned to finish her food… then it was back to being little piggies.

                                                                         Since dinner they’ve been moving pretty independently of each other, but seem to settle pretty close, if not against, one another.

                                                                        At this point I wonder if it’s worth trying to let them stay overnight together, or if it would be better to have Duncan go back to his room for bed like he’s used to.  He hasn’t been back in his room for 9 hours now (6 hours in the tub, 3 in Tilly’s room) and seems quite content.  They are currently curled up next to the AC unit again, and I am tempted to let them stay that way tonight…  Any thoughts?


                                                                      • BinkyMom14
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                                                                          I have no knowledge in the bonding department but wanted to say I love this thread and I’m glad they are getting along so well!!!


                                                                        • vanessa
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                                                                            I know it’s late in the evening… Seems like a coin flip. Just because my current bonding involves some aggression, I’d be tempted to say – try 2 or 3 9-hour sessions to be sure. However – if I had never tried my current third bonding experience, I would think go ahead. My first 2 pairs went extremely smoothly. So I’d have to say it depends on how much you trust the bunnies. It sounds like it is going well.


                                                                          • MissGabbster
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                                                                              The sessions all sound so positive! Well, aside from all the humping, but I’m sure that will ease off a bit with the rest of his hormones. I don’t know much about bonding, but it seems like they might be ok for the night. You’d have to sleep light just in case they decided to cause trouble and needed to be separated.


                                                                            • Cottontail
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                                                                                It’s now 6:30 in the morning. I’m tired.
                                                                                I was going to put him back in his room last night, but for some unknown reason I had a neighbor shoot off fireworks during our quiet time before bed. I found Tilly and Duncan hiding under the furniture and Zoey hiding in their cat-carrier. Duncan looked so pitiful with his little nose sticking out that I didn’t have the heart to put him back in his room alone for the night in case they weren’t done. I gave everyone a little extra dry food before bed and hoped for the best.

                                                                                This morning I woke up to Zoey crying for breakfast like normal… I got up to feed her and found Tilly munching hay in the cat-carrier; but no sign of Duncan. I asked her where he was and she just chewed her hay and stared at me… So I got Zoey her food and grabbed a handful of pellets, and lo and behold Duncan appeared with a great big binky! I instantly had two bunnies on the bed, clamoring to get to the pellets in my hand. I gave Zoey her food and then had 2 fuzzy faces trying to shove their way through my fingers to the pellets. I gave them both a couple to distract them so that I could get to their bowl and put down the rest of the food. They are currently leaning full against one another doing their best “hungry hungry hippos” routine.

                                                                                I’m going to head up to bed and try to relax for another hour or two, but it looks like the overnight went well. They’re not completely joined at the hip, but there is no noticeable aggression and no one peed on my bed or lost any fur during the night. Unless I see some aggression, they may just spend today together as well.


                                                                              • Gina.Jenny
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                                                                                  Brilliant


                                                                                • vanessa
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                                                                                    That sounds fantastic! I’d leave them with eachother and just keep a close eye. I’ll bet they did a lot of comforting last night as the fireworks went off. That may have been really good for them. Doing a binky in the same room? Fantastic!


                                                                                  • Cottontail
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                                                                                       EMERGENCY UPDATE


                                                                                      I made another thread, but to update;  I called around every vet I could think of and couldn’t find a rabbit savvy one that would respond (including my normal emergency vet, which is usually very good about responding on weekends), but I am having to treat TIlly at home today.

                                                                                       

                                                                                      In a freak occurrence this morning, Zoey hissed at Duncan for getting too close (her stay away from me warning hiss), and Tilly OUT OF NOWHERE decided that she had to defend Duncan and went flying at Zoey!   Naturally, Zoey freaked out and swung, nailing Tilly in the face!  There was a tuft of fur that went flying and lots of visible tears and she would not open her eye.  Eventually I got to take a look at it and all the eyelids were pink, but I couldn’t tell if the eye itself was scratched or just the inner eyelid.

                                                                                      At this point, after a lot of panicking and a TON of calls, I have flushed Tilly’s eye with saline and given her a dose of meloxicam.  She has been getting lots of love from Duncan this morning, and has gotten fresh hay and extra pellets.  The redness has gone down and she’s opening it about half way now.  She’s currently curled up with Duncan getting kisses… I’m going to be checking on her throughout the day, and trying throughout the day to get through the emergency line that usually picks up.  When I can finally get hold of someone then both bunnies will get packed up for the trip to the vet.


                                                                                    • vanessa
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                                                                                        Ouch. That’s exactly what I’m concerned about with my cat. She swipes at Guin coz she “owns” all the rabbit accommodation. I don’t want Guin getting angry and lunging at her coz she might do damage – and I don’t want Misty connecting her kitty claws to Guin. That’s sux. I’m sorry it happened. I hope Tilly is OK.


                                                                                      • MissGabbster
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                                                                                          Poor Tilly! I hope it’s nothing too serious and you can get a hold of a vet soon.


                                                                                        • Cottontail
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                                                                                            INJURY UPDATED

                                                                                            Our vet finally got hold of us and we met up with him at the clinic.  He got a good look at her eye and it’s a surface abrasion with a torn inner eyelid.  She can still control the eyelid, even though it’s a bit ragged, so he doesn’t want to stitch it and risk the stitches further scratching the eye.  Instead, she got a shot of baytril and some soothing/antibiotic ointment for her eye.  He let me know that sometimes the fluorescent dye used to identify the eye injuries travels down the sinus and will stain a little greenish around the nostril, but to let him know immediately if we see any gunk or crusties at the nose, eyes or ears. 

                                                                                            Duncan was frantic trying to get to her during the exam, and was protective of her once she returned to the carrier.  After they got home they were almost like velcro for the first 4 hours.. now they’re moving pretty independently as long as they can still see what the other is doing… Duncan is giving Tilly lots of love and snuggles.

                                                                                            I just got done giving her her ointment for tonight, with a bit of strawberry for a reward.  She is acting like nothing happened today.

                                                                                            Zoey has been separated from them for now… I’m still trying to figure sleeping arrangements out.


                                                                                          • vanessa
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                                                                                              Wow. Glad she’ll be ok. It sure sounds like they’re bonded though 🙂

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