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Forum BONDING The Adventures of George, Charlie and Albus

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    • Paradigm
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        Update:

        Videos of my trio bonding when we got to the point where Albus was afraid to leave the litter tray are here:


        The second video is quite long – it shows 15 minutes unedited bonding time, but if you skip passed this point you can see the follow up and them being cute.

        George has eaten my laptop wire and so my longer post and ability to post photos have been cut short until I can find my spare lead.

        Buuut,

        We’ve adopted a male bun to be friends with George. Since the only shelter we can adopt from is slapdash enough to hand out neutering vouchers instead of actually neutering them, we can’t actually bond for a while yet and wanted to be able adopt one to give both time to recover.

        I really wanted one of the Netherland Dwarfs (I’ve been wanting one for ages) but they were very skittish and the lady didn’t want them bonded with a larger rabbit. (Not that George is especially large but bigger than dwarf). Charlie (then Dinky) on the other hand seemed perfect – he’s still a teen but old enough for neutering, he likes cuddles and seemed pretty confident. I suspect that he, George and Fred may be related. He was turned in because he rattles his cage too much and is too active. We were also warned that he was a piggy and rarely ate hay unless there was so food or greens available.

        To keep them apart until they’re fixed, we set him up in the kitchen area and George next to our bed. The open plan design of our flat means that there is no way for us to keep from being able to hop to the others’ cage so armed with a camera (my wife) and oven gloves (me) we settled down for a photoshoot with Charlie during George’s playtime.

        George, being the clingy rabbit she is, made a beeline for us and then spent some time dipping between exploring the sight of Charlie and begging us for strokes. Intrigued, she then found Charlie’s hay rack and began to steal hay. Charlie was busy munching his pellets and didn’t seem to notice, so I figured it was safe to leave them. Charlie joined in hay eating and then began to hop across the cage whenever George made her away from one way to the other.

        George the began trying to stand tall with her paws on top of the cage and despite my concerns that her feet were going to get nipped, instead she caught Charlie’s full attention and began to lick him on the nose. Then he licked her on the nose, etc.

        We then put both away for a break.

        Next was Charlie’s turn out and he did some rounds owning everything (including smearing his chin from one end of their puzzle to the other on two of its aides) and then made he was to George.

        The exchanged more licks and George kept begging but Charlie didn’t seem to pick up, instead he seemed quite pleased with himself – trying to get to her food and cleaning himself. Eventually, George gave up and went about her own business. Charlie tried to catch her attention by running alone the sides he could reach and then settled himself laying against the bars of the cage. George also laid herself down further into the cage.

        I think all in all, for a first meeting of unneutered animals the lack of honking or aggression is a good sign (hopefully they won’t forget who the other is after neutering!).

        We haven’t got photos of all of it, but we do have some lick exchanges and Charlie laying. So those will be coming soon.


      • Bam
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          It sounds really really great!
          And great to hear that George is getting a friend! I can’t believe people who surrender their bunny because it rattles is cage and is too active. They should’ve gotten a stuffie for goodness sake, stuffies are quiet and can be really cute.


        • Paradigm
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            I know – it’s ridiculous. I do wonder if they were keeping him shut in a tiny cage near-full time because the lady banged on about how he was constantly doing it and nothing would stop him, even if he didn’t want to come out. The walls on the rescue cages were either wood (sides) or glass (door) so I wonder if she was just repeating what she’d been told about him when he came in.

            Admittedly it may be because he’s new, but we haven’t heard him rattle once (George, on the other hand woke us up a few times).

            He doesn’t seem more active than Fred or George when we got them, though George has tempered a little since.

            He has been doing lots of binkies around the room, including up to and away from George’s cage.

            George seems happy too and has also been binkying around.

            This morning the first thing Charlie did when released was go to see George. They seem to be missing (or deliberately ignoring) each others signals. It’s funny to watch because Charlie seems to get overexcited and scamper off, then return. George consequently gets annoyed that she’s being ignored and ignores him so Charlie starts trying to get her attention.

            They’ve kissed again since, though.


          • Paradigm
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              I remembered that it possible to trick my phone into showing the desktop version of the website. The photos have been downloaded from facebook onto my phone, something I’m sure would make my wife cringe BUT the pictures won’t be too big anyway.
              Charlie began laying in front of the cage while we were loading the photos onto the computer, so that picture is still stuck in RAW on a memory card. The others are here:






              I’ve also put down cheap black vinyl tiles because they were the grippest ones I could find to save my carpet, but they were laid after the photos.


            • Bam
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                I’m so glad you found a way to show us these pics! How cute they are together! It seems they will be a very happy happy couple once the desexing is over with.

                Charlie is probably much happier with you than with his previous owner, and no longer bored out of his mind. He must be so excited about his new life and little beautiful girlfriend =)


              • Paradigm
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                  He’s very excited about his new girlfriend.

                  We swapped their cages this afternoon. He now has the better pen and has been thrilled about it. (Since I don’t want either of them to believe the pen was initially theirs.)

                  George had been napping in the smaller cage and he clearly wasn’t getting her attention.

                  With an almighty bang…

                  Picture has been lightened to show George, but it’s actually much darker so initially I couldn’t see where he’d gone and were both hunting to make sure nobun had been hurt.


                • Paradigm
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                    Annoyingly, Charlie’s neuter voucher is only valid at the vets we’ve had trouble with and a linked one further away.

                    Because he’s 18 weeks they want to do a pre-op visit to make sure his balls truly have descended but I figure it will give me the chance to ask the vet about their methods (they did safely neuter Mr Roger which is something).

                    The receptionist said it was because they neuter rabbits from 5-6 months, although she did briefly speak to the vet during our phone call to check whether they’d consider it yet at all. It seems odd because I know boys can be fixed from 3 1/2 months, but in fairness it may be because last time they booked our two “boys” in for a same day check over and neuter they turned out to be girls!

                    I just feel very weary about it. If I don’t like what I’m hearing I’ll get his vaccinations done (also got a voucher for that and I’ve seen them safely inject) and book him into the same place George is going to.

                    The place George is going to said they don’t so spays all that frequently but that they have done a sizeable number over the years and specifically reminded me to not starve her.

                    George’s vet are going to check her over and then operate on the same day if all is good.

                    They’re both going tomorrow.


                  • Paradigm
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                      We’ve been letting them play near but not with each other to give them both run time as George likes to have the opportunity to go out but doesn’t always use it.

                      Charlie was starting to give signs he might want to mate, so I moves George away in case she was upset by the situation and instead she was cross with me for taking her! So I put Charlie away instead and he had his willy out. Wonderful.

                      Decided to only do one at a time out again because George tends to get distracted by food when she’s away rather than focusing fully on Charlie, but Charlie spent his time rattling her bars (but ignoring her begs for licks – I was quite worried about her getting bitten be she’s he was rattling where she was offering her head). Then he began thumping to get her attention, so I took him up onto the bed where he couldn’t upset the neighbours. He left a wet patch!

                      He’s since been spending lots of time laying by her cage and George is hacked off that I won’t let her destroy the rug behind her litter box.

                      Although I’ve been cage swapping, I think I’m going to keep George in the smaller cage at least until she’s back to herself. That was she can’t hurt herself on toys. I’ve also read that females are more likely than males to be territorial over an area and I want them to share the pen.


                    • Paradigm
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                        George has been dropped off at her vets. He seemed competent and will be using surgical glue. She should be ready to come home at about 1pm, though I’m busy until 3pm
                        so now I’m considering skipping a lecture to bring her home.

                        If it wasn’t that Charlie gets a free neuter I would have sent him there because he does a closed castration for males and it was extremely difficult for V4P to get the sutures out of Mr Roger when he was done.

                        Anyhow, I’m feeling much more relaxed.

                        Charlie has gone from 1.5kg to 1kg (when she was ill) and in the last month she’s grown so much she’s now 2.5kg!


                      • Paradigm
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                          Good news, despite the taxi getting us to George’s appointment half an hour early both vets were able to see us early.

                          V4P had an open day surgery wise so Charlie is having his castration today and apparently they now do closed castration.


                        • Bam
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                            (((((George)))))
                            And (((((Charlie)))))
                            Keep us posted!


                          • Paradigm
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                              I ended up delaying my collection of George by about 40 minutes (from the time they called me to leaving the house) to allow me to properly clean them up – Charlie’s vet forgot to ask me to sign the consent form so I had to turn back and the result was that I didn’t have as much time to clean as I’d factored in!

                              Fortunately, the timing worked out perfectly because Charlie was just ready after I got on the bus with George.

                              So now we’re in the waiting room waiting for him.

                              I think I’m going to call a taxi because it hurts my fingers to stack both of their boxes in one big box (my solution for sneaking two rabbits into our flats plus the rain when Charlie only has a cardboard carrier).

                              The student vet was unsure whether they were bonded and said they could live together so long as they didn’t groom the wound. I don’t think he thinks they’ll be up to much – both being zonked out even when I said I was thinking of keeping them separately (which he also thought was reasonable).

                              It’s quite nice having a student vet as the receptionist, imo.

                              They said George was clearly handled very well as she’s so friendly and her picture is going up on their facebook page.

                              I’ve bought them basil, mint and little gem lettuce and the vet says it doesn’t matter what cage I put which of them in.

                              (Heaven help me when I have an actual baby…)


                            • Paradigm
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                                Had to wait a while to actually get Charlie, then there was a mix up with the taxi payment – the app went wrong and tried to charge me £708!

                                Anyhow, we’re home now. I thought it would be best to remove George through the front door of her cage rather than stressing her with all the noise of unclipping it.

                                I’d let Charlie out first and was thinking about the taxi and not fully focusing and I remembered just as I touched her belly that I wasn’t meant to.

                                I’m not sure if it was me or if she’s chewed it or pulled it but a tiny bit of her stiching has come undone. 0.0

                                It looks almost like a belly button and is less than 1cm in length.

                                I called up the vets and they said it could be the not at the end of the internal suture but that it sounds like it might have come slightly undone.

                                I had the option of bringing her in tonight or tomorrow morning, but they weren’t stressed about which. Since she hasn’t eaten yet we’ve decided that since its been a stressful day she’ll rest for a bit now and get fixed up tomorrow.


                              • Paradigm
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                                  She’s definetly got a tiny bit of litter stuck to it. Going to have to wait until my wife comes home to get it off as I can’t hold her up and remove it safely.


                                • Bam
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                                    More vibes for both buns! I would think George needs a bit of rest now. Offer her sth to eat and give her water in a bowl and keep her warm – I’m sure you’ve got all that covered though


                                  • Paradigm
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                                      She’s eaten the tiniest bit of hay but is otherwise refusing food. Still, she looks pretty groggy so I won’t expect too much.

                                      I tried to follow instructions for warming a flannel but forgot that it was meant to be 30 seconds until 2 minutes into my 3 minute stretch. I burnt my expensive-wedding-present-flannel (part of a towel set). Whoops.

                                      Anyhow, I’ve given her the warm bear we have but we haven’t got anything flat fir her, unfortunately.

                                      Charlie isn’t eating much but he’s been picking. They’ve both done some hopping, although George us definitely being much more careful with her steps now.

                                      So they’re both having a much needed rest.


                                    • Bam
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                                        Sorry about your flannel
                                        It doesn’t have to be a flat warm thing, I had a bottle with warm water, wrapped in a towel, for Bam when he came home from his neuter. He snuggled up against it. It’s important that she has enough space so she can move away from the heat-source, but I don’t doubt you know this
                                        That she’s eaten anything at all, even the tiniest bit, is excellent!


                                      • Paradigm
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                                          Ah, I’d wondered if the bear was okay but I wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be able to have direct contact with her stomach. She wanted the pen so she’s got plenty of room.
                                          Thanks for all your help and advice.
                                          Had a look at George’s wound today and the opened looking but is looking my dryer and no longer looks like her belly might fall out so I’m not sure it would be worth doing anything with (or even if that’s what it’s meant to look like).

                                          I decided to cancel her appointment this morning’s appointment owing to the improvement because I didn’t want to stress George out. She seems much more relax today, still a little tender (as she discovered when she attempted a binky and had to abort) but eating well and back to rattling her pen to get out.
                                          Last night I took Charlie’s little gem lettuce from him because it was the only thing George would eat beside the tiniest bit of hay. He stole it right back from her! I had to fetch it from his mouth.


                                        • Paradigm
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                                            Decided to let them roam together as the vet thought they’d be fine and I really did get the impression it’s love at first sight. My only qualm is whether Charlie would attempt to mount George and seriously injure her. 

                                            Problems encountered:

                                            – Charlie thinks oven gloves are the yummiest thing ever. Me being any closer than the photos were taken was very distracting for him.

                                            – Both rabbits think the other ones food is even better than theirs (they eat different pellets). 

                                            – Some of the photos were more relaxed than they look, the click of the camera disturbed them until I worked out how to reduce the volume.


                                          • Paradigm
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                                              Things that are really awesome:

                                              Scent wars and food. What could be more exciting. 

                                              “I want cuddles, you greedy pig” – George 

                                              They were laying together for about 40 minutes. Now sitting apart but they were peaceful together in familiar territory for over an hour.I separated them because Charlie looked like he might want to mount George. I wasn’t sure but not about to take any (more) risks.


                                            • Bam
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                                                It looks like they are doing great! Love the pix!


                                              • Paradigm
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                                                  Tried to fix the picture because I missed one and double posted, forgot and now can’t edit. So here they are:

                                                  Things that are really awesome:

                                                  Scent wars and food. What could be more exciting.

                                                  “I want cuddles, you greedy pig” – George

                                                  They were laying together for about 40 minutes. Now sitting apart but they were peaceful together in familiar territory for over an hour.I separated them because Charlie looked like he might want to mount George. I wasn’t sure but not about to take any (more) risks.


                                                • Paradigm
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                                                    Well, it see me the method the vet used – cauterising – has slightly burnt George. The ‘break’ I saw was where it had caused the skin to rise up. It’s all scanning over quite well and the internal stitching has held.

                                                    Bonding today has been interesting – they got into their first fight.

                                                    They were fine for about 2 hours but then Charlie started wanting to mount George. Each time he did it, I’ve move him around so that he was next to George and stroke both their heads. Most if the time they leaned into each other but some of the time Charlue would hop away.

                                                    After George’s vet visit, Charlie was all the more keen on chase (with likely aim out mounting) attempts. I separated them briefly, then took both into the shower in a plastic box to make sure it was a small, neutral space without them stepping on any chemicals. For 40 minutes in there they were fine, if anxious about their new surroundings, and cuddled a bit.

                                                    When my wife got home, we let them run around the room again and for three hours and 40 minutes they were absolutely fine, cuddled some more, explored together, minded their own business.

                                                    Then I gave George her pellets and took Charlie away because he was trying to eat hers (he’s had all his pellets and barely eats any hay). I put George’s pellets back out of reach once she’d hopped away and I once I put Charlie back down, he went to explore where the pellets had been.

                                                    I’ll admit that after all this time, I’d stopped watching them so closely. It was a mistake – for reasons I didn’t see (maybe he was trying to mount?) suddenly a circling chase began and fur was literally flying. Well, I lost my head a bit. I’d left the oven gloves on the other side of the room, so I tried to use a flannel to separate them. No good. Ran to get the oven gloves. In this time my wife had thrown a towel over them which effectively stopped them. Completely forgot about the towel and that making loud noises could work.

                                                    I was so worried about George’s tummy. We took George out from under the towel and checked her over. She was fine. No marks on her and her tummy looked the same as before.

                                                    Next we got Charlie out (in his shock he had stayed under the towel) he looks alright – no blood or visible wounds. We think we found where the fur came from but can’t be sure. I think George must have trimmed the fur off.

                                                    We put George away since it’s her turn in the pen and let Charlie roam. Within 10 minutes George is begging Charlie from her side of the pen. Charlie nosed her and sat by her but didn’t kick her head.


                                                  • Bam
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                                                      That sounds scary! But they seem to have come out of it alright. I think it’s too soon after their procedures to leave them unguarded, since de sexing can make rabbits very unpredictable and crazy for a few weeks after while their hormone- levels are dropping.
                                                      A bit of fur being pulled out is common when rabbits have a row. Sometimes I think that’s why they have fur :/ Us humans have to make do with oven-mitts, which is much less practical


                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                        It was quite scary. I knew they could be unpredictable but I’d just sort of switched off a bit I think.

                                                        If I’d thought about it clearly there our room is pretty much surrounded by things to distract them with should they fight (the gloves are soo hot!) but I forgot every one.

                                                        Might have to shorten their sessions so that I’m fully paying attention and armed the whole time.

                                                        They get quite cross with me when I separate them so I thought I’d let them run around together but it is a little bit like playing with fire.


                                                      • Bam
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                                                          I’m pretty sure they’ll come to their senses soon, it’s most often just for about 2 weeks after a desexing that they go nuts. Then things calm down.
                                                          It’s probably a good idea to keep the sessions a bit shorter for now.
                                                          It really is scary when bunnies fight. They are very violent and you don’t really expect that much violence from such fluffy and heartbreakingly cute animals. Monty Python really understood rabbit temper


                                                        • Paradigm
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                                                            Yeah. It was shocking how quickly it escalated. They were chasing but not biting when I first saw, and then suddenly it was all bunny wheel and fur everything.

                                                            I don’t think the whole affair could have lasted more than 20 seconds or so but it felt like forever at the time.

                                                            I’d always assumed “fur flying” was an exaggeration/turn of phrase but it truly was.

                                                            One of the reasons we thought George was hurt was because she seemed to be more put out. But Charlie was near instantly back to himself.

                                                            So odd.

                                                            I’m busy most of tomorrow so they’ll have to stay caged for much of it.


                                                          • Paradigm
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                                                              Well, they spent until about 4pm in their respective enclosures today.

                                                              I then got them out and took them to the shower again. After about 30 minutes I was wondering if I should it end it there before they got irritable. I decided to plough on up to 1 hour and 10 minutes. I’m glad I did because they spent most of the last 40 minutes snuggling and grooming.

                                                              I then let them out to have watched play time for another hour or so. I then realised I urgently needed to clean their cages.

                                                              They’ve actually been out for a while today, but much more controlled than before and they haven’t necessarily spent all of it together – some of the time we’ve taken for private attention and some of it they’ve played alone.

                                                              I’ve made sure my wife was watching them when I wasn’t and we’ve both thrown towels over them once each to nip any circling in the bud before they actually fought and then stroked their head together. I also separated out my hoovering out their cage and the rest of the flat so they spent a good while huddled together.

                                                              Since the hoovering they’ve actually spent more time cuddling so I think it was helpful. It seems distract them by shock, they quickly forget they were squabbling.

                                                              Getting tired now, so I’m going to put Charlie away once he’s finished eating hay – he tends to only eat it when he absolutely has to but likes to follow George’s lead when they’re together.


                                                            • Paradigm
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                                                                George has spent the last hour running between our bed and trying to get into Charlie’s cage. She’s been very sweet and licking us but has been looking increasingly like she might jump into the netting over the top of the pen.

                                                                Since that’s something to avoid even if she wasn’t recovering from surgery I’ve let them back out for a bit and have resumed my very uncomfortable spot on the floor.

                                                                She hasn’t tried to get into the pen now it’s open and he’s out I think it is his company she was after.


                                                              • Paradigm
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                                                                  Charlie seems to have got better at accepting that no means no. George is very much an “on my terms” type of bun. Lots of licks shared. My wife was just telling me to look at how cute they were. I raced over to stop George getting hurt and neither bun was pleased indeed she seemed to encourage him to do it again.

                                                                  I stroked their heads and gave them a talk about how they could do all the consensual mounting they wanted once George was recovered.

                                                                  George has no regard for this – she’s decided she’s well enough to be jumping on and off of things and that she’s had enough of me and my wife ‘rescuing’ her.

                                                                  I’ve read that it can cause ruptures if they mount and another article suggesting you don’t let them mount excessively for the first couple of weeks.


                                                                • Paradigm
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                                                                    Not much to update on today.

                                                                    A few hours out in the morning while I was asleep in which they ate my charger lead because my wife forgot to put it away. Went out until 6pm this evening.

                                                                    This evening they’re all snuggles and licks for both each other and us. George seems to have been accepted as top bun.

                                                                    I would let them trial sleeping together if it wasn’t that I’m expecting a hormone spike at any moment.


                                                                  • Paradigm
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                                                                      My wife is convinced they could live together. In exchange for not sleeping together, we’ve agreed to see how long they can by day light since we’re in all day today.

                                                                      So far the buns have been together for 12 hours. No mounting or any other signs of dominance but lots of snuggles and flopping near each other. George is top bun, but they seem to have a better idea for when the other bun will agree to company. George has been lavishing kisses on us to us too. Unfortunately, they get quite upset when separated even briefly which is an issue because they eat different pellets.


                                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                                        Deleted double post.


                                                                      • Bam
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                                                                          That’s lovely =) Lucky bunnies! So much love =)

                                                                          Is it because of the difference in age that they get different pellets?


                                                                        • Paradigm
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                                                                            Partly the age difference – when we got George we were going to keep her on the adult pellets she was on so we wouldn’t have to transition her adult-junior, junior-adult and then onto the combination of pellets and sticks we have to Mr Roger (FibraFirst are healthier and less attractive than pellets. They’re also more expensive.) but she got ill and began turning her nose up at pellets so we bought her a fresh bag of junior pellets and she loved them.

                                                                            So now she’s on a combination of those and the adult ones she’s decided are edible after all.

                                                                            Whereas Charlie is on the low quality junior pellets he came with and the same adult ones as George.


                                                                          • Paradigm
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                                                                              Also, Charlie seems to have had a hormone spike.

                                                                              I was told it was best to wait a week before allowing him to hump since he might pester her but I don’t know if that’s a week from surgery (7 days post surgery) or a week from the appointment I asked (9 days post surgery).

                                                                              Since George has been binking as high as she did before surgery and jumping on and off things I figured waiting a couple of seconds would be fine.

                                                                              I clapped my hands the first time she seemed to consent and it spooked her. The second time he did it for a few seconds tops, fell off and then proceeded to hump her side.

                                                                              They had a break and he seemed keen to hump again so I dropped a towel on their heads.

                                                                              Since then he’s been racing up to initiate and if she says no (runs off) he leaves her and if she consents he gets excited and runs off to binky while she lays there confused.

                                                                              The musky smell has since reduced.


                                                                            • Bam
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                                                                                Rabbits are very mysterious creatures. That of course makes them super-interesting to watch and to be around.
                                                                                It does sound like a hormone spike. They are probably a little confused both of them. But happy, it seems =)


                                                                              • vanessa
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                                                                                  Your bunnies are beautiful 🙂


                                                                                • Paradigm
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                                                                                    Haha. They’re such weird and wonderful creatures.

                                                                                    Today Charlie tried to climb up the outside of the pen wall and the wall and ended up dangling with both legs off the ground!

                                                                                    They settled down on Monday and have been living together ever since. It’s been a few nights of poor sleep and checking them with a torch but whenever I’ve seen they’ve only been playing and no fighting.

                                                                                    George seems so much happier now. She’s been lavishing us with licks. They know I’m the food providing mummy and so whenever I walk on the kitchen side I’ve got two bunnies following me, all the way back to the carpet side until they give up on me. I had one bunny on each foot earlier.

                                                                                    They don’t like being split up at all now – I put Charlie in the pen so George could eat her pellets in peace and she found it really distracting to be separated from me. He went bonkers. Partly because pellets were involved, I think. He managed to get all four of his feet in their water bowls at various points, splashed water all over their dig box, me and soaked the floor.

                                                                                    Weighing out their food on the floor is pandemonium, but so cute.

                                                                                    And thank you Vanessa. I think they’re pretty awesome.


                                                                                  • Bam
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                                                                                      This is such a happy bonding-story! I love reading about them. And they are beautiful. I can just picture the two of them following you around


                                                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                                                        Glad you’re enjoying it, Bam.
                                                                                        We’ve got a new surprise – Albus. We’ve been really wanting a Netherland Dwarf and I managed to talk my wife down from four buns to three.
                                                                                        They’ve had two bonding sessions, both quite long and involving multiple areas. If anyone is interested in the full order feel free to message me, but my wife says not to waffle so much.
                                                                                        We’ve been segmenting both sessions between all three and in pairs because Charlie is a bit nippy with Albus and it makes it difficult to manage him with the others.
                                                                                        Albus is very curious about them and seems quite happy (although definitely nervous at times). He’s not afraid of the hoover but Charlie is so stress bonding is useful anyway.
                                                                                        Session 1:
                                                                                        Salad eating together, the smoosh and the sieve.
                                                                                        Session 2:
                                                                                        The smoosh and stress bonding with the hoover.









                                                                                      • BB & Tiny
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                                                                                          Well that is a whole pile of cuteness right there !


                                                                                        • Bam
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                                                                                            Now this is some great and baffling news! Those pics are killing me. Take care to lock your doors at night or someone will come and steal those darlings =)

                                                                                            I’d never heard that expression before, “waffle”. Had to Google it. I don’t think you waffle =) You write lovely and interesting posts.


                                                                                          • Reeem
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                                                                                              Bam — you might be right about someone stealing them.. And i think its going to be me!
                                                                                              The pictures of them cuddling is just too much to handle! For some reason i see George and Charlie as the parents , And Albus as the kid cause he looks way tinier than them !!


                                                                                            • Paradigm
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                                                                                                It is very surprising yes.

                                                                                                And he is soo adorable. My wife clipped his claws today. Normally this is a two man job for us, but he’s so tiny she was able to hold him in one hand!

                                                                                                George is pretty much the teachers’ pet who is buddied up with the new kid.

                                                                                                Some of the time she ignores him, but she’s also been licking him. They seem very curious when together and are getting fond of each other.

                                                                                                George would make a good mum, but Charlie is an arsehole.

                                                                                                He’s well behaved when supervised – if I hang around Albus’ cage he’s good and the most unbelievable thing has developed. It’s been happening over and over so I don’t think its a coincidence – if George sees Charlie looking like he might bite Albus’ bars, she hops over and pushes his head out of the way.

                                                                                                For quite a while Albus has been hopping up to Charlie even though Charlie is nippy but he seems noticeably more nervous around Charlie and George now.

                                                                                                I’m somewhat a no-nonsense person with the buns these days. (I think this is why the bunnies are naughtier when my wife is alone with them.)

                                                                                                So my current plan is to show Charlie that he won’t get his privileges unless he’s kind.

                                                                                                I don’t want Albus to be utterly cowed by Charlie so I’m not letting them run amok just yet – just smoosh level closeness when there’s no food in sight.

                                                                                                Any further apart and Charlie nips. (He seems to be getting worse! But that’s alright because it’s early days.)

                                                                                                When Charlie nips I just put them right back together taking care not to let it happen again and stroke their heads.

                                                                                                I’ve toyed with what conditioning this is – and I think it’s curious because if he learns that nipping = strokes then obviously that bad, but if he learns that nipping = reduced freedom then that could lead to the outcome I want.

                                                                                                Since George and Charlie both follow me about, I’ve been walking them over to just outside Albus’ cage and stroking them there. It seems to be having an affect on Charlie. So that’s something.


                                                                                              • Paradigm
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                                                                                                  We’ve made the most ridiculous triple barrier to keep the buns apart so that everybun can have a run. The sides can be accessed through the bed which we’re both guarding. 

                                                                                                  The only causality so far has been me:

                                                                                                  You might imagine there’s a heroic story of me rescuing Albus from near death. 

                                                                                                  There’s not. 

                                                                                                  My wife and I were happily eating our pasta salad, when suddenly up springs George, two feet splattered wine vinegar and olive oil app over my face and and the other two scratched my arm. 

                                                                                                  That’ll teach me for forgetting George’s attention seeking penchant of jumping on the bed. 


                                                                                                • Paradigm
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                                                                                                    Third comment today… I promise this is my last.

                                                                                                    Charlie started to get territorial over his side of the box, so I put a bunched up towel into it to force him into the other side.

                                                                                                    He wasn’t best pleased. He now responds to even a quick on-off of the Hoover as though it was an extended noise.

                                                                                                    Although it was gradual and non-linear, Charlie did move closer and closer to Albus.

                                                                                                    Albus, being the fearless boy he is, kept initiating contact. He has learnt that asking Charlie for grooming earns a nip but Charlie has let Albus do the grooming a few times close together.

                                                                                                    My wife was wanting the place cleaned up and to go to bed so with only “five more minutes” I decided to end on a good note rather than see how it would last.


                                                                                                  • Bam
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                                                                                                      It sounds like rather hard work. That scratch looks pretty painful =( I’m glad you didn’t get it from rescuing Albus, even if that would have been more like a heroic deed.

                                                                                                      I went to a few lectures on dog-training a couple of years back, by the etology professors Bjorn Forkman and Per Jensen (uni of Copenhagen and Linkoping respectively) and learnt that you have to be extremely quick if you train an animal by applying a negative consequence after the animal has made sth you don’t want it to. The negative consequence must follow within split seconds to seconds, if you wait longer, the message won’t go through. If you can do that, it’s very effective. If the time between action and consequence is longer, chances are the animal associates the consequence with you or with sth else that occured right before the consequence, meaning the animal learns sth you didn’t intend for it to learn. (This is not sth that’s unique for dogs, although dogs and rabbits are very much NOT alike in their interactions with humans.)

                                                                                                      It is easier to train animals by using positive reinforcement, i e reward wanted behaviour, but that is of course useless for critical situations.


                                                                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                                                                        Haha, I am too!

                                                                                                        Thanks for the information about negative reinforcement. : ) I’m hopeful that grooming itself will act as a positive reinforcer once they get that far.

                                                                                                        I’ve been basing it off the course I did at uni about it – mostly about rats, pigeons and humans if I’m honest. It’s a human psychology course which is why

                                                                                                        I have been trying to get that very narrow window at the expense of the buns being able to see me (apparently this can extend bonding).

                                                                                                        This morning I started out with Albus and Charlie and added George with the Hoover on plus covered up the gap so they can’t see me. They’ve been flopped out for 20 minutes since the last Hoover blast with George in the middle so it’s an improvement. No grooming yet but it’s not pandemonium.

                                                                                                        Right at the end, Albus tried to walk from one side of the box to the other – over George and Charlie. He then tried to flop on top of George with his head in Charlie’s face. Charlie left it for a few seconds and then nipped him. I turned the Hoover on and Charlie sat on top of George.

                                                                                                        I needed to catch a bus right after so I then hurried them all back into their cages.

                                                                                                        I’ve got a plan for gradually expanding the room space, should they get that far.


                                                                                                      • Paradigm
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                                                                                                          Last night Albus mounted George four or five times and she ignored him for all of them. She seems happy to snuggle with him or sit on him.

                                                                                                          Charlie ignores Albus while he mounted George.

                                                                                                          Charlie has stopped trying to attack Albus through the bars. (Though whether this is because he recognises there’s a second barrier, I couldn’t tell you. He’s also stopped chasing Albus up and down the length of the barrier.)

                                                                                                          Today, I gave them head strokes for 30 minutes. Each bun got a chance to walk around the bathroom while the other two were stroked and also with all three. (Charlie has had a bit of an issue letting Albus walk about).

                                                                                                          Charlie was very happy and all flopped out.

                                                                                                          Then I put them into the box for a further 20 minutes.

                                                                                                          For the first 10 minutes, all went well. George sat with Albus and Charlie munched on hay.

                                                                                                          Then Charlie and Albus got into a fight – this time Albus fought back. On comes the Hoover, Charlie seeing that Albus wasn’t about to stop jumped out of the box entirely.

                                                                                                          Albus did a 180 jump and in one fluid motion, began to mount George. I was so sure he was going to attack her!

                                                                                                          Shoved Albus off after 15 seconds, reintroduced Charlie.

                                                                                                          Charlie, interestingly, seemed to have gained some respect for Albus and quickly came and flopped next to him. Charlie looked utterly relaxed with his head under Albus’. (A first for him.). Until Albus got up and peed next to his foot making both of them quite wet which caused a second fight.

                                                                                                          I separated them and put them back in stroking position. Charlie was trying to nudge his head under Albus’ but Albus was too scared to stay near his face and kept climbing over Charlie and onto me unless I held him in place. (Charlie to his credit, remained flopped despite being treated like a carpet by George and Albus!)

                                                                                                          Once let out, Charlie dlopped against the railing dividing the buns for the first time.

                                                                                                          This will probably be our last bonding until Sunday evening/Monday because I’m very busy for the next few days.


                                                                                                        • Bam
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                                                                                                            They really sound like a handful it’s so interesting though, the dynamics of their interactions.
                                                                                                            Sorry for telling you stuff you already know about negative reinforcement.


                                                                                                          • Paradigm
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                                                                                                              No need to apologise. You’ve given me lots of brilliant advice in my time on this forum and you can’t possibly know what I already know.

                                                                                                              They really are! It’s so fascinating watching them though I find myself second guessing my decisions lots. I love for them to be able to live with a single barrier even if they never become friends. If they do become bonded, I really look forward to seeing the final pecking order.

                                                                                                              I wish I could record what they get up to because I don’t think word do it justice, but I don’t have tripod or the time to edit out all the luls.


                                                                                                            • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                Our schedule has slightly lightened up but I’m too tired to do proper bonding for now.

                                                                                                                Instead I’ve put up a single gate between their running areas and attached a hay rack to it, to encourage positive behaviours.

                                                                                                                It helps that it’s the middle of the day because they’re still sleepy.

                                                                                                                Charlie has been alternating between nipping Albus lightly on the nose (Albus has started to back away just enough that he doesn’t get really hurt and then reap poach) and flopping next to the bars. His flopping has been lasting longer than his nips and hadn’t decended into an all out between bars brawl so I’m counting it as progress.


                                                                                                              • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                  Honestly not sure about Albus and Charlie at the moment. 

                                                                                                                  Second day of single layer barriers and although Charlie flops against it and all three spend lots of time near the gate, Charlie has pulled fur from poor Albus and keeps nipping. 

                                                                                                                  Today I did some strokes of Charlie’s nose without holding him in and let Albus move around, snuggle near him, etc. Albus even mounted Charlie so I kept up the head stroking. Not sure whether that will help or harm it. 

                                                                                                                  It occurred to me that I haven’t tried the toilet seat. No nipping, no Hoover.

                                                                                                                  Fooled by dairy-free yoghurt.


                                                                                                                • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                    Charlie on the other hand wasn’t about to allow yoghurt (which he’d eat from a spoon) take away his shot at dominance. So I introduced George and a larger bonding space to get it cleaned off.

                                                                                                                    Interestingly, having recieved the licks Charlie was much more laid back and even allowed Albus to mount him a few times. That said, Albus because a mounting monster and I had to interrupt a fair bit of mounting for Charlie and George after Albus went on a spree.

                                                                                                                    I gave Albus some head strokes wherever he chose to sit and in the end all three buns were snuggled in the corner. Occasionally one would leave but they’d all come back for more. The session ended with me physically separating them to eat my dinner.

                                                                                                                    Wish I’d filmed the dynamics now, but here’s some of the middle of the session in pictures:








                                                                                                                    In the end, it took a flannel and a brush to get Albus clean, poor chap.


                                                                                                                  • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                      A whole day without biting through the bars (I’ve got ANOTHER stinking cold so I’ve been about to watch it all day).

                                                                                                                      Three little nips I through a towel over them for at the start of the bonding session, including one where my wife came in to use the toilet and George escaped through the door.

                                                                                                                      I put a little yoghurt on Charlie’s head to smooth things over and even though the yogurt is gone they’re doing well. One bit of fur pulling when Albus decided to walk around the bathroom and then leap into the litter tray on top of Charlie but they resolved it themselves and have been smuggled in the tray since, despite having the option of wandering around our bathroom.

                                                                                                                      They’re both snuggling and Charlie even has his eyes shut for his snooze.

                                                                                                                      The only stressful thing for them today is my honking nose which now has tissue stuffed up it to avoid disrupting them.


                                                                                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                        Other mummy has a poorly tum, so we’ve moved out into the “hall” which although is a common area, it’s not a high footstep area. Except for before Charlie came to live here, when George liked it quite a lot.

                                                                                                                        They’re in Charlie and George’s pen which has been moved.

                                                                                                                        I’ve added a water bowl and a second litter tray.

                                                                                                                        George has been a bit more scrappy and pued hair from Albus but no fights have occurred. Albus has been running to Charlie for safety. Poor Albus looks a bit out of sorts but I think he’s the only one who didn’t realise George would rise to top dog in the end.

                                                                                                                        Less grooming than before but otherwise uneventful.


                                                                                                                      • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                          Decided it was time for some longer bonding, as I’ve read TanLover’s blog and I felt that my buns were scuffling and then settling.

                                                                                                                          After an hour of cuddling, being mostly okay in the pen by the bathroom door and the need for said door to be opened more easily I moved them to their new accommodation.

                                                                                                                          I laid out the rubber mat I got to protect our carpet and set the pen up with two litter boxes, a water bowl and a towel (entertainment that’s much harder to get dominant over and nobun can get cornered into).

                                                                                                                          The biggest problem was that it brought them into full view of my wife who has seen little of either bond and views any negative behaviour as a sign somebun is going to be murdered.

                                                                                                                          With slight nipping but only one fur pulling incident (none of which led to a fight), I felt it was time to bond them overnight, until my wife gets up for work (when they are more active).

                                                                                                                          All went well until one scuffle that didn’t end up as a fight woke my wife up and she insisted that they’d kill each other again. Since it was keeping her up, I separated them.

                                                                                                                          All in all, they did very well. Not a single circling fight all evening and when I did have to separate them, it was extremely easy as they’d already stopped scuffling.


                                                                                                                        • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                            Doing a couple of hours bonding this morning (only half an hour to go).

                                                                                                                            This morning the entertainment is pellets.

                                                                                                                            Albus is noticeably fearful of Charlie and spent a good while thumping. He’s been running away if Charlie approaches him.

                                                                                                                            I’ve made the pen smaller so they have to interact. Charlie and George are relaxed this morning and everybun loves a little box so they’re in the only one left now.


                                                                                                                          • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                              Very little fighting or scuffling today. They’ve been together for about 2 1/2 hours and then for about 5 hours.

                                                                                                                              I started them in the full 97cm square pen and then reduced it to force more interaction. Made it bigger when they seemed to be doing well – no increased scuffling but it did reduce interactions.

                                                                                                                              Smearing banana on their head has been very successful. 

                                                                                                                              Unfortunately, Albus has now become petrified of Charlie and runs away even when Charlie is trying to groom him (most likely for the banana). He seems very scared about leaving the litter box at all – so as the day has progressed, fewer and fewer of their interactions have been initiated by him.

                                                                                                                              It seems that they’ve hit a wall in this respect and I’m not quite sure where to go from here.


                                                                                                                            • vanessa
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                                                                                                                                That’s about where I got with Lancelot and Guin. Lancelot wouldn’t leave the litterbox because Guin would nip him. I gave them a 4-week break, in the same bedroom with a single divider fence. 4-weeks later we are at it again – and it is going smoothly so far. He stil isn’t leaving the litter box, but she is also not acting all nippy. That (time) and positive interactions, and a lack of negative interactions, is all I can think of, to get the fearful bunny to trust the more bossy bunny again.


                                                                                                                              • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                  Glad to hear you’re making progress with them again. I admit I was thinking about Guin and Lancelot when I was worried about him.

                                                                                                                                  At the moment I’m trying to build positive moments into their interaction, but I will definitely give them a break if he doesn’t calm down soon.

                                                                                                                                  I put them in an even smaller space today and they sat nicely for a few hours – Albus even worked up the courage to climb over Charlie’s head twice to get to the food!

                                                                                                                                  Charlie, to his credit, has only nipped once at all today. None when I reintroduced them this afternoon. Albus has gone for a small wander in the bigger space to the bowl, to have a look around and cleaned himself sitting next to Charlie.

                                                                                                                                  Charlie seem oblivious to this and will flop himself down with Albus in the box still and George is confused. She approached Albus for licks and he thumped a few times, acted terrified and ran away back to the box (with Charlie in it). George simply followed him back and flopped down next to Albus and Charlie.

                                                                                                                                  It was bittersweet to see Albus run around with the other two locked up. He seemed so much happier.

                                                                                                                                  EDIT: He’s exploring while the other two are conked out. Fingers crossed.


                                                                                                                                • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                    Personally, I love watching bonding videos. I really, really wish I’d been able to get some of them earlier on but I don’t have a tripod and often it was just me and the buns and their safety was much more important than filming it.

                                                                                                                                    I think that I, at least, don’t do bonding justice with words. Now bonding has become dull (a good sign, I can actually sit near them and do other things now!) I have my hands free to record.

                                                                                                                                    The bunnies will lay together do absolutely nothing of interest to a camera for hours and hours and considering what TanLover14’s blog says about trying new things if you hit a wall, I decided to run an experiment.

                                                                                                                                    Charlie and George will lay around most of the daytime hours (it’s normal for buns!) but it does mean that I realised that to get Albus to move around while the others were pretty sedate I would need to bribe him out.

                                                                                                                                    I’ve put together clips of my experiment. I’ve separated them into two videos – the first one was much more experimental and the second one is a 15 minute clip from the moment the tunnel goes in until I decided 15 minutes was about the right size – long enough to account for rabbits doing little for long periods, but short enough that it’s manageable to scrub through if you get bored!

                                                                                                                                    Unfortunately, George got slightly nippy in the experiments so Albus was disinclined to leave the box after his second venture. I put him on top of the hut a couple of times but mostly he ran back.

                                                                                                                                    In the longer video, I took the litter tray out to force him to seek an alternate safe place. Success! 

                                                                                                                                    Since the video has finished, he’s not only out and about but also voluntarily grooming the other two much more frequently than before.

                                                                                                                                    Video to come.


                                                                                                                                  • Bam
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                                                                                                                                      Yay, looking forward to video! I really admire your patience and determination, not to mention your courage.


                                                                                                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                        And here is Part 1! I didn’t realise I was going to make a video at first, so it doesn’t have what he was like before filming and the until the last experiment he’d often retreated to the litter box by the time I got the camera switched on – but those limitations aside I think it’s pretty good.

                                                                                                                                        Had to shut off the sound because my really heavy breathing was extremely irritating. But I think the suspense adds to the mostly dull affair that bonding now is, lol.

                                                                                                                                        The rabbits have had some free-roam time, mainly because George was attempting to lift the pen up and escape underneath and it seemed a bit dangerous. George and Charlie want to own the whole area and Albus is very scared of being near them. Sometimes they do want to chase him off, and other times they’re just trying to binky passed him.

                                                                                                                                        With that said, unlike in the litter box he’s been moving about (as opposed to cowering in the corner) and no fights and only one tuft of fur pulled out where Albus approached George in a slightly aggressive way. Mostly they don’t even bother to touch him, but they do want to own a particular cardboard box.


                                                                                                                                      • Bam
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                                                                                                                                          Great video! Love the music =) To me it seems like Albus is turning to George for protection, and at some point that George is acting as a barrier between Albus and Charlie.

                                                                                                                                          Charlie is so beautiful! Really good to get to see him so up close with all his different facial expressions and body-language. I “understand” Albus though, Carlie has the air of a bully.


                                                                                                                                        • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                            I didn’t notice it quite so much in these videos, but that’s definitely the case in general. Except in this series where she’s nosed up to him a bit, she’s put herself between fully fledged fights between Albus and Charlie before! She’s quite no nonsense about it to – she nudges Charlie away and then flops between them. If they continue, then she actively shoves them apart. It’s quite sweet.

                                                                                                                                            Thanks for your feedback, though. It’s always useful to have another pair of eyes.

                                                                                                                                            (My wife swings between ‘Are they bonded now?’ and ‘I don’t want to wake up to a dead rabbit!’ so she’s not the most useful, lol.)
                                                                                                                                            She rules the roost really!

                                                                                                                                            She did get a tuft of hair from him at one point, so she has been more aggressive than usual but seems to be settling down now.

                                                                                                                                            Charlie’s pretty cool although I’m not sold on him being beautiful (to the disdain of my wife). He has the most ridiculous of facial expressions, more so than the other two I think. Although recentl he’s had his ‘Don’t you dare’ face on most of the time.

                                                                                                                                            He’s a really love bunny with George and humans but, yes, he very much bullies Albus. He is getting better, though, but he seems to have expected Albus to have caught up and gets annoyed when Albus doesn’t act the way Charlie wants.


                                                                                                                                          • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                              Considered splitting this into yesterday and follow up but I wanted to get to the end of my ‘Victory’ track, haha. I never did get any of Albus flopping outside of the litter box so you’ll just have to suspend disbelief.

                                                                                                                                              Bam – I got pretty into editing the music together, as though I was organising some sort of pro video. After about 2 hours I realised I’d forgotten to delete a clip and couldn’t move everything along as it was so I had to make do. 

                                                                                                                                              It’s a very long video to show a longer period of bonding, but if you skip about 15 minutes then not long after you’ll see them being cute and the follow up.

                                                                                                                                              I have to say, it’s been very hard to really limit sharing my analysis. In my head I have a near running commentary of the micro-level of their bonding.

                                                                                                                                              Hope you guys enjoy it.


                                                                                                                                            • vanessa
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                                                                                                                                                I like this. I need to do the same thing – find a way to get Lancelot to leave the litter box. Guin is a bully. She has stopped nipping him, but she still grunts and hurries him along back into the litter box. I sat with the this evening for half an hour without the litterbox, and he just turned his back to her and sat by the gate looking out. No movement or interaction. So I pushed 2 large litter boxes together so he can at least hop between them.Frustrating. I haven’t figured out yet how to get him out of the litter box.


                                                                                                                                              • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                                  I didn’t think to include it because I tried it the day before, but when I had two boxes in the cage I found that George and Charlie would sit in one and Albus in the other.

                                                                                                                                                  I know you haven’t got toys, but have you offered food? Will he go for it?

                                                                                                                                                  Have you tried removing the litter box and making the space so small they have to engage, or maybe stroking their heads?

                                                                                                                                                  When I first put them together Charlie would attack him frequently, so I did bonding dates where I’d stroke Charlie and Albus’ heads and then let Albus walk around for a bit if he wanted to. So he could get used to moving around Charlie. This has the unfortunate side effect of making him cocky want then they started waging actual fights.

                                                                                                                                                  I think part of the reason it worked is because Albus is quite stupid – or courageous, depending on how you look at it – for most of the bonding process he’s been so curious that he just has to to see x.

                                                                                                                                                  Last night my wife fell asleep early and it seemed a pain to go through the hassle of setting up the pens for night time so I left them together over night. I took the tunnel out because it’s very noise and sounds like a fight might be breaking out when one of them is running through.

                                                                                                                                                  I was a little concerned about removing something that could act as a barrier between them and also about changing their environment – the night before George and Charlie got territorial over a piece of cardboard.

                                                                                                                                                  I put in the dog bed that used to belong to Mr Roger but I’ve been using it as a barricade since Fred and George only peed all over it.

                                                                                                                                                  They settled into the pen well, didn’t fight overnight and George seems to have got the idea that ours for sleeping on both from when I checked and in the morning when I woke up to find George relaxing on it and Charlie and Albus nuzzling her head… from the floor (it’s plenty big enough for 3).

                                                                                                                                                  I’ve been a bit worried about their feet with mostly hard surfaces and the obsession with the litter box so I’m hoping they’ll get the hang of it.

                                                                                                                                                  We’re now 13 days into bonding (I think), including a 4 day break, and made our way from attacking on sight to negotiating free roam base without breaking into fights (mostly because Albus runs away, but they’ve all been binkying about, so I’m stinking with it).


                                                                                                                                                • vanessa
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                                                                                                                                                    Sounds like you are doing good. I have a cardboard hidey box. I decided to move it around t encourage her to sped more time in it. That did the trick. With less pressure on Lancelot, he edged closer to the side of the litter box. I took him out a few times, and soon enough he was hopping out by himself. Food and water weren’t motivating enough. Your posts made me realise that I need to switch things up and place him just outside his comfort zone, just enough to have to get out the box, and also to see her being decent to him. So I also took the box away for a short while and fed them without the litterbox. That helped. Coz he had to interact with her outside of his safe place. They are not interacting perfectly by any means. But he is hopping in and out the box on his own now. after 24 hours of switching it up. So what I did was – feed them together without a literbox, encourage her to spend more time in her hidey box away from him, repeatedly pick him up and out him out the box, and smoosh her at the slightest sign of aggression.


                                                                                                                                                  • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                                      That’s awesome – so glad to hear that. It’s heart wrenching to see them stuck in a box.

                                                                                                                                                      One thing I forgot to mention and then pondered whether it was worthwhile posting was the (much simplified) biological process of anxiety issues such as specific phobia – when a phobic stimulus is presented, initially the adrenaline/fear response goes up. By using a safety behaviour, anxiety goes down in the short term but in the long term avoiding the stimulus is reinforced.

                                                                                                                                                      The more a person avoids the stimulus, the more their fear of it becomes entrenched.

                                                                                                                                                      When exposure treatment is used, it’s done at the pace of the participant – otherwise there’s the risk of making them so upset they don’t continue which would further reinforce the fear.

                                                                                                                                                      I have no idea whether this also works on rabbits and since some phobias or learnt avoidance to stimulus is harder to change than others I don’t know how effective this would be in general

                                                                                                                                                      It’s not even the only theory about it, but whether by coincidence or not the thought occurred to me that I needed to change their situation.

                                                                                                                                                      I didn’t put any of this in the video in case it was taken to come from a more formal source than a psychology student’s pondering on a forum.


                                                                                                                                                    • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                                        My buns also aren’t interacting perfectly, but they’re getting progressively better.

                                                                                                                                                        In the pen they’re pretty much perfect now, but free roam George and Charlie believe all the toys are theirs. We’re starting to see less territorial behaviour from them.

                                                                                                                                                        Albus has learnt how to get onto the bed. Now there’s three bunnies to scramble over my wife when she’s trying to sleep.

                                                                                                                                                        George took the matter into her own hands by chasing him off after about 5 minutes.


                                                                                                                                                      • Paradigm
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                                                                                                                                                          All things going well and them not divorcing, this will probably be the last post.

                                                                                                                                                          After several days of getting along just fine and snuggles all around, now seemed like a good time to declare them truly bonded – Albus settled down licking Charlie and then rolled onto his back to sleep between Charlie and George. So cute.


                                                                                                                                                        • BB & Tiny
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                                                                                                                                                            Yay !


                                                                                                                                                          • vanessa
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                                                                                                                                                              Happy to hear 🙂

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                                                                                                                                                          Forum BONDING The Adventures of George, Charlie and Albus