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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BONDING Trio bonding journal

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    • Mikey
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        The bunnies are Blue the mini rex, Bombur the netherland dwarf, and Badger the dutch. Bonding will take place in a tall box that weve used to bond previously by everybunny, so it smells like all of them. The box is in the living room with me as i clean their cages and pick up the floor. When they nip, i wiggle the cage. There is enough room for all bunnies to sprawl, but not enough room for them to chase or circle. When one bun tries to hump i remove the top bun after a few seconds, and put them on the other side of the box. They have hay and water

        Part one:

        Bombur was neutered and is healing well. He still has some of his obvious hormones, but they are not nearly as bad as they were. So i decided to try a quick bond session with him and Blue. Blue has been missing Bombur since i had to separate them about two months ago due to Bomburs growing aggression. Since then. Blue has been bonding on and off with Badger, our youngest bun. They had a bad fight the first bond, but it was smooth sailing after that. Theyve become close cuddle buddies 

        Onto todays session. I finally have the go to put all three together in their old bonding box. Bombur is trying to mount either bun on and off, but no one really seems to mind. Hes the smallest, so they just kinda wiggle and he falls off. When hes not trying to mount, theyre all munching on hay together or cuddling side to side. Blue has nudged Badger and Bombur next to one another and then flopped on them for a cuddle pile. Bombur and Badger didnt mind, they just continued loafing and nibbling on hay. Everyone seems very happy  Theyve been next to me for about an hour at this point, and i plan to have them next to me for another hour before putting everyone back into their cages


      • Mikey
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          Part two:

          Today was much like yesterday but with much less mounting. Bombur only tried to mount Badger twice, and only nipped Blue’s butt once. Within ten minutes Blue nudged the other two together then flopped onto their faces. Badger used Blues face as a pillow and Bombur ended up sprawled along Blue’s side  Every time Bombur did try something to Badger, Blue would nudge him over to cuddle or would drop hay on their faces. He doesnt like when they fight and this seems to be the way he helps thel avoid scuffles. They cuddled and ate hay on and off the entire 2+ hours they were in their box again. Everyone was pretty happy. We ended the session with all three sprawled close near one another. Since Blue is bonded to both of them separately, i think it really helped us out. Tomorrow i will let all three out to free roam together for an hour to see how that goes


        • Mikey
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            Instead of free roaming, i decided to put them all in the shared cage since its a little bit bigger than the box. The cage is one all of the buns have been in on and off as a kind of quarantine. Bombur sat in the litter box with his eyes bugged, so i pet him for a bit to calm him down. After he calmed down, he just got pissy and occasionally ran in circles around the cage. Blue and Badger have already been in that cage together so they didnt really do much. Blue of course forced cuddles on them both a few times but otherwise Blue was just munching on the hay. Bombur tried to mount Badger once and nipped Blues butt once, but that was it for aggression. However, they werent in there for long (a little over an hour) since i have a bad cold and dont feel comfortable leaving them all alone yet. We will see what tomorrow brings

            I do have a question for anyone who may be reading: the way i set up bonding sessions are bath tub or box > small cage > final area/living room > final sleeping area/huge cage (roughly 10 to 12 sq feet). We plan to add a fourth bunny in the semi far future if we find one we and the bunnies like. Is the way i have bonding set up a good way to add in a brand new bun? My trio were all bought within 1 to 3 months of one another, where as the fourth bun will be bought over a year after we first got Blue


          • Mikey
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              Wont be bonding the three today, but i will have Bombur and Blue out later to bond. Badgers allergies are getting worse so we want to take him back to the vet to possibly get him on antibotics or something instead


            • Mikey
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                Part four:

                Bombur and Blue were out for a little while together free roaming like the good ol days before hormones hit. A few nips here and there between both and some chasing from Blue to Bombur. Other than that, all was well. Blue would chase when Bombur would deny cuddles and grooming, and Bombur would nip whenever Blue was eating the hay. Every bun went back home on a good note of cuddles and pets


              • Azerane
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                  It sounds like things are progressing along nicely. Your bonding set up plan also sounds good to me, a couple of smaller neutral areas before expanding into bigger areas.


                • Mikey
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                    Ok thanks!! I like to be prepared before doing too much to ensure im doing it the best possible way. We dont plan to add a fourth any time soon, but i want to have a game plan ready for when we go get another furbaby

                    Part five:

                    Badger was breathing fine today so i let all three free roam the living room for a little while. Everybun kind of did their own things. Blue tried to eat the carpet, then binkied away when he got in trouble. Bombur sprawled under the couch. And little Badger ran around in circles and tried to knock into Blue to get him to run too. Had them out like this for about 30 minutes before i had to put them back to do my daily chores

                    Part five and a half:

                    All three buns are sitting inside of the small cage again. Bombur is very unhappy and running in circles around the cage (he does this when he wants to get out and play). Blue is sitting on everybun demanding cuddles. And Badger was flinging hay all over. Theyre still in the cage now, but are more calm. Blue got his way and now everyone is cuddling with him. Hes chattering away having his brothers lay with him (hes so spoiled). Occasionally Bombur gets mad and starts running around to get out. Badger is nervous about Bomburs running but isnt so nervous hes thumping or any of that. Having both Badger and Bombur separately bonded to Blue helps in situations like this, because Blue breaks up or stops any possible scuffles before they happen. By sitting on them. Ha! Ill be keeping them like this until Bombur just cant take it any more, then ill let them out in the living room again for the last hour or so to get the energy out


                  • Mikey
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                      Had all three boys in the big/final cage today for….. i dont know how many hours. Bombur freaked out for the first hour but Blue kept forcing him to cuddle so he calmed down pretty fast. No bunny fought. No nips. No chasing. Very little mounting (from Bombur). Everything went well! We arnt going to leave them all in there together until Badger is neutered (hes still to young), so they will only go in there while we are awake and at home


                    • Mikey
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                        The buns hit the vet today all together for a check up. Badger is fine. We just have to take note on when his allergies are acting up and try to put more weight on him again. Bombur’s incisions healed perfectly after his neuter and shes happy to hear hes nearly hormone free already. Blue, of course, is healthy as well

                        So with that, we were gone for about 2 almost 3 hours with all of the bunnies together in their carry crate. I feel that was enough bonding for them today as theyre all super tired. There were only minor tug of war fights between Badger and Bombur over some of the longer pieced of hay, otherwise, they did great!


                      • Gina.Jenny
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                          sounds great


                        • Mikey
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                            Thank you!  Im very happy they are all getting along so well since the first time we put all three together there was a fur flying fight. They were fine in the store and at my boyfriends moms house, but as soon as we brought Badger into our home, the other two didnt find it fun any more. They all had their own cages at that point already, so it was just a matter of getting them used to one another on a much slower level than we had originally thought. Blue being the big ol cuddle butt he is really helped too. I couldnt ask for a better alpha bun than him! He grooms the other two and always forces them to cuddle if they start to scuffle/get nervous


                          • Mikey
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                              Part eight:

                              All of the bunnies are in the big cage together and have been since about 3pm (its almost 9pm now). Bombur keeps trying to pick fights today, but its not working out for him. Blue just nudges him away and Badger runs to Blue or the smaller litter box in the cage. So Bombur is left pouting on the top area since no one will fight him. Bluey is sprawled on the bottom area where Badger occasionally sprawls with him. Badger’s tummy is a little swollen though, so no bunny is getting pellets (only hay) until i put them each into their own cage


                            • Mikey
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                                Part eight point five:

                                They were in the big cage until about 1am together, then we let them all out to play (were on the night shift, so nights are when were active, including the bunnies) for about an hour. Bombur kept chasing Badger but Badger took it as play in the living room so he was binkying and flailing around like the excited energy bunny he is. Bombur didnt like that and proceeded to pout in the corner of the room. Blue explored a little bit but ended up sprawling under me under the couch (his favorite napping spot when hes out) after a little bit. Badger didnt make it in time to the litter box and ended up peeing in the cage and Bombur happened to run through it. Both buns slid and got pee everywhere LOL. My boyfriend washed them off and i got the cage cleaned up. Bombur loves baths so he was happy afterwards and began running around super fast in circles around the living room. Badger hates baths more than any rabbit i know, so he sat in the middle of the room and cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned. Blue helped groom him a bit but didnt care too much. They all got their greens then were put back in their own cages to relax and rest!

                                Today i plan on just letting them around the living room so they have more space to bunny again. Theyre doing very good together. Im excited to add all three permanently (aside from free roaming the living room while were awake) into the big cage together after Badger is neutered! Im so proud of my babies


                              • kmurphy
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                                  You should really be careful about bathing your bunnies. Bunnies generally do not need to be bathed and the fact that you know which bunnies of yours like to be bathed and which don’t, gives me the indication that they may have had a few baths in the past. Please be careful about bathing your bunnies. They naturally groom themselves really well so it is generally not necessary to give them a bath. You said they got urine on themselves. I would recommend just spot cleaning with a damp cloth if that was the case.


                                • Mikey
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                                    Oh no, baths consist of being wiped down with a moist towel wherever they got grossed up. I just call it a bath because we do it in the bathroom. Bombur had a bad issue with spraying and marking and would roll in it so hes had many of these baths before. He sees it as full body pets at this point. Badger and Blue both prefer to be clean and not roll around in their waste so they never need/ed them as often


                                  • Mikey
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                                      Pretty much ending the journal here! Bomburs getting less humpy as the days go on, and everybunny is becoming more relaxed sharing a cage. Theyre doing great, i think! Thanks to everyone who helped me bond my trio in this thread and in my prebonding question thread from a few months ago 

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                                  Forum BONDING Trio bonding journal