So, I brought them down to see Auntie Heather. As it always is with them, they didn't fight at all in the carrier and, in fact, Dono gave her a little grooming. Heather decided to put Lenny in with Maryann and boy was she surprised when SHE was the one that got bit first! She also put her in with a couple other male bunnies, including one that tried to mount her and another that chased her out of his pen area. For some reason, when she was put back into the shopping cart with Dono, she seemed to realize what a prize she had. Meanwhile, Dono was upset with her for seeing all the other boys. There was no more fighting between the two of them.  And then something, as far as I'm concerned, was amazing.  Maryann mounted Dono.  Although this was an 'aggressive' showing of dominance, it was much better than biting him.

Heather then tried another technique where she put a rolled up towel between the two of them, dividing the cart in half. Amazingly enough, both of them respected each other's 'side' of the cart and didn't cross it. They sniffed and everything esle but never attacked each other. Then, on the ride home, Maryann made sure to snuggle next to Dono the entire way. Whenever she was shifted due to the bumpy ride, she plopped herself down against him afterwards. It was in the yin/yang position but still was encouraging.

So, yes, I do still have Dono and I've got a new type of bonding (the blanket border) to try with them. They'll also have a few days alone at SaveABunny for bonding work there.

Who knows, might still work out...

markus you DEF win the prize for 'most patient bunny slave while bonding'!!!  isn't it amazing how back & forth their bonding experiences have been?  whether or not it works out for maryann & dono, one thing is for sure... they have a great home with you

Although I appreciate the praise of bein' a good parent, I am more just too lazy to go through the dating process again.  My buns spend most of their day in their cages next to each other - although I have noticed that Maryann is no longer giving him the butt but rather sits looking at him.  They get about a 45 min bonding session every other night and I let them out for an hour each when able.  Unfortunately, my landlord pushed up the inspection date to this Thursday so everything is on hold now while I paint my bathroom and get the rest of the place up to his standards. 

I feel somewhat ashamed that I'm not a better parent:

• They don't always get free time out of their cage
• I don't always have greens on hand for them
• I even have gone a day without even giving them pets.

My life is a busy one, that's why I wanted to get a playmate.  I have bunnyproofed my bedroom so once they're bonded, they can have free run of it 24/7 and I won't have to worry about Maryann getting into TOO much trouble with Dono at her side.  Or maybe it'll be double - either way, once bonded I hope to earn those praises of being a great bunny parent.

I will probably not get a bonding session in before the weekend due to all of this work.  So I'll be dropping them off at SaveABunny in Mill Valley Friday afternoon.  They'll take care of the buns and also try some bonding with them.

I sure hope SaveABunny will be able to help. They are great over there! Tell Marcy or JoAnne (whomever helps you out) hello for me! What I noticed from that video right off the bat was Dono was way too tense, (understandably if he's fearing Maryann's wrath), and his tenseness also makes MaryAnn even more aggressive. So if the stress methods are not working and/or it actually only makes them worse, then you may need to take things back a notch.

What looks like has happened is they know that when they bond - it's just not going to go well, at least for Dono.  It looks as if MaryAnne asks to be groomed and is very impatient if Dono does not oblige right away.  You have one very bossy diva queen there. If the saveabunny thing doesn't work, and you still want to continue to try, I would give them a break for a week, and then bring the most aggressive or tense one into the bonding area first (you may have to try a new bonding place if they fought many times in the same area) and get that bunny very relaxed.  I normally wouldn't advise having one bunny in alone first as they could establish it as their territory, but right now from the history of things, it sounds less about territory (as they will fight even the suspended carrier) and more about their own relationship issues, so that is why I think you should bring in the most aggressive or tense one in, and get them calm - pet slowly, and calmly and rub their forehead and cheek, then bring the other bunny in and don't let them interact right away - just only seeing each other but pet them both. Only do this for five or so minutes, and then stop the session, until next time. And slowly increase the time. The idea is to help them associate each other with just relaxation and calm. You can even try giving them each a healthy treat the moment that they see each other (again not to interact yet)

NOTE: if you find that if you bring in MaryAnne in first, and she freaks the moment you bring in Dono, then try it the other way around, so that she is coming into a space he is already in.

My guess if Maryanne is dominate, then when Dono is placed over this bossy gal, it could make her even get more mad, so in this case, it may not help to put one bunny over the other. She has to feel confident that Dono will follow her queendom rules and not try to dominate her before she would be able to calm down.

I won't give anymore advice until after SaveAbunny has had a chance with them. I think if anyone could help them out, they could!

Oh, BTW, I hope your back is doing better.  I actually had my back go out while after so many sessions of bonding. It really is terrible for our backs!

Hello all.

I just got back from my conference and have been in touch a couple times during the weekend with SaveABunny. First off, I want to say that they have perhaps some of the most gorgeous buns I have ever seen there. I immediately wanted to take three of them home and I was watchin' a poor mom taking a break from her kids in there. They took her out of her cage, put her into an X-pen and she almost immediately flopped over for a snooze. If you've never been, their setup is a bit tight but incredible and the one person I met there just gave off the vibe of being an incredible rabbit person (Of course, I am terrible with names so I don't remember hers).

Oh, and I got to meet the presidential canidate, Mr. Pinkerton. I have to say that he seems a bit quiet on the issues but he does love to 'press the flesh' with the voters.

Since there was a nice long car ride over there (once again Dono grooming Maryann on the trip over), they put them both immediately into an X-pen. After talking for a time and watching them (including one of Maryann's slow approach and nips), they decided that it would actually be best if both of them were in the same pen during the time there! Although a bit afraid, they seemed to really know what they were talking about, including a specific setup of the X-pen to discourage continued fights. With a heavy heart, I left by babies there and got ready for my conference - and let me tell you, nothing has tugged at my heart as much as coming home and immediately seeing the two empty cages.

On Sunday Morning I called and Gary answered. He said that he hadn't been 'on the case' all that much but what he had seen was rather mild. They had been in the same cage the entire time and fighting was almost non-existant. I think he said that from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning, only two instances of Maryann's nipping were recorded. He then told me to call them on Monday to talk to Marcy as she was out at a show that day.

On my way home from the conference, I called them and Marcy chatted with me. She said that there hasn't been any fighting and the aggression seems to have gone away. Instead of saying that Maryann was nipping Dono, she said that she would pull his fur. I suppose that this is a more accurate description of what she does and it seemed to mean a big difference to her.

As of Monday morning, they would 'sit together' (which could mean the usual sitting near each other but I was too tired to ask any questions) and Dono does groom Maryann and Maryann has groomed Dono! That was fantastic to hear. Although, apparently, she's a bit of an aggressive groomer. My personal thought is that Dono keeps expecting the bite so he flinches and it looks like she's being rough. But Marcy says that they are over the hump now. She wants to keep them for a couple more days to make sure things settle and solidify and if all goes well, I'll get them back on Wednesday.

I'll be sure to ask for as much details as possible of not only what went on while I was gone but also what I need to do going forward. Although this entire retreat for them is costing me a bit, I would gladly spend more if it means the two of them bond!

I am very happy right now.

As always BB, thanks for your thoughts.  I'll keep all of them in mind when the lil' dikens get home.  Oh, and yes the back is much better. In fact, it only hurts when the physical therapist works on it. I think he's looking for job security.

job security... lol. 

what a fabulous chapter in your bonding saga!  can't wait to hear the details of their retreat and what they recommend you continue with. 

I am going to go pick up the two rascals today.  Marcy at SaveABunny tells me that the two of them are currently snuggling and they've been doing that for most of the last 24 hours.  I told her I'll believe it when I see it.   I need to try and find some neutral place to put them but not sure where that could be.  I am going to try the bathroom again and hope that it's not too much of her territory as she rarely, if ever, ventures in there.

 If this works, it'll be worth the $200 I spent on the bonding & boarding.  And once again, I am amazed at how much I spend on my lil girl who cost me only $10 from the animal shelter.

So the buns are back home and they're living in the same X-pen now!  There has been no aggression thus far (although I am keeping them in a recently painted and cleaned bathroom).  And so far, I have seen Maryann groom Dono twice!  I am just flabbergasted!  My little babies are bonding!

Tracy from SaveABunny says that now they need to spend two weeks in the X-pen together - no going out of it, keep them in close proximity to one another.  I'll then needta contact her to see what steps are next.  Short of an out and out fight resulting in a trip to the vets, I am to NOT seperate them.  Any such seperation would be a step back.

I just can't believe how well they are with one another now.  They're not quite lying next to each other, but they do sit near one another and often put their heads together as if to say "You groom me.  No YOU groom me.  Well neither of us are going to get groomed if we keep this up.  Oh well, guess we won't then."

Not a single nip.  Right now, Maryann is trying to escape.  Apparently the amount of blueberries I gave her today hasn't satisfied her quota.  Of course, now I can just close the door and not worry about it.   Tracey is POSITIVE that there will be no further aggression.

yahooooo!!!  ::dances happy dance::

wow markus thats amazing!  i'm so happy for you & maryann & sweet dono.  i can't wait to see pics of them hangin out together.  how far they've come from that vid of maryann trying to dine on dono's head!  so glad that your persistance & patience & $$ has finally paid off.  fingers crossed it goes smoothly.  maryann... what a gal for houdini-ing out of the xpen... geesh.  lol.

Way to go Markus!  Poor Dono really wanted a girlfriend, your patience paid off!

still bonded... yay!  i think you'll have to secretly set up a bun-cam to learn her trick.  she'll never tell you straight out 

Not quite a snuggle, but managed to capture this pic just before my camera died.

awwwww!  look at them!  dono isn't hunched up in the corner anymore and maryann has her footsies all kicked out from under her.  looks like it's working

They're getting closer...

lol... maryann has a "yeah... so?"  kind of expression on her wee face.  look at how cute they are together!  awwwww