Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS.  SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED.  We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best. 

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time. 

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

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.

What are we about?  Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

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 Questions after round 1 of speed dates

Viewing 8 reply threads
  • Author
    Messages

    • lily2521
      Participant
      69 posts Send Private Message

        We have two shelters we’re looking to adopt through to find a bonded mate for Gizmo.  Two scenarios:

        Shelter #1 – 20 minutes from home, encourages 2-3 dates before bringing a new bunny home, but discourages the return of a new rabbit if bonding isn’t successful (which is the part I’m not fond of)

        Shelter #2 – 4 hours from home, will do 1 dating session because of distance, but will allow us to try another rabbit, or return the rabbit we tried to bring home, if bonding doesn’t work after 4-6 weeks.

        We had our first round of dating with Shelter #1 today – met 3 rabbits.  Of the 3 dates, Gizmo pretty much stayed still for all 3.  Didn’t show aggression towards any of the rabbits, but didn’t show much interest either, just kind of sat there.  There was one bunny that started to groom Gizmo, and also put her head down to have Gizmo groom her – but Gizmo didn’t respond to either request, of being groomed, or grooming in return when the rabbit put her head down.


        I’ve read that grooming is a great sign, but does that count if it’s only coming from one bunny, and the other doesn’t respond?

        I’m trying to decide if we should go with the rabbit that groomed Gizmo, knowing if we bring her home we cannot return her.  

        Or if we should make the 8 hour round trip to try speed dating again with Shelter #2, knowing that if we bring a bunny home we can bring it back if bonding doesn’t work out.

        What to do?  


      • Mikey
        Participant
        3186 posts Send Private Message

          Sounds like Gizmo was too nervous to show his personality. Until he opens up, dont bring anyone home. It is possible he is incredibly submissive, but its also possible that all of the newness made him too nervous to make any connections. Since they are ok with multiple dates, i would go back a few more times once a week or more to help him socialize and get comfortable. If he doesnt show his personality at all after several sessions, its possible he would be better as a single bun for a while

          I would go to shelter #1 a few more times to see if his mood lightens up a bit before trying to head out to shelter #2, anyway. If he doesnt feel comfortable to show his personality, making the 8 hour trip wouldnt be worth it


        • lily2521
          Participant
          69 posts Send Private Message

            Posted By Mikey on 10/15/2016 4:31 PM

            Sounds like Gizmo was too nervous to show his personality. Until he opens up, dont bring anyone home. It is possible he is incredibly submissive, but its also possible that all of the newness made him too nervous to make any connections. Since they are ok with multiple dates, i would go back a few more times once a week or more to help him socialize and get comfortable. If he doesnt show his personality at all after several sessions, its possible he would be better as a single bun for a while

            I would go to shelter #1 a few more times to see if his mood lightens up a bit before trying to head out to shelter #2, anyway. If he doesnt feel comfortable to show his personality, making the 8 hour trip wouldnt be worth it

            What happens if Gizmo never opens up and shows her true personality during dates?  Is it still possible she’d bond with a rabbit once home?  Or is the other rabbit grooming her and also putting it’s head down to be groomed an okay sign that bonding might work?

            I worry that no matter what this is how she’ll act during dates.  I say that because our local shelter holds bunny social events, and we’ve had Gizmo at these events lots of times, but she acts very much the same way she did today, just kind of sits there and watches everyone, but doesn’t interact.

            I think I’m going to email the shelter that’s closer to our home, just to see if they’d be open to making an exception and would consider taking the bunny back if bonding doesn’t work, knowing that I’ll try my hardest to try make it work, and use that as a last resort…I figure it’s worth asking.  They know Gizmo’s personality because of the social events we’ve had her at, and even commented on it today, that it’s just how Gizmo is. 


          • BunnyFriends
            Participant
            383 posts Send Private Message

              Definitely ask.

              The rabbit putting its head down to be groomed clearly liked Gizmo – the only question is really does Gizmo like him/her. If Gizmo didn’t show any aggression, then it’s a possibility she likes them, but not for certain. So I’d suggest two things. One, try and determine if you think the other rabbit’s personality is compatible with Gizmo’s, even if Gizmo won’t show her personality there. This probably isn’t the easiest thing, but in your case it sounds like a good option.

              The other thing would be to keep returning until Gizmo shows her personality. This may take a bit, but if she does it’ll be worth it. You could also have a few speed dates with the rabbit who was grooming and wanted to be groomed.


            • Mikey
              Participant
              3186 posts Send Private Message

                Generally, you want to see one of them put their head down, and the other one groom them. Having both of them put their heads down means they both want to be the alpha or it means one or both are stressed out. In this case, i think Gizmo was just too stressed out since it was the first visit, but having them both butt heads isnt a good sign if that is what was actually happening. I think having multiple dates with the same rabbit who groomed would be helpful

                Asking is definitely a good idea, but be prepared for a no. Another good question might be, if you could bring the rabbit (and a shelter volunteer) home with you so you can see how they would react where Gizmo is comfortable. Otherwise, if this is always how Gizmo acts around rabbits though, she might prefer to be a single bunny. If she is always nervous around other bunnies, bringing one home will only add to the stress and nervousness


              • lily2521
                Participant
                69 posts Send Private Message

                  Posted By Mikey on 10/16/2016 4:39 AM

                  Generally, you want to see one of them put their head down, and the other one groom them. Having both of them put their heads down means they both want to be the alpha or it means one or both are stressed out. In this case, i think Gizmo was just too stressed out since it was the first visit, but having them both butt heads isnt a good sign if that is what was actually happening. I think having multiple dates with the same rabbit who groomed would be helpful

                  Asking is definitely a good idea, but be prepared for a no. Another good question might be, if you could bring the rabbit (and a shelter volunteer) home with you so you can see how they would react where Gizmo is comfortable. Otherwise, if this is always how Gizmo acts around rabbits though, she might prefer to be a single bunny. If she is always nervous around other bunnies, bringing one home will only add to the stress and nervousness

                  Gizmo didn’t put her head down, or groom at all – both behaviors came from the other rabbit.  The other rabbit was grooming Gizmo and Gizmo did sit there and let her do it, but didn’t put her head down.  She was even grooming inside of Gizmo’s ear (she’s a lop) and although Gizmo didn’t put her head down, she didn’t scoff away at it either.  They didn’t butt heads at all during the date

                  I agree though that Gizmo was too stressed.  At the social events we bring her to, she still stays pretty reserved to herself most of the time, but little by little every time we bring her we see her interact a little more each time, so I do see a shred of hope there.

                  That’s a good suggestion too about possibly bringing the other rabbit to our home to try a date just to see if it changes the environment for Gizmo, I hadn’t thought of that. 


                • Mikey
                  Participant
                  3186 posts Send Private Message

                    Hopefully they will let you try bringing the other bunny home to see if that will work! Offer to drive one of the volunteers as well so they dont think you just want to steal the bunny That could really help Gizmo out since she will be where she feels most comfortable. If they dont let you, you might just have to bring her there often to say hi to all of the other bunnies to help her socialize and open up more before bringing one home


                  • lily2521
                    Participant
                    69 posts Send Private Message

                      Posted By Mikey on 10/16/2016 1:23 PM

                      Hopefully they will let you try bringing the other bunny home to see if that will work! Offer to drive one of the volunteers as well so they dont think you just want to steal the bunny That could really help Gizmo out since she will be where she feels most comfortable. If they dont let you, you might just have to bring her there often to say hi to all of the other bunnies to help her socialize and open up more before bringing one home

                      Great news – they agreed that we can return the rabbit to them if bonding doesn’t work out (which would be an absolute last resort, and I’d have to exhaust all bonding options to get to that point)

                      So…we have a second date set up, and if that goes well we’ll bring our new companion home!


                    • Mikey
                      Participant
                      3186 posts Send Private Message

                        Woohoo! I hope bonding at home goes a lot less stressful for your little bun so she can let her personality fly

                    Viewing 8 reply threads
                    • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.

                    Forum BONDING Questions after round 1 of speed dates