Bonded with me... issues bonding with other buns?

[Rescuemom]

Crush is fully bonded with me. Could this make it more difficult to bond him with Callie?

He falls asleep in my arms/lap, LOVES affection and pets from me and will even NUDGE me for more, or he'll rush to his cage bars to ask for his 'nose rubs' that I give every time I pass by, and he just adores being cuddled and held by me. If he has free-roam time, he's very keen on sticking close to me and is very relaxed around me.

Callie, however, isn't keen on human contact whatsoever, and could care less. She's more interested in him, who has no interest in her whatsoever.

Could the fact he's so bonded to me... make it harder and take longer to get those two to bond?

 

[Blue eyes]

Maybe agnestheLion can weigh in on this. She was tightly bonded with Agnes and is currently bonding her with ARchie.

 

[anawelch]

I have a question: how did you get Crush to bond with you? I have Holland lop too but he hasnt warmed up to me like I thought he would. Hes really sweet but not very affectionate. I feel like he has the capacity to be affectionate but I dont know how to motivate him since he is not very food driven.

 

[agnesthelion]

Blue eyes wrote:

Maybe agnestheLion can weigh in on this. She was tightly bonded with Agnes and is currently bonding her with ARchie.

I think that my bond with Agnes has helped actually. I was very worried about this too so you are not alone. I am so close with Agnes that I was afraid that bringing in another bun would actually ruin our relationship or hinder bonding...

I believe the opposite has happened. It's almost as if the fact that Agnes was so secure and happy with me, she accepted Archie better because she trusted me.

That could just be happenstance but long answer short, I don't believe buns intermix their human bonds with bun bonds. I think rabbits are too smart for that and they know the difference between humans and their own kind.....

What I do believe is that the dialogue and bonding rabbits go through to fall in "love" is way more complex than we give them credit for. It's a very intricate song and dance that we may never understand fully

 

[agnesthelion]

anawelch wrote:

I have a question: how did you get Crush to bond with you? I have Holland lop too but he hasnt warmed up to me like I thought he would. Hes really sweet but not very affectionate. I feel like he has the capacity to be affectionate but I dont know how to motivate him since he is not very food driven.

Every rabbit is different. Some are never affectionate. Patience is the key and it can take lots of time. Also learning to understand your bunnies body language may help too. Does he come up to you? Lay down in your prescence? Groom himself around you? If so those could be subtle signs he is feeling comfortable with you. Don't rush things and maybe just "ignore" him and you might be surprised at his personality that will emerge.

 

[Rescuemom]

anawelch, agnesthelion pretty much answered it for you. I spent A LOT of time with him after he settled into here. I gave him lots of goodies like fruits and veggies(sugary stuff in moderation, of course) and found that his favorite treat is banana, so I occasionally share a bit of banana with him. I didn't hold him too much, but I did sit around on the floor and let him explore me and if it was clear he wanted space, or wanted to hide, I let him if it meant he would be more comfortable. But he's also naturally a very very calm, relaxed rabbit who naturally loves human contact, so that helped a lot in bonding with him. It was love at first sight for me, and it was love at first banana for him, haha!

Thanks guys! I'm just a little concerned about 'forcing' Callie on Crush. I know that just like people, some animals simply don't like one another, and I know there's some dogs that could care less about the company of another dog because they prefer human companionship - so it makes me wonder if the same can be said for some rabbits too, y'know? I'll keep doing sessions with them and see if it progresses at all, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better or worse and I've had Callie for over a month now. Maybe I'm not doing them often enough, in short enough bursts? I may try doing more frequent, short sessions, rather then the infrequent, long ones and see if that helps at all.

Callie completely ignores EVERYTHING else except Crush when she's with him, and while he's still happily nom down treats in her presence, if she's harassing him too much, he'll get grumpy and ignore his treats and try to push her away from him..