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dr_peter_kraz

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Location
, Maine, USA
So for those of you that I have not met my name is Peter and I have a Rabbit named Faye. Faye have had surgary four times (from the last time we talked) because of a agressive abscess in her leg. She just got done with the last surgery on Feb 14th where the vets had Faye meet Spock . Spock was in to get nutered and they thought it would be nice for Faye and Spock to meet. Spock is half Fayes size and a very nice guy. The vets smiled and said " you know spock would be perfect for faye and hes up for adoption". I thought nothing of it after Faye was on anti-biotics she started having stomack issuses. So the vets (they really love Faye) said they would watch her all day and drop her of to me at work that night( just because she wasnt using the bathroom they wanted to watch her) When she was dropped off that night the vet had a list of bunnys for Faye she said " Faye is so outgoing I bet shes really lonely when your gone (being that they say myself and Faye are bonded). So FOR FAYE I looked over the pictures and saw Spock the 4 year old netherland dwarf. I felt bad that Faye could be lonely. I have only wanted to give her the world and to miss something like lonelyness was beside me. So on my day off I went and to the shelter and had Spock and Faye play on the floor. Spock was a true gentalmen. He did not try to mount Faye all he did was groom her and she seemed to have no problum with that (her chin on the floor). The people at the adoption shealther said it was wonderful (above what they thought would happen on the first meeting) So I brought Spock home. Spock and Faye traveled on the trip home together. Faye had her chin on Spocks back ( I took them for a 45 min drive intotal). When I got home I let Faye and Spock out. Spock tried to follow Faye under the bed and she "flipped " which is the best word I can use for it. She charged him everytime he tried to go under the bed. I know she was just showing spock that its her space and the vet said that is a good thing. So Spock respected her and left without a fight. When I looked at Faye I saw a upset bun (which upset me) like I said before I want Faye to be happy ( I also want Spock to be happy:D) I then put spock in a play pen so he would have room to run. Spock follows Faye from the other side when she goes by, he stares at her, and I can tell he likes her (ALOT). The last two nights Faye has settled down and is back to herself, she streches out on the floor , eats her greens , and seems semi fine. when I put Faye and Spock in another room together ( nuteral room) at first its fine then Spock mounts Faye over and over again. Faye a first runs and then lets spock mount her she then runs and thumps (and makes noises ). Spock then follows and mounts her again and she repeats. After about 5 mins Faye gives up ( I think ) and does not seem to enjoy what spock is doing ( she just stares at the wall). I feel like shes just cant get away and Spock never stops ...... I understand that with bonding the female lets the male mount her but it does not she like Faye is saying "go for it". It is more along the line of "I give up". She does not seem happy with the pen time. Faye is alot bigger then spock and I wish she would be the dominate one she is and let Spock know that this is not ok. The thing is Spock never gives up and Faye comes to me like she does at the vet:(. Can anyone help? Why doesnt Spock act like he did at the shealter? Am I spinning this to hard in my head? I'm very gilt ridden over this (what have I done ) or is this how rabbits interact? Does Faye not push him out of the way because its ok with her and if so why does she look so freaked out? Am I on the right path? Books say usally bonding can take a week I see it in a year( if at all). ????????

Peter , Faye , and Spock
 
Hi Peter!

Spock was just neutered so he probably still has lots of hormones running through his system. He'll hopefully calm down a bit in a few weeks. He might not have acted this way at the vets because he was nervous there but feels more secure in your home.

I don't know the setup of your bonding space, but if there's nothing blocking line-of-sight for the buns then you may want to put something in. I'm guessing Spock is smaller than Faye? If not, you could give Faye a box with a Faye-sized hole that Spock can't get into. It's also okay to pull Spock away. It's okay to allow some mounting to determine dominance, but as you've already found out obsessive mounting is very irritating to the other rabbit.

I had a similar problem when I started rebonding Fey and Sprite, who are spayed sisters. Sprite was very insistent about mounting, and she would try constantly. Fey, who used to allow it sometimes, now considers mounting totally off limits. She got very good at dodging, which would lead into a chase. Sprite would get very frustrated about this at first, but then began to learn that chasing was fun and would binky and chase without aggressiveness or mounting attempts. They are now bonded, and Sprite makes a few attempts but doesn't expect to win and usually grooms instead.

Have you skimmed through the Bunny 101 Bonding thread? There might be suggestions in there that can help you.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12072&forum_id=17

Good luck!
 
Thank you for the speedy reply. Faye is about about 6 pounds with spock weighing in around 3 pounds. The bonding pen is about 5 feet by 5 feet with tubes, a paper bag, some wood blocks with myself in the middle:). So for them to bond Faye doesnt have to get mounted day and night in the bonding pen. even if I push Spock off over and over again Faye and spock will still bond? will Spock ever give up? Or does Faye have to send him across the cage:). Thats what also gets me if Faye is so upset about this then why doesnt she let Spock know ( aside from the stomping of the feet and the little noise she makes after)? I believe you asked about the setup of the room aswell. Faye has the whole room 20 feet by 30feet (just about) and I have a quarter of the room (just about) sectioned off with a play pen for spock with a hidaway, lots of toys, paper bags, litter box, and some fake sheep skin. After I wrote my 1st post I watched spock and Faye. Faye is very curious about spock (when hes not mounting her) ,she goes up to the cage and they touch noises, faye does a lap around the cage and spock jumps back and forth over paper bags. But like I said in the bonding pen for me its upsetting.
 
Hi Peter,

I'm going through much the same thing here. I'm trying to bond two of my rescue bunnies. The girl is a little b&w lop, the boy -- classified as a 'black bunny rabbit',a mix beyond identification -- is a just a bit bigger.

I've got them in two separate rooms with a wire gate between them. Somehow, they manage to end up in the same room,and I still haven't figured out how. When they're together, they don't fight, but theboy harrasses and she hides in a corner,so I was feeingguilty. But I'm realizing that when they get together, it's always the girl ending up in the boy's room.If she was THAT harrassed, why does she keep coming back?

Anyhoo, it sounds like you're ahead of the game, you've had some grooming and cuddling. I'm just very relievedin my case that there's been no fighting (although there have been smallclumps of hair here and thair). Thelop had been housed next toa male mini-rex for months, I tookboth of them in, but theydon't like each other.They don't last 10 seconds together without a scuffle. And everytime I've introduced my litte dwarf, Pipp, to any other rabbits, she's lunged at their throats! So I can't complain how things are progressing.

Word of warning -- Pipp and I are a bonded pair, and she is one jealous little bunny! If I pet a cat in front of her, she'll attack the cat. If she sees me with another rabbit, watch out! Faye may have been more receptive at the vet's because her true mate (you) wasn't around. It doesn't sound like an issue in your case, but just in case, I wouldn't pay much attention to Spock in front of her, she may resent him for it.

Keep us posted, we'll compare notes!

sas :)and pipp :bunnydance:
 
Yeah, they'll still bond if you push Spock off. When Loki finally decided he liked Mocha, he kind of snapped and went from nipping her to mounting her for the entire session. Loki is twice Mocha's size and he kept going the wrong way, so I would push him off after a few seconds so the poor girl could breathe. Luckily she only let him do that for the one session, then started training him not to mount her after that. Even though I had to intervene with his mounting, they are a happily bonded pair.

I just thought of something- maybe you can help teach Spock how to interact with Faye? When Mocha and Loki were bonding, Mocha fell in love after about two weeks while Loki still nipped her a lot and didn't want her near. Mocha started cuddling with him while I petted him, although she had to cuddle with his butt so she wouldn't get nipped. Try petting one or both and see if you can encourage Spock to cuddle. Also, when I was rebonding Fey and Sprite I started out by "forced cuddling." I held one bunny, my hubby held another, and we held them together. From there we went to having them cuddle together on our laps, and then went to normal bonding sessions on the floor.

Since each bunny is different, it can be a matter of trial and error. Keep us updated and let us know what works for you!
 
I would definitely say don't give up get. As long as noone is biting or scratching, I still think you have a good chance of getting them bonded.

What I did is play with Wesley for a while before the bonding session. Then he was tired out when he came to play with Jordi. How long has Spock been neutered?

Also, giving them treats together is another way to make them like each other and you. I agree with Naturestee's suggestion of grooming them together as well.
 
This morning I woke up to Spock staring at me,lol. But behind him he had used the bathroom next to the litter box. What is up with that spock.......... during the day I have him in a cage ( 3 level) and he refuses to use the bathroom (at all) when I get home at night and move him to his pen hes going the bathroom as hes jumping into the litter box. Do you believe spock will ajust in time? I would say Spock uses the litter box 20% of the time hes using the bathroom. when I wake up in the morning there is the other 80% of poo literally 2 inches from the litter box ( and tinkle).
 
Are the sides of the litter pan high enough that he can't back up and stick his bottom out over the edge? I have that problem with my smaller litter pan, Wildfire will back her bottom right up to the back and end up peeing over the side!

Or you could try a bigger pan? And work you way down to a smaller size.

--Dawn
 
I think that Spock and Faye will eventually be fine together because if they disliked each other they would be fighting by now (which they aren't). I think that Spock may eventually stop mounting as it has been less than amonth since he was neutered. Faye may also learn an manner of eluding him. I have an odd combination of two neutered males who have bonded.Jacques is a very meek,small mini-lop that was neutered as an adult and still attempts to mount anything...Joey is a feisty , distrustful neutered male who would fight with anything that had any aggression in it except Jacques who is the most non-aggressive animal on the planet...they have formed a very loving relationship which I don't think could be replaced :D
 
GOOD NEWS

Last night inside I was breaking down. I felt that I had no options. I had a new rabbit and he was to agressive with Faye. So after thinking about going out and having some drinks after work I dicided it was best to focus on the problum ( Faye and Spock). I got home and put Faye on my bed and then spock. I was getting ready to move then to the play pen when there right in front of me was the solution. Faye and Spock are both alittle unsure of hieghts. They both went from side to side looking for a way down when Faye pressed against Spock:D. Spock did not try to mount Faye but instead kept looking for a way off the bed. after many passes no mounting happened. Spock and Faye would touch nosies and kept working towards the common goal ( the ground level). Knowing from reseach ending a bonding session on a good note is best after a few mins I put spock in his pen and Faye on the floor. After dinner Faye laid down next to spocks pen and Spock puts his nose up to Fayes back. I'll tell yyou bonding is much harder on the moms and dads out there. The rabbits have it easy compared to what I went through this week. So today I went and picked up lots of toys for Faye and Spocks bonding session, grass mats, untreated wood, and a ball with a ball in the middle (a rabbit mase ball?). It went just as good tonight as last night. Right now Faye is laying on one side of the pen with Spock directly on the other side:shock:, amazing..............................:bunnydance::bunnydance:

Peter
 
Thank you, she has also lost 1 1/2 pounds since this was taken. I just do not have a digital camera. Also I had her eyes flushed and she no longer has eye problums. I need to call a friend over to do a photo shoot:D

angieluv wrote:
:DFaye is certainly a beauty queen!!!:)
 
ha ha hah ahahahahah. Very true, and funny:D The veterinarians have been trying to hook Faye and Spock up for a long time. Thats spocks shealter picture
 

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