mhockin78
TobyBun
Ok so I have Toby, the almost 7 year old senior boy. His companion, Ernie died a few years ago so we took him to Save A Bunny Rescue and he picked "Nanners" who we lovingly call "Bitch Bunny." They bonded and we brought her home, spayed, shots etc. Oh Toby is neutered too. Then, a couple years ago, our friends were neglecting their baby bunny Ziggy, so after talking it over with the hubby, we brought her home. Ziggy adjusted well in her new cage, separate from the bonded Nanners and Toby. It took a bit, but Toby and Ziggy are bonded now, sometimes he still bullies her, but she loves him and vice versa.
Ok, so Nanners and Ziggy are a problem. Both are female, and both are spayed, but Nanners was here first, and from what I know, females are very territorial and hard to bond. I never knew just how hard.
So over the last couple years we have tried to slowly bond them.
-Separate cages that were near each other for scent and sight, but closed off at night for sleeping. This went on for months. But Nanners still nipped, grunted and chased Ziggy whenever she got too close.
Note: I am not sure if Ziggy is a submissive bunny or a dominant bunny, she seems free spirited and feisty when she is out and about and always demands that Toby groom her (never returning the favor of course) but then she puts her head down whenever Nanners gets too close and flattens herself out like a pancake...is this her being submissive?
-Then we put both cages in the same bunny run so they shared the common area but still had their separate cages to go to at night. Nanners would sneak into Ziggy's cage and pee on the floor and eat all her hay and if Ziggy was in her cage, Nanners would corner her and bite her fur out. Ugh. It was constant babysitting. So we did this for about a year, until it appeared the behavior was getting better.
-Now all bunnies are in the same enclosure, with Toby's Dysplasia and constant peeing on the carpet and the floors and the soiling of the cage and the urine scald, it became too much for me to keep all bunnies separate. So we built a contraption that is new to all the bunnies, figured we would get rid of anything that was deemed "owned" by another bunny and we started fresh.
Well, Nanners is not nice (aka Bitch Bunny~not even nice to us mind you) and has managed to keep Ziggy cornered up in the cage in her litter pan afraid to move. Because if she does, Nanners comes jolting out to bit her. I let Ziggy out often and I am monitoring them like crazy. There wasn't much fur in the pen today, so I feel like that is a small victory. When Nanners isn't biting or chasing Ziggy all over, she is hiding (all the time) and when she bites I try to make loud noises to deter the behavior and have even resorted to using a squirt bottle (am I mean for doing this???) I just don't know what to do to make them all happy and for it to be somewhat easier on me. Having a disabled bunny is hard, and I do so much for them and I just can't take the abusiveness that Nanners doles out all the time. I can't get rid of her because her and Toby are bonded, and if we do give her away, I would be afraid someone else will mistreat her because she is not only a complete scaredy bunny but a mean one too.
I have even tried to stress bond them to prepare them for the new cage by placing all three bunnies in a small cage for a few hours. Then we blocked off the kitchen and had all three of them in there overnight before placing them in their all new home together.
I feel like I have done everything, but maybe I am missing something??? Please help!!
Ok, so Nanners and Ziggy are a problem. Both are female, and both are spayed, but Nanners was here first, and from what I know, females are very territorial and hard to bond. I never knew just how hard.
So over the last couple years we have tried to slowly bond them.
-Separate cages that were near each other for scent and sight, but closed off at night for sleeping. This went on for months. But Nanners still nipped, grunted and chased Ziggy whenever she got too close.
Note: I am not sure if Ziggy is a submissive bunny or a dominant bunny, she seems free spirited and feisty when she is out and about and always demands that Toby groom her (never returning the favor of course) but then she puts her head down whenever Nanners gets too close and flattens herself out like a pancake...is this her being submissive?
-Then we put both cages in the same bunny run so they shared the common area but still had their separate cages to go to at night. Nanners would sneak into Ziggy's cage and pee on the floor and eat all her hay and if Ziggy was in her cage, Nanners would corner her and bite her fur out. Ugh. It was constant babysitting. So we did this for about a year, until it appeared the behavior was getting better.
-Now all bunnies are in the same enclosure, with Toby's Dysplasia and constant peeing on the carpet and the floors and the soiling of the cage and the urine scald, it became too much for me to keep all bunnies separate. So we built a contraption that is new to all the bunnies, figured we would get rid of anything that was deemed "owned" by another bunny and we started fresh.
Well, Nanners is not nice (aka Bitch Bunny~not even nice to us mind you) and has managed to keep Ziggy cornered up in the cage in her litter pan afraid to move. Because if she does, Nanners comes jolting out to bit her. I let Ziggy out often and I am monitoring them like crazy. There wasn't much fur in the pen today, so I feel like that is a small victory. When Nanners isn't biting or chasing Ziggy all over, she is hiding (all the time) and when she bites I try to make loud noises to deter the behavior and have even resorted to using a squirt bottle (am I mean for doing this???) I just don't know what to do to make them all happy and for it to be somewhat easier on me. Having a disabled bunny is hard, and I do so much for them and I just can't take the abusiveness that Nanners doles out all the time. I can't get rid of her because her and Toby are bonded, and if we do give her away, I would be afraid someone else will mistreat her because she is not only a complete scaredy bunny but a mean one too.
I have even tried to stress bond them to prepare them for the new cage by placing all three bunnies in a small cage for a few hours. Then we blocked off the kitchen and had all three of them in there overnight before placing them in their all new home together.
I feel like I have done everything, but maybe I am missing something??? Please help!!
