Baxter! & Babs: A Dating Tail

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Well as some of you may know my cat Tbone died last Friday :tears2:(posted it on the Rainbow bridge thread); she had a very long life (21) and has left a big whole in our little family - she was definetly the Matriarch of the group so now there is an open position.

Last night I thought I'd try the first "bonding" experiment between Bax and Babs as its been nothing but kisses and grooming between the walls of the Xpenfor the last 10 days. All started out fabulous - kisses and head grooming and then BAM! They turned into 2 Sumo wrestlers - spinning in a circle and Babs had a good chunck of Baxters! hair in her mouth; I got them apart (distracted them with my hand which became the thing to attack) and got them back to their respective corners.. I think I jumped the gun on this one.

I called Alex who runs the rescue where Babs came from and after telling her of the experience (and after she stopped laughing) she again explained that Babs still had a couple of weeks to go before her hormones level would come down to post alter bun (my bad I forgot). Then after I got off the phone with Alex - I look over and the two knuckleheads are back to their tongue kissing head grooming behaviour between the bars of the Xpen. :?

I think once this bonding issue is completed Babs will be the new Matriarch (she has an attitude). I think Tbone would approve. :)
 
We need to change the name of your blog now! hehe Any ideas?
 
did you want "a dating tail" to be part of the title or the sub title?
 
Lets start this update with a subtitle:

[align=center]"How NOT to bond 2 bunnies"..[/align]
[align=left]About a 2 weeks ago I woke up - was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and noticed Babs in Bax's pen.. This was odd as Babs lives in an Xpen in the living room and they were FAR from being bonded. They were sitting nose to nose and giving each other little kisses - so was thinking "well that looks promising?". [/align]
[align=left]As I put my feet on the floor as I got out of bed Irealized the carpet was covered in FUR! :? Walked out into the living room and it is also covered in fur; along with the hall, bathroom and upstairs!! I then realized at somepoint in time that night - Babs had lept off the top of her bunny condo over the side of the Xpen and then proceed to chase poor bax around all night long..:scared:[/align]
[align=left]I immediately grabbed both buns (and eventually the kitten) gave everyone a good going over to see if anyone was bleeding, bit or missing skin, but luckily no one was hurt. Kitten was hiding under a chair and did NOT want to come out; bax had a crazed look to him once I had him in my arms (he was giving me a lot of angry teeth grinding noise). Babs was just as happy as could be :whistling.. [/align]
[align=left]After calling the more knowledgable bun people I know - they all laughed and said, "Well thats one way to bond buns - just let themfight it out.." (they were kidding of course). However they all said the same thing "keep it going" so I took them to work, dumped them in an empty office which neither had been in before; and now about 11 days later - their a very happy couple; neither have pens anymore at home and sleep in the hall of my bedroom. Lots of grooming and cuddling - very cute to watch.. [/align]
[align=left]Glad THATS over.. Peace at home at last..:biggrin:[/align]
 
Well, first off - I'm glad no bun was hurt (apart from Baxter's! pride ;)). Secondly, how considerate of them to do their fighting at night, while mom slept through it so she couldn't freak out :D

Thirdly,what a great result :thumbup. Now Baxter! and Babs can cuddle up and live the life of luxury (not sure about your poor kitty, though!)

Jan
 
Thanks Jan. Kitten is quite happy too - Babs is the new Matriarch in charge of my little brood (as I suspected). Funny she is the smallest of the 3 but neither the kitten nor Bax would ever try to go against her..

For the record the night this happened I had a bad cold and took tylenol - so slept through WWIII.. I think Babs saw me drink this and then she put her "bonding plan" into action - lol. Lil stinker.
 
Good for Baxter! !!! Sometime we have to go through heck to be with the one we want to love... LOL ;)

Glad no one was hurt. Sometimes the frustration gets to be too much. I know my Zappa and Luna had their little spats, but it all worked out in the end. :)

How long before you start a trio now? (Just kidding... I think:coolness:)

myheart
 
..My buns ALWAYS make a liar out of me.. After I got home from work and was petting Bax I noticed a rough spot under his fur and upon further inspection he had a bite mark on his flank :shock:. I called CSI and they did a comparison teeth imprint and it was determined the bite came from Babs ("V" set mark)..

Then noticed that the kitten was acting all skittish - so checked the kitten (no bites) and checked Babs - nope none there either. Not sure what ticked Babs off but she was justpissy last night; thumping as I cleaned up her lil poos she likes to leave in various corners; then she started tossing her pellet bowl (full of pellets of course) and trying to knock over her water dish. So I did the worst thing that could happen to her; I picked her up, flipped her over on her back and made her "zone-out" on my lap for about 5 minutes...

This AM - she was charging the kitten..:help sigh..
 
Its been a good 11 months or so since updating - life has a way of "getting in the way".. Baxter! and Gabs are the best ever couple. I wish I could have such a love affair that they have. I catch myself watching them cuddle each other and its so NICE. The kitten (Bella) I believe thinks she is a bun, she has to eat with them, drink from their water bowl and tries to entertain the idea that she too, like parsley, spinach and dried bananas..

Going to bring in a foster bun next week, a little aggressive snot from the bun shelter I volunteer at, but really he is just SO in need of a loving home; obviouslyhe willnot be introduced to my current mix, but am really curious to see what transpiries.He (Harpo, the foster) will live on the 2nd floor - away from Bax, Gabs and the kitten; but will go to work with me in hopes that he gets over his aggression issues and get a forever home. Fingers crossed!
 
Wow Julie!! It sounds like you did a lot of work with Babs and Baxter!to get them to the snugly point of their relationship. Congrats on the having a happy couple!!

You do know that is how it starts, don't you? "I'm only going to have a bonded pair." turns into, "Fostering is no problem..." How much space do you have, and how many cages do you want? :shock: I'm just sayin'..... Those cute fluffy-butts are addicting... ;)
 
Good to see (hear) you again, Julie.

How great is it to have a snuggly, bonded pair? Nothing beats seeing two buns all nice and cosy together :)

Perhaps all Harpo needs is to have someone care and love on him - could make all the difference to his personality.

Don't suppose you have any new photos ;)

Jan
 
hi jan!

Yes, bunnies are addictive; And this is my limit. The only reason I'm taking in Harpo to foster is the shelter has pulled the buns lease so were getting kicked out and must find homes/foster for 47; Their going to be shipped to Arizon, Utah and locally here to other rescues and knowing this particular bun I just see him becoming so depressed at a new place, with new people who might just ignore him as he is cage aggressive. So after many weeks of thought it just seemed to feel right to take him in.

He will live upstairs on the back enclosed patio (enclosed with a roof and 10 ft high walls; bax lived there when I first got him; bax and gabs are not allowed upstairs so there shouldn't be any attitudes :pray:...

Fingers crossed!
 
Well the newest addition to my herd is home - Harpo the Aggressive! He's grumpy in the morning (not a morning bun) and a sweet lil boy at night once the sun has gone down (not sure what thats about). He's settling in and very confused and I think he misses his bunny shelter friends :(. but not the 40+ barking pit bulls..

Steeling myself from taking in another bun that I KNOW would be a perfect mate, but will wait for him to getadopted and then push the mate idea on his new family.

Now onto clicker training later this week..
 
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