Dragonrain
Well-Known Member
Hello 
My two bunnies are both fixed males, and both pretty close in age, although I got them at diffrent times. I had Zeus since he was very young, and Barnaby was a rehome, when I got him he was just under a year old and Zeus was just over a year.
Zeus was doing perfectly fine on his own, he loves human attention. However, Barnaby needed a new home and I took him in, thinking that maybe I could bond them, maybe not (since they are both male) but figured I would try so that they would both have a friend to hang out with when I wasn't around.
They bonded very quickly and I had no problems at all! They didn't fight at all or anything like that, there was some humping but that was about it. They've been living together, in the same cage, for about 6 months I would guess. They live indoors, in a decent sized NIC cage. I also let them out every night for at least 2 or 3 hours.
Barnaby isn't as friendly towards humans as Zeus is, he's very shy and frightens easily. I think he would much rather just hang out with Zeus all the time then people. Zeus, on the other hand, loves getting attention and will run right up to me during play time. I think Barnaby is even kind of dependent on Zeus, to the point where he follows him around almost constintly and is much more nervous when Zeus isn't close by.
Annd the problem I'm having is that I don't think Zeus always appreciates Barnabys clingyness. They never fight, they cuddle and groom all the time - but when I let them out to play Zeus usually wants to do his own thing. He doesn't care if Barnaby follows him, but he doesn't make any type of an effort to include him.
Also, I think that once in awhile Zeus just wants his own space in the cage. It's a big cage, with plenty of room for them to have some time seperated. Zeus will go to the other side of the cage, and Barnaby will follow him. Then Zeus will make his annoyed sound (he's a very vocal bunny!), and run to the other side of the cage again. It's like he's trying to get away from Barnaby. He's never violent at all, he just seems annoyed. But then 20 minutes later I'll look and they'll be grooming each other again.
Should I do anything? I don't want to seperate them because they do like each other, and I think Baraby would be severly depressed on his own. I don't have room to get another bunny right now so that's out (although I do want more in the future, when I move to a bigger place!). But I was thinking, should I give them more alone time? I could try to let Zeus out for an extra hour or so by himself, so he would have time away for Barnaby. Or I could try to get some more cubes and make the cage even bigger, even though Barnaby would still probably just follow Zeus around. I don't know if there's anything I should do to make Zeus happier (thought he doesn't seem terrably unhappy).
Has anything like this happened to anyone else with bonded bunnies? I just think it's a combination of Barnaby being to dependent, while Zeus is social and more active and also more independent.
So if anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it! And sorry my post is so long! It's hard to shut me up when I get started talking about my bunnies! :biggrin2:
My two bunnies are both fixed males, and both pretty close in age, although I got them at diffrent times. I had Zeus since he was very young, and Barnaby was a rehome, when I got him he was just under a year old and Zeus was just over a year.
Zeus was doing perfectly fine on his own, he loves human attention. However, Barnaby needed a new home and I took him in, thinking that maybe I could bond them, maybe not (since they are both male) but figured I would try so that they would both have a friend to hang out with when I wasn't around.
They bonded very quickly and I had no problems at all! They didn't fight at all or anything like that, there was some humping but that was about it. They've been living together, in the same cage, for about 6 months I would guess. They live indoors, in a decent sized NIC cage. I also let them out every night for at least 2 or 3 hours.
Barnaby isn't as friendly towards humans as Zeus is, he's very shy and frightens easily. I think he would much rather just hang out with Zeus all the time then people. Zeus, on the other hand, loves getting attention and will run right up to me during play time. I think Barnaby is even kind of dependent on Zeus, to the point where he follows him around almost constintly and is much more nervous when Zeus isn't close by.
Annd the problem I'm having is that I don't think Zeus always appreciates Barnabys clingyness. They never fight, they cuddle and groom all the time - but when I let them out to play Zeus usually wants to do his own thing. He doesn't care if Barnaby follows him, but he doesn't make any type of an effort to include him.
Also, I think that once in awhile Zeus just wants his own space in the cage. It's a big cage, with plenty of room for them to have some time seperated. Zeus will go to the other side of the cage, and Barnaby will follow him. Then Zeus will make his annoyed sound (he's a very vocal bunny!), and run to the other side of the cage again. It's like he's trying to get away from Barnaby. He's never violent at all, he just seems annoyed. But then 20 minutes later I'll look and they'll be grooming each other again.
Should I do anything? I don't want to seperate them because they do like each other, and I think Baraby would be severly depressed on his own. I don't have room to get another bunny right now so that's out (although I do want more in the future, when I move to a bigger place!). But I was thinking, should I give them more alone time? I could try to let Zeus out for an extra hour or so by himself, so he would have time away for Barnaby. Or I could try to get some more cubes and make the cage even bigger, even though Barnaby would still probably just follow Zeus around. I don't know if there's anything I should do to make Zeus happier (thought he doesn't seem terrably unhappy).
Has anything like this happened to anyone else with bonded bunnies? I just think it's a combination of Barnaby being to dependent, while Zeus is social and more active and also more independent.
So if anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it! And sorry my post is so long! It's hard to shut me up when I get started talking about my bunnies! :biggrin2:
