sabanknight
New Member
Well I got our family a new bun for christmas and we wanted to start bonding them. I had read up on the subject, but another member of my family insisted they knew better so we did it their way first that I was drug along for.
Brief bunny bio's
French lop: just purchased from a breeder so is a bit new to the whole constant human attention and litter training-she has taken well to the litter box though-
She is about 11 pounds and nine months old
Holland lop"Princess": Have had her since she was 8 weeks old and she is 2 years old this past june. She is very friendly and it is roughly hard to judge her weight as she just lost a decent deal due to a diarrhea incident -recovered now and is gaining weight again-.
Other than the regaining of weight both rabbits appear in good health.
Session 1:
The two rabbits met under the christmas tree and seemed to hit it off fairly well. Our two year old holland lop was fairly thrilled to have a playmate and was licking and snuggling within minutes. After about five minutes or so our princess buttercup -the holland- began mounting the French lop. The French didn't seem to protest too much and after a few moments moved away and then came back and layed down. After another few moments Princess mounted the other rabbits face which after about the same amount of time as the first mounting the French lop had had enough and either niped or freaked out-which she has done a couple times before- on princess, a scuffle began. due to their possitioning they were able to fight for 2+ seconds before I broke them up.
Session 2:
after scolding the other party we decided to do it my way-you know the person who read up on the rabbit bonding- The two were placed on a couch in a area our first bun didnt really frequent. the rabbits having a fairly large cussion to them selves and me on one and a family member on the other. ready with our spray bottle and coincidental Christmas gift of a grease spatter guard-nice little bunny shield- we watched them for a bit as they did their thing. a delicate dance of Ignoring then grooming then laying down. Eventually our princess began to sniff the other which freaked out the French lop and we arnt sure who struck first but before and real nipps to each other could happen they were separated. Rest of the session was fairly uneventful.
Day Two
Session 3-4:
Both sessions held in our bathtub where I plan on holding them from now on. The french lop at one point took the inititive and moved in to sniff the holland lop, but somthing spooked the holland and the two almost fought as princess moved away. Some mild fighting did happen more damage to me than the rabbits, the french lop seems to be more aggressive in fighting. Because of this I have been working with her petting her nose and whisker area so she doesnt freak when she is sniffed there by the other rabbit. seemed to help some but not a lot. However due to my attention to the french lop she has taken me on as her protector often running to me to hide under my arm when a noise scares her during playtime. Her attitude toward the other bun perplexes me since in every other situation she is more content to hide her head and be petted than anything else. Anyone have any advice on this?
Day Three
Session 5:
The still unamed french lop is a bit more comfy with our house while she runs around, and likes to sit in the litter box -thank god she is almost self training herself in that respect-. During the bonding session our holland lop, princess is wary of the other rabbit I think where originally she was thrilled some of the niping has made her causious. The other rabbit -who usually starts the fighting- seems pretty calm laying down in the tub while she watches the other rabbit but always seems to be the one biting. She for the last three sessions has walked away wet. I introduced placing my palm on her head when she gets nervous or begins fighting, she seems to respect me to a degree. However at this point it seems they are only backpedaling and not making any progress. Does anyone have any tips?
I will continue posting on their progress.
Brief bunny bio's
French lop: just purchased from a breeder so is a bit new to the whole constant human attention and litter training-she has taken well to the litter box though-
She is about 11 pounds and nine months old
Holland lop"Princess": Have had her since she was 8 weeks old and she is 2 years old this past june. She is very friendly and it is roughly hard to judge her weight as she just lost a decent deal due to a diarrhea incident -recovered now and is gaining weight again-.
Other than the regaining of weight both rabbits appear in good health.
Session 1:
The two rabbits met under the christmas tree and seemed to hit it off fairly well. Our two year old holland lop was fairly thrilled to have a playmate and was licking and snuggling within minutes. After about five minutes or so our princess buttercup -the holland- began mounting the French lop. The French didn't seem to protest too much and after a few moments moved away and then came back and layed down. After another few moments Princess mounted the other rabbits face which after about the same amount of time as the first mounting the French lop had had enough and either niped or freaked out-which she has done a couple times before- on princess, a scuffle began. due to their possitioning they were able to fight for 2+ seconds before I broke them up.
Session 2:
after scolding the other party we decided to do it my way-you know the person who read up on the rabbit bonding- The two were placed on a couch in a area our first bun didnt really frequent. the rabbits having a fairly large cussion to them selves and me on one and a family member on the other. ready with our spray bottle and coincidental Christmas gift of a grease spatter guard-nice little bunny shield- we watched them for a bit as they did their thing. a delicate dance of Ignoring then grooming then laying down. Eventually our princess began to sniff the other which freaked out the French lop and we arnt sure who struck first but before and real nipps to each other could happen they were separated. Rest of the session was fairly uneventful.
Day Two
Session 3-4:
Both sessions held in our bathtub where I plan on holding them from now on. The french lop at one point took the inititive and moved in to sniff the holland lop, but somthing spooked the holland and the two almost fought as princess moved away. Some mild fighting did happen more damage to me than the rabbits, the french lop seems to be more aggressive in fighting. Because of this I have been working with her petting her nose and whisker area so she doesnt freak when she is sniffed there by the other rabbit. seemed to help some but not a lot. However due to my attention to the french lop she has taken me on as her protector often running to me to hide under my arm when a noise scares her during playtime. Her attitude toward the other bun perplexes me since in every other situation she is more content to hide her head and be petted than anything else. Anyone have any advice on this?
Day Three
Session 5:
The still unamed french lop is a bit more comfy with our house while she runs around, and likes to sit in the litter box -thank god she is almost self training herself in that respect-. During the bonding session our holland lop, princess is wary of the other rabbit I think where originally she was thrilled some of the niping has made her causious. The other rabbit -who usually starts the fighting- seems pretty calm laying down in the tub while she watches the other rabbit but always seems to be the one biting. She for the last three sessions has walked away wet. I introduced placing my palm on her head when she gets nervous or begins fighting, she seems to respect me to a degree. However at this point it seems they are only backpedaling and not making any progress. Does anyone have any tips?
I will continue posting on their progress.
