Carmel & Charlie

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lagadvocate

lagadvocate

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Jun 26, 2007
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Location
, Missouri, USA
Here is my sweet girl Carmel - Mix breedof pure bunny love

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And nowthe cutie pie Charlie bun - Holland Lop

This pic is the one I found on the Humane Society's website and he immediately tugged at my heart strings:

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OOOO beautiful babies!!!! Carmel is such a beautiful color! And I loooooove Charlie. I have a soft spot for torts. Wonder why?:D


t.
 
Thank you! Of course I can't take credit for their cuteness ;).

They're not bonded yet, we'll be starting that in a couple of weeks (it will be 3 weeks from when Charlie was neutered). So hopefully they will be a match...Carmel really loved her former bondmate, Buddy ATB, and mourned pretty hard after he passed. Buddy and Carmel were bonded while they were bothyoung. Carmel's 5 now andCharlie is estimated at 4. But if the bonding doesn't eventually take that's ok, we have enough room for them to live and romp separately.

I do hope they bond though! I don't think Charlie has experienced another bunny before, the Humane Society didn't know--the info they had was that he is friendly (very true) and does ok with cats and dogs. Well we have no cats and dogs, just Carmel and I fear she may be a tough nut to crack. She bonded very strongly with me after Buddy passed which was a surprise because she didn't have much to do with me while Buddy was alive.

Now she follows me around and hops onto the couch with me for snuggles. She is well aware of Charlie's presence here though, and has shown some agression when she is allowed near the outside of his pen. But she seems torn, because sometimes she'll pace and box and other times she'll bunny flop beside the bars. But we have it so Charlie can have privacy from her. Charlie doesn't mind when Carmel is allowed to approach his pen for a bit, he's curious and then goes about eating some hay!
 
Charlie's New Steps

Oh my goodness, what a few weeks it's been! Charlie has settled quite comfortably into life with us. I still can't believe what a social and cuddly bun he is. My other buns alwaysloved their snuggle petting time, but this little guy always stakes a claim next to us on the couch and tucks himself against us for some good ear massages! I definitely had a light bulb moment the other day though.

I noticed that when Charlie was let out for his run time, he would binky all over the place and then pace back and forth in front of the couch before he finally hurled himself up there. Then he would remain on the couch for the rest of the time. I thought he might be a couch potato. But then, when it was time for his salad, he wouldn't come down. I could tell he wanted to, but would just notjump down--I always had to lift him down.

Enter the "light bulb". Carmel is a large bunny with long, strong legs and her hops and jumps are always graceful and done with ease. My atb bun, Buddy, was a Holland Lop like Charlie but he never had trouble with the couch. But, Charlie is smaller and stubbier than Buddy. So I realized that it took great effort for Charlie to jump onto the couch and he couldn't muster the courage to get down. So I went out and bought a set of those "Deluxe Doggy Steps". They are made so that small or older dogs can access couches, beds, etc... We put them together and placed it against the couch. YUP! That was the problem. Now Charlie is constantly using the steps to get on and off the couch. Poor little guy, sometimes his Momma can be a bit slow to catch on.:dunno:
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Awww. That was so sweet of u to buy those steps for Charlie! He looks just like my Oscar!! Your buns sound as though they love you so much!! The're really lucky to have you! Congrats on the new stairs and good luck with the bonding when u begin;)
 
Awesome idea with the steps.

It's funny how bunnies differ. All of our bunnies are Holland Lops, but their agility and courage all differ.

Emmaline has NO FEAR and has been known to scale some amazing heights. Gingivere can jump onto anything but refuses to walk on the linoleum in the kitchen/dining area while the other buns race across it. Pipkin will hop on and off anything...except our bed. Once he is up there he will not jump down. Go figure!

I wish they all could talk and explain themselves. I may have to go out an get a set of those steps for our guys...actually the older cats would appreciate them, too.

Looking forward to hearing how the bonding sessions go!
 
Bonding Blues

Well, bonding has been going badly. Carmel is being very aggressive to Charlie :(. In each past session she will get near him and as quick as lightening she will bite his nose and growl. My husband and I are right there so most times she is unable to land the bite. Charlie is not aggressive AT ALL. He doesn't seem to know much about rabbit protocol, but he does seem to be developing a fear of Carmel which is bad. He doesn't get mad when Carmel is mean, he just sits there and takes it and hides next to me.

I cannot in good conscience continue putting him through this. We've stopped the bonding for now. We built Charlie a huge pen in the living room with a long cardboard tube (which he loves) and many toys, boxes, pet bed, etc... He likes it alot better. He doesn't come out right away for his run time, but instead prefers to stay in his mansion ;). We had to take a lot of precautionary measures to keep Carmel from biting through the bars or jumping over the pen. In the end, it kind of looks like Fort Knox! Funny how his pen was really created not to keep him in, but to keep her out.

So, right now we are at a stand still. We think that the territory that we have for bonding sessions is just not neutral enough, so we will wait for the cool weather of Fall to start using the car to transport them to a family member's house. But in all honesty, I don't know if this will work. They may just have to remain separate. I'm definitely frustrated with Carmel's obnoxious behavior, but still try to show her a ton of love so that she knows she's not being ousted here.

She spends most of her time standing guard outside of Charlie's pen. First I thought "Awww, she wants to be close to him". Now I know that she's just there to make sure he doesn't get out, and if he does she'll be waiting to pounce. What a meanie! But now that she can't get to him through his bars, I find Charlie standing inside his pen facing her as if to say "HA HA you big freak, you can't get me!"

Now I know why Carmel's former bondmate, Buddy, always mounted her at least once a day. They were very bonded and loving but Buddy knew that he had to keep Miss Attitude in line! Sure wish Buddy could've given old Charlie some pointers.:?

Anyway, tommorrow is picture day since I got new batteries for my camera! We'll see if I get any good shots.

 
Handsome boy!!

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He is hard to get a good picture of...

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He looks like he's ready to charge me, better stop bothering him with the "photo shoot" :p

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Wacky Wabbits

Carmel has launched an all out territorial poo war. She had been beautifully litter trained and still is for her potty, but she has strategically dropped her poo bombs in an attempt to firmly claim the living room. She drops them in the exact same spots everyday. I pick them up, and she provides fresh ones.

Funny, because this is a one sided battle. Charlie could not care less (all he cares about right now is his litterbox excavation). And of course he is the onefor whom she is doing this.

Sheknows when I'mabout to put her in thehallway forCharlie's run time. Shefrantically but methodically moves through the living room to make sure all of her warnings are in place.

Since bonding isonhold for right now, there isn'tmuch I can do except stay on poo patrol. I sure amthankful that bun poo is not like dog poo!:bunnybutt:
 
Hahahaha! I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh. The way you worded it made it funny. And you are sooooo right, dog poo isn't fun at all! My pom marks with poo when new animals come in (dog rescue foster mom here). She's so funny, she forces every last bit she can get out.
 
Aww.. hahah. That is pretty funny, the extent Carmel goes to to tell Charlie whats what. Sorry to chuckle, but yeah, thank goodness they're little hard balls that are pretty odorless, huh?! She sounds like quite an opinionated little miss! :) Charlie sounds like a super sweeeetie!


 
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