Hopefully Bonding Basil & Penny

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kirst3buns

kirst3buns

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Day two: Moved into their castles. Penny's was basically the same castle but a bit smaller to fit next to Basil. Basil's is new to him and they are both in a new space. I expected some thumping out of Basil but he seems pretty happy about the whole set up. He loves to climb and has two levels in his new home. They both seemed to relax a bit as the day went on yesterday. They are checking each other out a bit now and not just ignoring each other.

pennycheckingoutbasil.jpg


basilandhispoos.jpg







Day One:

These two were neutered two weeks ago. Penny is the lop and is almost a year old now. She has been with us for about 6 months. Basil is a mini-rex and is 2 or 3 years old and has been here 5-6 weeks. I am in the process of moving their bunny castles into the same room to hopefully get them used to the idea of being with another rabbit. Basil seems totally interested and Penny seems totally annoyed. My plan is to let them get used to being in the same room for a couple of weeks before proceeding to a neutral meeting spot. I've never bonded rabbits before and am fairly new to therabbitworld so I may be seeking advice in the future.

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;)
 
I love the "I won't look at you" they are both doing LOL!

Good luck. Clover and Bo got worse - they can't even play together now - Clover bites Bo and chases him - *sigh*
 
Thanks. They seem to have adjusted well to living next to each other. The first few days when I let them out to run at different times, I put up an screen so they couldn't really put their noses in each others homes. I've now taken that away and they've checked each other out without any incidents. I hope that is a good sign. I still probably won't try to put them together until a couple of weeks from now when I have more time to sit with them and watch. I'm pretty nervous about the next step so I'll let you know when I'm ready. Thanks for the support! :)
 
It's been a couple of weeks since Basil and Penny moved in next to each other. We had a little bump in the road with Basil getting an infected toe and needing medication twice a day and to "take it easy". The only way I could think of to keep him from jumping around on it was to put him in his smaller cage for a week. I still kept him out near Penny. He seems to have recovered pretty well and is not limping anymore so I think he will be moving back into his larger home. I've heard that switching the rabbit's cages every day will help them not be so terratorial. I'm wondering if I should start doing this now even though I haven't even tried to put them together yet. Any thoughts? I'm thinking of putting them together this weekend for a bit but I can start switching cages anytime if that might help.
 
That would actually be a great idea. Because that way nobody has "territory" it is all shared and scents mingle. Just a tip when you introduce, be sure to be RIGHT THERE and keep a dustpan handy. That makes it easier to separate fighting buns without getting bit yourself.
 
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I built a coroplast cage floor today to hopefully contain the mess and while we were at it, switched cages. Here's Basil checking out Penny in HIS cage.
 
This is what happened after I switched the cages. I don't think Basil managed to hithis litter box once! Nothing says MY CAGE like a layer of poos.. He'll love it when I switch him back and he has to start all over. Penny's cagewas spotless of course. That girl NEVER misses her litter box. I hope that will rub off on Basil (wishful thinking, I know).

basilsterritory.jpg
(weird shot of Basil-He hopped just as I took this)



 
Yesterday we switched cages again, back to their original homes. This evening I switched them again. Today is the first time I've heard any complaining and surprisingly it's coming from Basil. I would expect it from Penny but she seems to be taking this all in stride. Basil has been doing circles around the new cage and marking it as his. Penny came over to investigate during her free time and he grunted and tried to get through the cage. She just looked at him and turned her back and did the ignoring thing for a few and hopped off. :( I'm not going to switch cages tomorrow but plan to the next day.
 
Im sure Kirsten will update later, but I got to go over and meet her bunnies today!

Cadbury is so cute and tiny and just perfect. Hes just like a little prince.

Basil and Penny are just precious. Basil is so tiny for a minirex and almost looks like a dwarf in the face.

They did really well together today! There wasnt any fighting until the end when Basil nipped Penny a little. He actually groomed her and was being so sweet.

Kirsten took some pics so hopefully they turn out. They are such a beautiful pair!
 
Yes, things did seem to go well yesterday. Haley came over to help me with the introductions for these two. I was so worried that Basil wouldn't be nice and he was wonderful. He just seemed to want some lovin. We had another short but good bonding session this morning. Here's a pic from yesterday.

PENNYBASIL1STMEET.jpg



 
Hi Kirsten,

Isn't Haley just the BEST, I was lucky enough to meet her in September when she brought Winston & Vega to me. I so wished she lived closer to me so she could help me bond some of my babies. I think Chris and I are too Whimpy to try. We tried years ago to bond Wilbur & Jackie with Buttercup with not so good results (a trip to the vet and a few hundred dollars later).

Susan:apollo:

PS

Your Babies are adorable.
 
Lots more bonding pictures. We had a fairly good session today, at least until Penny moved. When I put Penny down in the enclosure with Basil she usually just sits next to the enclosure wall and doesn't move much. Basil is usually in constant motion. Here's how things went today. Sorry so long, but mostly pictures. I finally put new batteries in my camera.

Basil went right over to Penny and within minutes was grooming her.

They meet:

PennyBasil_noses.jpg


He seems to love her ears and does some serious grooming.

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Then he presents himself for grooming to Penny, who ignores him.

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Then they have a serious self-grooming marathon-1st on theleft side:

groomingduet.jpg


Then to the right:

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And it continued for several minutes:

groomingmarathon.jpg


Penny did loosen up a little bit and played with the metal cup. Basil tossed it around a bit too.

Andalittlebitofplaying.jpg


Basil really relaxed and stretched out next to Penny. I don't even see him do that in his cage so it kind of surprised me.

Basilrelaxedunderherear.jpg


The more playing with Penny's ears and grooming them:

Basilrelaxed.jpg


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And everything went very well until Penny decided to move away from the enclosure a bit. Once she started to hop away, Basil tried to push himself under her belly and she didn't like that.



He kind of charged at her when she moved away but didn't nip her or anything. She went back to her spot and he went back to being Mr. Nice Guy. We decided to end the session on that note. Things seem to go well as long as Penny doesn't move around while they are together. That seems kind of weird and I hope once they spend more time together, he will be ok with her moving around.Here he is trying to push under her.

Basiltryingtocrawlunderherbelly-1.jpg




 
aww they are just so cute together! Basil really is needy, isnt he? You can tell he so badly wants her to groom him. lol

Im glad things are still going ok. I think once Basil realizes Penny is the boss things will be ok :)

Are you going to do another one tomorrow? They seemso close to being bonded!
 
I didn't put them together on Sunday. I had visitors most of the day. I did switch their cages again and should have time tonight to put them together again. This time I will try to do it in the room they both run around in, instead of my son's room and see what happens.
 
Did you get to do another session? How did it go?

I know exactly what you are going through. Thumper and Peaches are good together for the most part, but there is a bit of nipping here and there. Can't wait till next week when I am off of work/school and can really spend time on their sessions.

Your babies look soooo great together. I'm sure they will be bonded in no time.

*jackie
 
Ditto on the "can't wait until next week when I am off work". This time of year is so busy and they have been together, but not more than 15 minutes here and there. That isn't enough time for them to get to know each other and feel comfortable with each other.

Good luck with Thumper and Peaches.:)
 
Thx! My two have been spending about 1 hr a day together...They just can't figure out whether they like eachother or not. :foreheadsmack:One minute, they are grooming eachother, eatingand flopped out near eachother and the next, they are nipping at eachother. It is getting better than the death fight they had a few weeks ago. I'm optimistic. :dunno

YEAH!! You have off too! That is GREAT! This week is dragging isn't it?
 
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