crystal
Well-Known Member
I think it has been about two weeks now that Lopsy and Lulu have been living near each other. their carriers have been next to each other, and facing each other, and I have been giving them separate exercise time in the lounge room. in this time the one on the loose can approach the other one in the cage. mostly they have ignored each other though. today I decided it was finally time to put them together where one of them isn't contained. dad was home to help and mum was interested too.
I wanted to put them in the bath but dad didn't want them to scratch the bath. so we decided to put them in the outdoor run that neither of them has really used yet (lopsy went in it once). I think the mistake we made was having their carriers in the bonding space. at first they were ignoring each other, and just looking around. Lulu went into Lopsy's carrier, which Lopsy didn't care about at all. but then Lopsy went into Lulu's carrier and then Lulu went in there as well... and then they fought. we thought that it would be good to have somewhere for them to retreat to, but now I realise that it was a bad idea. they fought for a bit... and there was fur flying around. dad managed to separate them though, but it did take longer than it should have because we couldn't get to them very well.
so I guess what I want to know is what I should do now... should I wait another few days before I try again, or should I put them together tomorrow? I'm trying not to be too disheartened by this. I think it was our fault and not theirs. I guess Lulu must be territorial of her carrier, so it didn't work out too well... I feel like I let them down but I'm not going to give up because this was only the first time they were together. and they have ignored each other a lot which I have read is a good initial sign.
should I put them in the same run outside again, or do they associate that with fighting now?
I know this post is very long, but I feel like I need to give enough information for people to be able to help.
I wanted to put them in the bath but dad didn't want them to scratch the bath. so we decided to put them in the outdoor run that neither of them has really used yet (lopsy went in it once). I think the mistake we made was having their carriers in the bonding space. at first they were ignoring each other, and just looking around. Lulu went into Lopsy's carrier, which Lopsy didn't care about at all. but then Lopsy went into Lulu's carrier and then Lulu went in there as well... and then they fought. we thought that it would be good to have somewhere for them to retreat to, but now I realise that it was a bad idea. they fought for a bit... and there was fur flying around. dad managed to separate them though, but it did take longer than it should have because we couldn't get to them very well.
so I guess what I want to know is what I should do now... should I wait another few days before I try again, or should I put them together tomorrow? I'm trying not to be too disheartened by this. I think it was our fault and not theirs. I guess Lulu must be territorial of her carrier, so it didn't work out too well... I feel like I let them down but I'm not going to give up because this was only the first time they were together. and they have ignored each other a lot which I have read is a good initial sign.
should I put them in the same run outside again, or do they associate that with fighting now?
I know this post is very long, but I feel like I need to give enough information for people to be able to help.