On the 19th June, I decided to give bathroom floor bonding a go. Initially, they explored the floor, not leaving the blankets, the lino was too slippery.

Buttons nipped at Nova and we stopped him. He ended up getting pats and not going after her. When he felt those urges he asked for pats instead by sticking his head under our hand.

Buttons decided to climb on me and look around. At that point, because he was happy, we ended the session. Need to end each session on a happy note. He slowly got fed up with the bathroom and nothing we did stopped him from chasing her. We stopped immediately and had to come up with another plan.

Things were really difficult with Buttons and his nippy-teeth.

Change is as good as a holiday

I figured out that Buttons is feeling energetic and needs to be worn out before I attempt to bond them together again. So, on the 21st June, I decided to mentally stimulate the bunnies and change their pens around. This time, their indoor pens were facing a different direction.

After a couple of days, I swapped their pens, so Buttons was closer to the wall. I’m going to keep swapping them around every couple of days.

Nova would love to cuddle up to Buttons, but Buttons is still a little nippy. I came up with the idea that I should pinch Buttons’ hair on his head like Nova was grooming him – he wasn’t quite ready for banana on his head for her to lick it off.

Nova felt so relaxed next to Buttons as I pulled his forehead hair that she flopped over and fell asleep. buttons stuck his nose through the wire and smelled her. This was the first time that he didn’t try to nip her.

I stopped grooming Buttons and they sat together without any incident.

Swapping Around

In the morning, I swapped their litter boxes so they could get to know each other. Nova immediately jumped into Buttons’ and started eating his hay. Buttons couldn’t figure out how to get into Nova’s, because it’s a different shape with the slanted white walls, that he had to measure it out first. I’ll repeat the litter box swap for the next few days.

I think swapping litter boxes is a good idea because you’re giving the bunnies time to scent each other. And, someone else’s hay tastes so much better than your own.

I’ve been trying to figure out why Buttons is being a poop to Nova. It’s not territory, it’s emotional. It’s easy to put it down to “it’s Buttons’ territory…” but he isn’t territorial, that’s a misunderstanding of my role in his life. Buttons is in love.

I’d like Buttons to start having a bigger enclosure, but that means he has to share with Nova. In turn, that means he has to start being nice to her. And that means I have to figure out what’s going through his head.

Again, I swapped their pens around. They are getting used to it now. Every time they go outside, their pen changes position and shape. I swapped their litter boxes again. Nova loves Buttons’ box because he leaves the yummy grass. The bunnies don’t really care about each other’s smell.

For the night of the 27th June, Nova had the left pen, and Buttons had the right one. I then swapped them on the 28th. They do not care about which pen they are in, or which angle the pens are on, or whose litter box they have.