Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14
Day 8 – Sunday, 12th
Today was a week since I first put the bunnies together. What an amazing change. They are getting used to being together and they look forward to playing with each other all day. I moved their pen about 2 metres away and changed the shape of it, this made them re-bond again, but in a different way. They all had to explore the new place together and learn where everything is, which made them share the items equally.
Maple and Buttons continually “booped” all day. He lunged forward a little and she ran away. He wasn’t being mean, he was playing.
Lunar finally got a turn in the basket of hay. He spent most of the day in it. He liked boxes of hay.
They spent a lot of time closer together. Maple and Buttons spent a lot of time very close to each other and started to love each other’s company.
Day 9 – Monday, 13th
Tomorrow is my father’s birthday, and luckily, today was Labour Day holiday, so we had a birthday celebration for him and my sister and nieces come to visit for lunch. I didn’t get to take many pictures of the bunnies. But they seemed happy enough together again today. Buttons spent all day in the green Eglu, he loved it in there.
The wind came up and blew a gale so I had to bring the bunnies in at about 4pm. It was a strange wind, it was blowing both vertically and horizontally, so no matter what I did with the shade cloth it was still a flappy green monster. I wrapped it around the pen fence in the hope that it would least stop some of the wind, but it didn’t.
I thought I’d put some nibbles out with their water today, the bunnies didn’t care about it, the grass was too yummy, but the Sparrows emptied the lot and left grey feathers and poops in the water. Gross.
Tea time! Fresh parsley and lettuce from the Bunny Patch. It looks like a lot, but they are really big lettuce leaves, with Rocket mixed in.
Butty loves the Italian parsley, that is his absolute favourite. The green leafy stuff I thought was Basil, it’s rocket, but it’s his second favourite.
Day 10 – Tuesday, 14th
Every morning starts the same. I cover the Little Ones at night with blue a polar fleece sheet. In the morning I dump it over the side of the pen. Lunar looks forward to hiding under the blanket. Maple often joins him and falls asleep.
Maple started digging a hole again. Oh, Maple. Lunar loves cuddles when he is outside. Maple hangs around my feet, pretending to be busy.
Buttons always sits under the chair. He doesn’t want pats, but he likes the company.
I came back to find that Buttons plucked some of Lunar’s hair out. This is a sign of Buttons being jealous of Lunar getting hugs in the pen during the day. I have to figure out what to do with Buttons because he doesn’t like being picked up. Once he has been picked up, he loves cuddles, but being picked up is the issue.
I’m looking into different ways to train bunnies. Check out the How to Teach Bunnies article in the Health Library.
I tried out the constructional approach training with Buttons to get him out of the Eglu in the afternoon, and it worked. I have to practice it with him, but it worked, nearly instantly.
Long story short, Buttons loves being in the Eglu. He has found a very comfy place, but it’s the kind of place that makes it really hard to get him out at the end of the day. Because the Eglu is on the ground, I can’t lift it up to make it a better height for me to get him out. He of course, knows this. I knelt on a piece of corflute and patted him in the box. I then showed him some very special treats that he has only ever had once about six months ago. I wouldn’t use these for training, but they are good for a once-in-a-while treat. He was so thrilled to get one that he immediately hopped out to grab it from me, then he hopped back in again.
I ended up feeding him about 4 treats before he was comfortable enough to hop his full body out of the Eglu. But then he took off. He ran around for about 5 minutes, then stopped. He allowed me to pick him up.
Day 11 – Wednesday, 15th
The morning started off lazy. Lunar and Maple were comfy in their blue blanket, and Buttons was splooted in his pen. I had decided earlier that I was going to remove the Eglu from the run so that Buttons doesn’t get used to it being in there all the time.
I went outside at about 8:30am and changed the pen shape again, not dramatically, but enough to add spice in their lives. I put Buttons in the bonding yard at about 9am, and then went to get Lunar and Maple.
Buttons chased them around a little but, nothing too drastic. It was more like he wanted to play but didn’t know how. The Little Ones jumped out of his way, and didn’t have bulgy eyes, which meant they weren’t scared.
Later that day, I decided to give them a handful of nibbles on the ground. Last time I did that, they ignored it and after a while went up to it one by one. But today was different. Buttons went over to it and started eating, even though he clearly didn’t really want it, then Maple came over. They sat, nose to nose, about 1cm away from each other eating. There was no animosity from Buttons, no lunging, no behaviour, he just stayed there and ate with her for about 2 minutes. Lunar was still a bit timid, and stayed out of the way. He was brave enough to come over after Buttons left.
Lunar is still a bit scared of Buttons, because he did pull hair out yesterday.
When we were packing the bunnies up, we condense the pipes up and tilt the green pipes up against the fence. That way, the bunnies are easier to collect. Lunar decided that he wasn’t done with playing with the green pipes, and squeezed into the opening and ran straight up the nearly vertical pipe to the top and looked out. Luckily, he didn’t jump out of the top and over the fence. He did that twice. Funny thing.
So, my bonding plan is a little mixed up now, but this was the original (first mentioned on the 10th).
This is my plan
| 1/4 | not scared, no bulgy eyes and no serious chasing/lunging, no more fur pulling, learning to share and touching noses |
| 2/4 | copying each other – i.e grooming at the same time, closer together |
| 3/4 | eating with each other, relaxed behaviour, laying around together |
| 4/4 | chilled buns in every situation |
| Maple and Buttons | Lunar and Buttons |
| Maple is not scared, no bulgy eyes, just jumps out of the way | Lunar is not scared, stays small and low to the ground, jumps out of the way |
| Maple is not scared, no bulgy eyes, just jumps out of the way | Lunar is not scared, stays small and low to the ground, jumps out of the way |
| No fur pulled out | Fur pulled yesterday, so very wary of Buttons |
| Maple shares with Buttons | Lunar steers clear of Buttons |
| Maple boops Buttons anywhere and everywhere, then leaps out of the way | Lunar doesn’t touch Buttons |
| Buttons plays chasy and hide-and-seek with Maple | Buttons plays chasy with Lunar, but Lunar stays still and small |
| Maple and Buttons groom at the same time, but far apart | Lunar and Buttons groom at the same time, but far apart |
| Maple and Buttons are close to each other regularly, even sharing the same pipe | Lunar would like to share things with Buttons, but still too timid |
| Maple lays close to Buttons | Lunar lays close to Buttons |
| Maple and Buttons are 2/4 bonded, heading towards 3/4 | Lunar and Buttons are 1/4 bonded, heading towards 2/4 |
Day 12 – Thursday, 16th
Today was an interesting day, it started with a mild wind at about 20km/hr, and it picked up to about 60km/hr in the afternoon. I was concerned that the rabbits would be blown away over the fence into the next door neighbour’s yard. It seemed that their pen was in a good place because even though they got a breeze, they didn’t blow away.
Happy 10th month birthday Buttons!
Buttons always sits under the chair. He doesn’t want pats, but he likes the company.
We noticed that the bunnies had lost weight over the last 12 days after having so much exercise, running around. Their meals at night were clearly not giving them enough to sustain their fat deposits each day. I decided to give them pellets during the day to boost their intake because they needed foods that helped them have enough energy.
They will be having pellets for a few days during the day, then I will mix them in with their night food in a few days. Once they have a stable amount of good fat, I will lower the pellet amount and wean them off over another week or so.
The pellets I am feeding them are for junior/dwarf bunnies, which have more fat in them than adult pellets.
I put two brands together on the plate: Oxbow (the darker pellets) and Peckish (the lighter pellets, bad quality pellets).
Buttons didn’t claim the pellets as his. He didn’t eat them first. He also didn’t chase the other bunnies away from the plate. He went up to it and sniffed it after Maple and Lunar sniffed it first. Lunar was a bit scared; Maple loves food and she went straight up to it and ate some of each pellet type.
There was NO territorial or dominance behaviour over food.
None of my bunnies like the Oxbow pellets. Buttons did try them both but ended up eating more of the Peckish ones more.
I know the Peckish pellets aren’t the best, but they will do because my bunnies don’t get them all the time.
Day 13 – Friday, 17th
Maple and Buttons are getting on really well. They play with each other, they eat together, they groom at the same time, they zoomy and binky at the same time.
The boys get boring in the afternoon, they sleep a lot. Maple gets lonely and craves company. This will be my time to start training her in the next week or so. She is wanting to do something exciting. I wanted to give the bunnies time to get to know each other before I add more complexity in their lives, like learning tricks.
I washed the carpets today, and I hung two on the wood pile.
Because they are so big, I can only fit two on the wood pile, so I hung two over the bunny’s pen.
Carpet Story
The carpets were dripping from the corners and the bunnies were really interested in it. It dripped down their backs and heads while they sniffed it and tried to figure out what it was.
Lunar was very interested in them, and he stared at them in an obvious way to show he was doing calculations. He jumped up the carpet and only got about 30cm off the ground. He went back to doing maths and spent the next 5 minutes recalculating.
He took a flying leap up the carpet and nearly reached the top. He clung onto it like he was hanging on for dear life. Luckily I was there and I picked him up off the carpet.
Awww, Lunar, you’re just too cute for words.
Lunar wanted a cuddle, that’s why he jumped up the carpet. He spent about 30 minutes with me afterwards to dry off and be a sooky mummy’s boy. Maple slept in a pipe while Lunar had a cuddle.
Day 14 – Saturday, 18th
Today reached 32°C and I brought the bunnies inside because it was cooler. Buttons hid in the Eglu because it is insulated. Lunar and Maple hid behind the Eglu’s door because it was thick enough to stop the heat.
Inside, Lunar and Maple laid next to each other to cool down. Bunnies regulate their heat like this. Buttons was hot, but he cooled down reasonably quickly.
This is my plan
| 1/4 | not scared, no bulgy eyes and no serious chasing/lunging, no more fur pulling, learning to share and touching noses |
| 2/4 | copying each other – i.e grooming at the same time, closer together |
| 3/4 | eating with each other, relaxed behaviour, laying around together |
| 4/4 | chilled buns in every situation |
| Maple and Buttons | Lunar and Buttons |
| Maple spends a lot of time with Buttons | Lunar copies Maple, but is timid around Buttons |
| Maple eats with Buttons | Lunar eats after Buttons |
| Maple plays with Buttons | Lunar dodges Buttons, but getting better |
| Maple and Buttons are 3/4 bonded – with a few leniencies | Lunar and Buttons are 2/4 bonded |
