I am currently bunny sitting these two beauties, Sooty (black giant) and Bluebell. Their owner has a newborn baby and was needing help to bond this lovely pair. I offered to do this for her and asked permission to write about it in my blog as one of my acts of kindness. As you all know, I adore bunnies in every way so this is just the coolest thing I could ever help someone with! I also feel very privileged that their owner has trusted me with her precious buns <3.
Everything has been wonderful so far with no fighting at all. Bizarrely, Sooty has been completely submissive to Bluebell - constantly nuzzling under her chin to ask for kisses (grooming). Their owner informed me that it is usually Bluebell that submits and Sooty likes to nip her. I suspect the car journey has helped them stress bond. Stress bonding is when you put rabbits into a situation that they will find stressful; this then forces them to bond quickly because they will naturally look to each other for comfort. That, coupled with being in a new environment is likely why they appear more relaxed with each other. Being in a new environment helps because it means that territory has not been claimed by either of them - rabbits are naturally very territorial, so this eliminates fighting for this reason.
After the first day with us the tables turned and Sooty was definitely boss! Bluebell spent much of the time running from Sooty whenever he came near her - perhaps they had their first marital argument that night! Still, there were minimal incidents between them. The biggest challenge was keeping my girl Rukia away from their space because she likes to get feisty through the bars! Bramble found this out when her nose was almost bitten off! I was so nervous that Rukia would do something like that to them so we had to create an extra barrier with all sorts of wood, wire and pieces of other runs - complicated but thank goodness it worked.
On the third day we needed to force some more interaction in a smaller space and attempt to encourage some affection - their owner had a fab idea of smearing mushy banana on their heads so that they would want to groom each other. It worked! although not as well as I had thought. Unfortunately I had to send them home with banana still all over their heads. Whilst this was an easy bonding, it was also the most bizarre I have ever done - these two would live happily together but they were not all that interested in each other. Normally rabbits are very affectionate toward their mates and this is certainly what I have experienced in all my bonded pairs and trios.
This was a very fun act of kindness for me to do because as you know I am bunny mad! They were both such lovely buns and I hope their bond continues to be successful at home!
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