Willow and Mojo have met!

Well, they've had the first meeting!

They were together for about 15/20 minutes before we put them back into separate pens because it seemed like Willow was a little bit stressed by it all.

There was no aggression which was good, but we're not quite sure what to make of it all. Neither one of them established "dominance" over the other. In fact, every time Mojo touched Willow she leapt about five foot in the air and ran away! She makes a weird grunty noise at him when she does this too, but it's not angry or aggressive. Does anyone know what this is?

She's quite happy to be near him but she doesn't want him actually touching her

There were good signs though - they were eating in each other's company and Willow had a little wash

We're trying them again in the morning - up at the crack of dawn before we go out. And then again in the evening, so will see how it goes

Overall fairly happy though. We didn't have to use our water sprayer or gloves Just trying to work out what Willow's jumpiness was all about

sounds like all the women i'm ever around
she's playing hard to get being a proper little lady that she is,
could be excitement

Hmm possibly Rob. It's like he's scaring her constantly

You should have seen me the whole time, I wouldn't stop nervously babbling. Mum was just about ready to kill me before we finished

How would you like it endlessly having your back end sniffed?!

Flo grunts a lot. Some does just do. It is an early warning system. It can mean leave off or I'm excited or don't you dare. After a while you will get used to knowing what they all mean. Bruce likes to run across in front of Flo's nose repeatedly as far as I can tell just to get her to grunt.

Thanks Cheryl. Will see how they go tomorrow

You say you were nervous about it. Willow may have picked up on your micro expressions when the two of them got near and reacted accordingly. They pick up on our moods!

It sounds like it is going well. Some bonded pairs co-exist w/o the dominate/submissive dynamic.

how exciting,sending good luck vibes for this morning

Glad it went well. As Cheryl says grunting is an early warning noise. It sounds as though Willow was expecting Mojo to maybe attack hence the grunting and moving away. The fact he didn't chase her is ver positive. Good luck for this morning xx

Lots of luck for the pair of them! It sounds a little like when i was bonding Skye and Davie. Skye didnt mind him being near, but she was quite nervous and if he touched her or got a bit too close then she would leap in the air, sometimes squeaking rather than grunting and sit at the other side of the pen. They become very close once she realised that he wasnt going to hump her brains out or hurt her - He was very humpy initially, and was quite rough with it! They were very much in love after a few weeks though, so fingers crossed for the pair of them!

It could be that Willow is picking up on your nerves, i was very nervous when i tried to bond the trio, so i sat with some snacks at the other end of the room where i could see them, but wasnt to close. As for the spray bottle, i used it once in my first bond, and it only made the rabbits nervous, so i would never use it again. I used to scatter some forage or herby hay in to distract them instead.

It all sounds very positive, wish our bondings went so smoothly,

Good Luck for this morning

I'm so pleased for you to hear that things went well Keeping all fingers and paws crossed for the next meeting!

I love news like this, I am so pleased hun.

Hugs

JO xx

Thanks guys

Well they went together this morning and it seemed like Mojo was trying to establish dominance as he was chasing after her and fur pulling a bit, but she didn't really challenge this and he went no further aggression wise. And then this afternoon they were together for about half an hour, for most of which they acted as if the other wasn't there and were more bothered about the forage all over the floor. Acting indifferent is supposed to be a good sign isn't it? They also ate close by and Willow had a little wash.

Towards the end we think Willow got a bit fed up with him as she was just sitting as far from him as possible but wasn't scared or stressed. He was still filling his face!

They're still at the "touch me and I'll leap five foot high whilst grunting stage", although there were a few little sniffs which didn't come with this reaction so I think they're getting there slowly. Are we on the right lines so far?

Also I was much less nervous tonight and I do think that really helped.

It all sounds pretty good. I'd actually try to leave them together for longer if at all possible. Otherwise just as they are getting used to being in the same space, they're apart again...

Okay Sparky. I'm not sure how doable this is until Sunday afternoon/evening, as I would probably be staying in the same room overnight with them if I was leaving them together which I'm pretty sure my boyfriend wouldn't be too happy about and he is here until Sunday night.

Will it do the bond any harm to carry on like this? We were thinking about giving them 30 minutes in the morning and then probably an hour or so in the evenings if all remains good, but don't want this to create any adverse effects...

I have no advice to offer, I deliberately opted for babies from the sspca so I didn't have to do the bonding bit

It sounds like its going well though

I remember when I was bonding BJ and Rosie I dithered over splitting them up and asked the question of Angie at BARC where BJ came from as to whether I should do this as I worried that Rosie was stressed. She told me that at some point you have to bite the bullet and keep them together if no aggression is involved.

You will need to commit to putting aside 48 hours or so to try them together properly I think. In the meantime you could carry on as you are if you feel progress is being made.

No, you won't do the bond any harm to carry on as you are

Ok Sixer. Will have to sit down and have a think about when that can be done. It's going to be difficult. Would keeping them together for the whole evening from about 7pm onwards and then splitting them into cages side by side in the morning (when I'm out and they can't be supervised) be good enough?

Thumper2001 - the RSPCA did offer to bond them but Willow has never lived outdoors and she would have been outside. Added to the fact I am SO fussy about her care and would have worried the whole time she was gone - and they wanted her for a whole week! So I couldn't do it

This is the set-up at present (excuse the pee stained towels, Mojo is not yet litter trained and they're in Willow's cage because I've been swapping to mix scents):


So I was thinking if they were in their neutral area under my supervision from about 7pm onwards and overnight, and then I popped them back into that around 7am when I got up in the mornings. They can still interact etc, it just gives me peace of mind knowing a bunny fight hasn't broken out whilst I'm not there to stop it!

sounds like its going to be a match made in heaven

Willow and Mojo had another morning meeting today and it went quite well. When he touches her she does a slightly less loud grunt and doesn't feel the need to jump over his head and career off to the other side of the pen now I think she's getting there!

Lots of good signs again - eating together, grooming, sleeping - all close by, and no aggression still. They both seem totally indifferent to each other which is great!

I won't be about much this weekend but will be keeping up the bonding whilst I'm gone and will let you all know how it's going when I'm back on Monday

I've just realised part of my post vanished I started off by saying how positive it looked Even more so after reading the above.

It sounds as though you are almost there

I would put them together for the maximum time possible tonight and if it's looking good you could leave them overnight if you are around to supervise and then review in the morning. I am guessing you won't be in a mad rush to be out on a Saturday morning. Are you and your Mum able to organise a rota to be able to keep an eye on them over the weekend?

Sixer wrote: ..... Are you and your Mum able to organise a rota to be able to keep an eye on them over the weekend?

Translation requested please: ROTA

Thank you!