[Petbunny] Bonding: Muffin and Scout - LONG

[Criss and bunnies]

He's well behave for a dutch mafia, I sent the good one home with Jenny.

--
Criss and the Haven 

"Some people are takers, some people are givers. 

Takers may eat better at times, but givers sleep better." 

Danny Thomas

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: krasijane <krasi.jane at gmail.com> 

> Scout is just a dutch mafia guy......he is being as well behaved as he can 
> be. 
> 
> On Jan 20, 2008 10:30 AM, Criss and bunnies 
> wrote: 
> 
> > Sounds like Muffin is trying to be patient with the teenager.. the ears is 
> > kinda like a sigh. She's trying to get along with him, but he's so full of 
> > himself. He sounds like he's very happy , and only wants her to play with 
> > him. 
> > 
> > I think I'd leave their cages open while they are out and let them return 
> > if they feel they need to.. Even the Mafia has a few chases here and there. 
> > Some times one has the tent and doesn't want to share. (Ok it's built for 
> > one cat, not 5 Dutch...3 maybe). Sometimes one wants a nap and gives chase 
> > when annoyed. But they have plenty of places to go off from the others if 
> > they wish so they never really fight. (Not each other, Ginger is fair 
> > game.... the little teaser) 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Criss and the Haven 
> > 
> > "Some people are takers, some people are givers. 
> > 
> > Takers may eat better at times, but givers sleep better." 
> > 
> > Danny Thomas 
> > 
> > -------------- Original message -------------- 
> > From: Jenny Riley 
> > 
> > > So -- I could use some advice. 
> > > 
> > > We've been giving Muffin and Scout lots of dates lately, and they've 
> > been 
> > > going well. We do it on the landing at the top of the stairs in our 
> > house, 
> > > will all bedroom doors shut. Good news is, I can't hardly remember the 
> > last 
> > > time they fought (and oh boy have they fought). Generally the dates 
> > consist 
> > > of the two of them eyeing eachother, Muffin will hop around, Scout 
> > follows 
> > > her two hops behind. If he gets close and bonks her in the butt she 
> > scurries 
> > > away. At some point (usually several times) Muffin will lay down (sphinx 
> > > style, little paws out front) and watch Scout run around like a little 
> > > energetic fool. He might tip-toe towards her, ears and nose forward; she 
> > > watches, and when he gets close enough to touch her she'll lay her ears 
> > back 
> > > (*what does that mean?*) and get up. They sniff eachother nose to nose, 
> > then 
> > > one loses courage and hops away. 
> > > 
> > > Last night we put tons of toys out and they had a mutual play time on 
> > the 
> > > landing for about 2 hours. Same kind of scenario. Scout binkies like 
> > crazy 
> > > (he even binkies over Muffin sometimes). And Muffin appeared to be 
> > playing 
> > > back some times. He would be playing in a makeshift bunny tunnel and she 
> > > would follow him -- she would hop at a normal pace, then get close to 
> > him 
> > > and kind of run and he would follow her (chase, but not mean chase). 
> > > 
> > > It was going so well last night, we decided to leave them out together 
> > all 
> > > night. We didn't want to have territory issues in the master bedroom 
> > (Where 
> > > they both like to sleep), so we took apart the guest bed, put the 
> > mattress 
> > > on the floor and slept in there. So they had the landing, and the guest 
> > > bedroom (and Scout has the downstairs, Muffin won't use the stairs). 
> > > 
> > > They did very well, there was no fighting. They ran around exploring the 
> > > guest room for a while (while we were taking apart the bed they would 
> > run in 
> > > and out to see what was up, together). I put out two bowls of food, two 
> > > litter boxes, and a water dish (we tried one bowl of food, but Muffin 
> > was 
> > > hogging it, so Scout nipped her in the butt to get her to make space, 
> > and 
> > > she grunted at him -- I didn't want him to start a fight or go hungry). 
> > > There were no signs of struggle this morning. 
> > > 
> > > During the night the did what most bunnies do and spent most of it 
> > > exploring. Muffin hopped up on the bed and slept on Michael's chest a 
> > couple 
> > > times. Scout would periodically "check on" me while I was sleeping. I 
> > knew 
> > > it was him because I could feel his whiskers on my face (Muffin doesn't 
> > have 
> > > any whiskers, Scout has plucked them). He slept next to me on the floor 
> > a 
> > > little too. They both used both litter boxes, ate from both food bowls, 
> > and 
> > > drank the water. 
> > > 
> > > This morning at about 8:30ish, they started to get antsy. Scout is a lot 
> > > like an annoying little brother, in that he follows Muffin around, wants 
> > to 
> > > know what shes doing, and wants her to play with him. Muffin pretty much 
> > > wants to eat, sleep and lay around. He was following her around, they 
> > were 
> > > nose to nose with eachother (Michael was petting them both) and Scout 
> > > started to get a little nippy, and they started chasing a little. He 
> > pulled 
> > > a little bit of fur out of her butt, but not very much at all (this was 
> > > during a chase). So we let them both take a break from eachother and 
> > they 
> > > were both thrilled to see their cages. 
> > > 
> > > They spent the next couple hours laying near eachother on the top layers 
> > of 
> > > their condos, and Scout is now sleeping under the master bed. 
> > > 
> > > So, its not love at first sight, but they can stand eachother (sort 
> > of). 
> > > 
> > > How should I precede from here. And what should we do about a condo? We 
> > have 
> > > no problem letting them be 24/7 free range, and the idea of having no 
> > cage 
> > > and just a designated food bowl area with a huge litter box. Does this 
> > work? 
> > > Will they miss their condos too much? 
> > > 
> > > Feedback, advice, etc would be *very *much appreciated. Sorry this was 
> > so 
> > > long 
> > > 
> > > -- Jenny, Muffin and Scout (we're tired, we had a loooooong night-- but 
> > we 
> > > did play chase over the top of momma, that was fun!) 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Jane, Buttons, Gabriel & Maggie & the fosters: Fric & Frac 
> krasi.jane at gmail.com 
> http://community.webshots.com/user/krasijane