Continuing their Bonding Day 6

It's truly amazing that on their 4th night by themselves without monitoring, there was no fights, chasing or humping occurred. It was another peaceful night for both Uncle Hubby and me. I guess we are lucky to risk doing that but I have good reasons why I am confident they won't fight too - on Day 2, they did not fight/hump/chase when putting them together from 6am to 10pm. That's why, it always better and highly recommended to do your own bunny bonding than outsourcing it because only you know your own bunnies' personalities the best.

I have to admit it's a long tiring and discouraging journey - first few hours and/or days, there were many moments I wanted to give up doing bonding them. Furthermore, Koogle constant foot stomping really got to my nerves at times; I did thought of outsourcing but the lady told me she would not take up the job unless both of them came to her in "good foundation" and in her opinion based on what I shared with her, they were not in "good foundation" for her. She wanted me to let them live adjacent to each other for a month or so before taking up the job. What?! A month or so? Maybe if I do my own bonding, by then, they would have been self-bonded.

It is even super amazing for me to wake up to see there is not even a single stray poops or hays being kicked out of their litter box this morning. Another evidence of no chasing or fighting has happened last night. Cotton and Koogle, keep it up boys! Not forgetting to mention, there was no stray pee observed for the consecutive days of bonding them together. Woohoo!

Amazing sight that I wish they will continue to behave

So at about 8am today, I fed them with a cup of pellets as usual. With a little assistance from me by placing both of them side by side, then they began eating their pellets together. They ate together about a good near 10mins before Koogle hopped out and followed by Cotton. Then Koogle hopped back to continue his eating. Another good sign that Koogle showed was he later hopped near Cotton who was resting on his 4, to drink his water.

It is also good to mention at this point that Koogle stomp his foot lesser for the past 2 days. Maybe he has learnt to get used to certain changes - living together with his Big Bro. To calm Koogle more, I would carry him and stroke him while watching TV. I can feel his nails clutching to me and after a while, relaxes. I think he is insecure in many aspect and may hinder the bonding progress. I must always remind myself to be PATIENCE.

Breathe.......breathe.....breathe.....Love.....love.....love....

To be continued

Continuing their bonding Day 5

Last night, I left them in the playpen again and went to sleep. Second night and they did not fight with each other. Another positive sign, I guess.

So this morning when changing their litter box time, I decided to give them free roam. I think it's a right choice to let them do some free roaming time - their little own 'me' time.

After cleaning up, I put them both in the playpen. To prevent Google to move the litter tray while hopping frantically in and out, I added the anti-slip mat. 

Then Google surprised me with something....he drank water by sitting next to Cotton. Usually he will drink the water by sitting from the litter tray and stick his head out to drink. 

Well, it only lasted less than 3 minutes but I think it's a good sign? 

At about 6:30pm, it's time to serve their fresh vegetable meal. This time round, they were able to eat their vegetables together without me placing them together in the litter tray! Amazing. I think Koogle needs to be trained to learn that it is OK to eat with Cotton. He needs a lot of assurance and comforting to overcome his paranoid.

Tonight, it will also be their 4th night alone by themselves - bonding without monitoring.

Continuing their bonding Day 4

Left them overnight in the same playpen with sufficent hays.

In the morning at 6am, I was surprise to see no stray pee at all. Wow, they both are toilet strong habit. There were 3-4 poops outside of the tray but it's really a fantastic results. I give their toilet habit an A+! 

It's hard to do housekeeping on their 4 piece playpen with both around and so I put them in a basket together. Koogle then kept stomping his foot when Cotton was sniffing him. Then at one point, Koogle screamed and so I had to separate them. Really do not know what's going into Koogle's mind. Either he's such a wimp or his past is badly scarred that he has phobia with another animal, even if that animal is a bunny. 

After some 3hrs later....... I caught them resting on 4 together at the same time. Finger-crossed for now. 

 

At about 11:50am......look!! They can rest near each other and Koogle did not stomp his foot when Cotton rested at the new spot. Previously, Cotton rests near at the corner next to water bottle. Clever Cotton. 

At about 6pm....time for their fresh vegetables meal. Again, they cannot automatically hop into the tray to eat and Cotton seems to give concession by eating out of the litter tray. Well, I do not allow my bunnies to eat outside of their tray so I placed them side by side. They behave better tolerance today and able to eat fresh vegetable together....although still for a short while like 5mins or so.

Munch munch munch......nom nom nom. After that, they hop in by taking turns to finish the vegetables. Sigh.....it is really a baby step improvement.

Continuing their bonding Day 3

Continuing their bonding process.....after a break of 3 days.

So far, no fighting but Koogle will still thump his feet frequently. He's such a sissy!

Cotton once again is caught kissing him a few times but Koogle does not reciprocate. On a positive note, Koogle did not thump his foot when Cotton was kissing him. Cotton kissed him as long as 3-5mins. Amazing Cotton!

I think it's important not to give them too big space so I placed them in a 4 pieces playpen, a water bottle and a litter tray - nothing fanciful. I anticipate that there be chasing so too much items in the playpen would mean more clean up for me.

I decided to change the bonding site and to use at Koogle's side of playpen instead. Koogle is simply a stubborn bun who only takes soft approach and will head on with you on discipline. Since Koogle has been marking his territory at his playpen, I decided to bring Cotton over to his side instead. 

I started with the smaller litter tray then collected their urines and poops after 3hrs of putting them together. Then I changed to a bigger tray so both can be together at same time. I placed back their soiled bedding and pee pad in the bigger tray. So far so good for them. No fighting observed.  

Do you also observe something strange about the way how they rest? If Cotton rests on all 4, Koogle will rest on chicken position and vice versa. Hmmmm.... Need to find out if there's any hidden meaning. 

After 3hrs.....at 8:45pm.....Koogle began to rest in more relaxed position, almost next to Cotton. 

And when Koogle totally flopped, Cotton changed to meat-loaf position. Tsk tsk 

Cotton & Koogle: Day 2 of Bonding Session

Day 2 of their bonding session and since I be going out to do some errands for a few hours and Uncle Hubby is not interested in involving their bonding work, so I decided to be risky - put them both in the 6 playpen. Well if they did not fight for 9hrs yesterday, I'm thinking they won't fight in this 6 playpen together. 

I retain their individual litter box but they will have to share the water bottle. Yay! One less water bowl to wash and refill too. 

Look, they are eating together....in their own box. Hahahaha  

This setup will most likely be set permanent as well. Wow, their bonding progress really skips a lot of steps. 

It's important that we do read around how others have done their bonding with their rabbits. There's no best ways to do so or hard and fast rule to abide. I also believe that only the owner knows best and plays a huge impact on the success of the bonding. As what others also been emphazing - Patience is an important ingredient as well. Of course if your pocket is deep enough, you can outsource the bonding to a third party. 

The best part of involving in their bonding is I get to interact with them at the same time. It's also bonding between humans and them as well. 

After 6hrs later in Day 2, according to Uncle Hubby, Cotton would chase after Koogle once every hour and Koogle would hop away. There was also poop and cecotrophs war. Picture of the poop war aftermath was not taken because I was too mad and quickly cleaned up. 

Seems that certain thing cannot be in haste and needs to be brew for some time. So right now, the 6 play pen is now spilt unequally with more space gone to Cotton because Cotton was pretty upset since he gave out the cecotrophs. He will always cecotrophs whenever he's unhappy or over-nutrition (unlikely because no change of diet given). Sorry Koogle, you just have to give in. 

Right now, finger crossed. 

Investing A Good Nail Clipper

I did not try many nail clippers but in the market, I saw commonly 2 types for animals that look like an X scissor shaped with a semi-circle curve on each blade (see pictures). The cheap version (red and smaller ones which costs as cheap... as $2) does not cut cleanly and easily. When using on bigger nails at feet, you may need clip harder to chip off which can stress the bunny further as they can feel the pressure during clipping. Cotton is one such sensitive bunny and will jerk if he feels the pressure. Cotton's nails harder overgrown because of my diligence grooming so I can only clip 1mm or so each time and one can imagine how stressful both Cotton and me as well. Plus, it's not ergonomic for those with bigger hands.

Then another bunny parent shared with me her nail clipper which costs about $12-16 range. I tried and impressed with it. So I went to get my pair nearby my pet shop and it costs me $8 after discount. Extra feature includes a locking mechanism. The cutting is very easily, clip fast at one squeeze and cleanly. It's a breeze to trim nails for me and sensitive bunny. Plus it's quite ergonomic to use as well.
So my conclusion is: invest a little more to get a good nail clipper because in this case, you get what you pay for based on the price paid. One note to share, before you start going out to buy one now, prior to buying, ask the shop for assistance to allow you to test the clipper. Check for no rust at the blades on both sides and the spring mechanism when squeezing is smooth without much resistance.
 

Bonding with sidekick, Koogle

Since Mi-yeon passed on, Cotton becomes a solo bun again. It's also a matter of time that Cotton be bond with Koogle as a pair. I did not bond Koogle straight away as his body wounds conditions were not good so the focus for the past 2 weeks was healed his wounds. Also, Cotton also need some chill time to recover his loss of companion recently.

So now, the time is ripe as Koogle is recovering well and Cotton has been constantly visiting Koogle for the past 2 weeks as well. 

As Cotton is a free roam bun, it's really difficult to find a neutral ground to do this bonding, compared to last time round. To make matter worst, Cotton and Koogle fought once before when I let them explored by themselves one day. They were flying in circles in their fight and furs could be seen sputtering out in the air as well. How bad was the fight? Look at the bite wound inflicted on Koogle's nose. 

Now bonding both of them is even harder after that fight. The bonding journey is going to be tough as I thought. So I decided to lend a helping hand.....the same strategy which I used earlier to speed up Miyeon and Cotton bonding then. I did that for 5mins a day for 3 days but it was a futile effort as their animosity is too great to be overcome.  

I have also tried to stroke them by placing them together side by side. 

If this does not work, I have to use plan B - induce an external stress factor. Uncle Hubby used the vacuum cleaner while cleaning up the house. Indeed, the vacuuming sound did cause Cotton hopping to Koogle's pen and laid next to him. Ahhhh....there's hope!

 

From plan B, we decided to move to plan C - a road trip! Uncle Hubby and I brought them out today this morning for breakfast and to run some errands as well. We also did not want to gain unwanted attention on us when traveling with them in toll so we finally get to use the free gift bag trolley! 

The walk trip lasted about 3hrs. At times, I peeked at them in secret to see how they were doing. 

They never fight, struggle or trying to escape while in the trolley bag. All the while throughout the almost 3hrs journey they were very quiet and remained pretty stationary. Cotton was in particularly pretty nervous and would hide below Koogle for some comfort.

After the trip, it's time to continue bonding them at the bonding site despite it's not a neutral ground. Oooooh lah lah, they can tolerate being with each other without any fight! 

 

After placing them for 1hr later.....

Cotton was also caught on video licking Koogle a few times! It's a super great leap although Koogle will still stomp his foot when Cotton and him are in the same litter tray. 

 

After placing them together for 9hrs and their direction of lying is finally in-sync. It's another leap progress sign!

To continue building on the good progress of their bonding, I have installed a playpen for Cotton so that Cotton and Koogle can continue stay near each other throughout the day and night. Sorry Cotton that you will lose your free roam privilege for now. 

Only when both of them are bonded then can Koogle be able to progress to free roam around the house. Finger-crossed for now.