Runny Babbits

[Alex@POD]

richatnort said:

We have two house rabbits so not the same situation as being outside in a cage as ours have the whole house to play about in. The Girl who is older then the boy chases him around and pulls his hair and it can be down to many reasons such as asserting dominance, the other bun is ill and they do it so you give the poorly one attention in the hope you might notice it too. Also hormones play a big part according to the vet when a male has the snip he looses all his Libido where as for the female they still get some hormones and wants to mate so will chase the boy around if he's not fancying giving her a quickie.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that kind of behaviour. I should have added that both are male, and both had the snip about 6 months ago. As far as I can tell Foggy (the grey one, chasee) is in good health, he can be seen jumping about and playing every now and again. Jenson (the chaser) is also quite well.

I need to build them a bigger enclosure, the current one is only 1.5m x 2.4m, with an upstairs 1.5m x .6m hutch, but I don't think that's the whole issue. I'd love to have them in the house, but unfortunately they have quite fine hair and I am allergic.

[richatnort]

Alex@POD said:

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that kind of behaviour. I should have added that both are male, and both had the snip about 6 months ago. As far as I can tell Foggy (the grey one, chasee) is in good health, he can be seen jumping about and playing every now and again. Jenson (the chaser) is also quite well.

I need to build them a bigger enclosure, the current one is only 1.5m x 2.4m, with an upstairs 1.5m x .6m hutch, but I don't think that's the whole issue. I'd love to have them in the house, but unfortunately they have quite fine hair and I am allergic.

Ah right then it might just be down to a dominance thing. Do you know if Foggy is the dominant bun or not? One other thing is two boys do tend to fight a bit anyway i think.

As for housing ideas the charity we got our 2nd one from have a album with hutch idea to help you with inspiration.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.55016059...

[Alex@POD]

richatnort said:

Ah right then it might just be down to a dominance thing. Do you know if Foggy is the dominant bun or not? One other thing is two boys do tend to fight a bit anyway i think.

As for housing ideas the charity we got our 2nd one from have a album with hutch idea to help you with inspiration.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.55016059...

Thanks, I'll have a look at these. I'd say Jenson has always been the dominant one. It just looks like he's picking on Foggy because he's bored, not because Foggy gets to the food before him or anything like this.

[Pickled Piper]

Alex@POD said:

richatnort said:

We have two house rabbits so not the same situation as being outside in a cage as ours have the whole house to play about in. The Girl who is older then the boy chases him around and pulls his hair and it can be down to many reasons such as asserting dominance, the other bun is ill and they do it so you give the poorly one attention in the hope you might notice it too. Also hormones play a big part according to the vet when a male has the snip he looses all his Libido where as for the female they still get some hormones and wants to mate so will chase the boy around if he's not fancying giving her a quickie.

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that kind of behaviour. I should have added that both are male, and both had the snip about 6 months ago. As far as I can tell Foggy (the grey one, chasee) is in good health, he can be seen jumping about and playing every now and again. Jenson (the chaser) is also quite well.

I need to build them a bigger enclosure, the current one is only 1.5m x 2.4m, with an upstairs 1.5m x .6m hutch, but I don't think that's the whole issue. I'd love to have them in the house, but unfortunately they have quite fine hair and I am allergic.

Hi Had similar issues with our two males. It is primarily because one trying to exert dominance over the other and also an issue of territory.

You have to get them to bond and this is best done by putting them in a small space together for increasing periods of time. Putting them in new and larger spaces has the opposite effect as they will just mark out their territory and get aggressive if there is any encroachment.

[Alex@POD]

Pickled Piper said:

Hi Had similar issues with our two males. It is primarily because one trying to exert dominance over the other and also an issue of territory.

You have to get them to bond and this is best done by putting them in a small space together for increasing periods of time. Putting them in new and larger spaces has the opposite effect as they will just mark out their territory and get aggressive if there is any encroachment.

OK, that makes sense. I guess another thing I should have mentioned, I got them from Pets at Home at the same time, when they were 6 weeks old I think, and they have been together ever since. They started off in the biggest indoor hutch I could find, which is probably the smallest space I'd be happy to leave them in. It's only 6 months later that they moved outside to the larger hutch.

They will groom each other, lie together in the sun, etc, but Jenson still chases Foggy around every now and again. I worried that it might escalate to more than pulling fur, Jenson has bitten Foggy once before.

[axgizmo]

• Crazy Rabbit Lady Alert*

As Gareth is on Steroid injections to help with his hind leg problems I worry about him and would hate to come home from work to find him in pain so if anything were to happen I would rather know sooner than later, So...

I have bought one of these -


It was only £20, if it works = Great. If it doesn't = No big financial loss.
A small price to pay for (hopefully) some peace of mind. Does anyone else have a camera at home to keep an eye on their furry ones?

Pic because, well, why not?

[axgizmo]

I don't know... You give him a little litter tray to help him out and he mugs you off by jumping in the big tray!!

Although i'm not really complaining. I love seeing him hop again (albeit a little unbalanced)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdXHTOue2jI

[samuelellis]

I would make fun of you for being a soft git and getting a bunny-cam but.............

......ive thought about setting one up before

[richatnort]

I did something similar but with an old android phone, a free app and website.

I could leave it set up at home charging the phone all day and see what they got up to while i was at work. Needless to say it was pretty boring all they dod was sleep i was hoping for at least a binky!

[nickwilcock]

Oooh! Yum yum, mummy - that cable looks just the ticket for bunny teeth!

[TheLordJohn]

I'm so happy there are more than just my wife and me who look after wabbits properly Makes me warm inside Lol.
They're too good and have such great personalities to leave them in a hutch outside, ignored.

[axgizmo]

I am actually really impressed so far... I am surprised
And it feels great to know that I can check in and make sure they're doing ok although I haven't got much work done today...

I have a table next to the run which I have set the cam up on for now(doesn't look great because of the wire, I may wall mount it at some point)

I haven't managed to track down my memory stick yet so no videos but watching it live whilst in the room with them there is next to no lag at all (using 4g on my phone with Wifi turned off) Nighttime pics are very good for a £20 camera!

This was at teatime lastnight (natural light coming through the window and fairylights round run)


This was later on after the sun had gone down and it was dark outside (Lamp on other side of room and fairylights round run)


This morning (sunlight through window only)

[richatnort]

that's amazing! I would get one too but my rabs have full access to the kitchen to my mrs might think i'm snooping on her too haha!

[axgizmo]

Back to the vets tonight as the 4 week steroid injection has worn off in 2 weeks

[RemyMartin]

axgizmo said:

Back to the vets tonight as the 4 week steroid injection has worn off in 2 weeks

:-( bunny cam is a greatidea though.

[gazapc]

That cam is a brilliant idea. Looks a bargain for 20 quid. One ordered to spy on my girlfriend's bunnies when we are out and about.

[axgizmo]

I'm still really impressed with it. It did tell me the cam was offline for about 8 hours, afterwards I got a message saying they had carried out maintenance (Would have been nice to have prior warning but hey ho).

I cant put into words just how much it puts my mind at ease being able to check on him when i'm at work. He's having a nap by his food and water bowl at the moment:


Thanks to the movement sensor it also catches little moments like this:


And this - "Goodnight Gareth", "Goodnight Mummy"

[samuelellis]

awwww, i really think i need one to keep an eye on my two terrors now

[axgizmo]

I said I wouldn't put him through another steroid injection and that when the last one wore off I would do what needed to be done for my little buddy. The Steroids have worn off and he is looking sorry for himself so I am taking him back to the vets tonight for the final time. Any advice on this?

Should I be taking his bonded partner with me and letting her see it happen or should I just bring him home with me for her to spend time with? I just don't know what to do for the best. I know she is going to be heartbroken either way but I want her to understand that he has gone

Edited by axgizmo on Thursday 21st April 10:40

[TheLordJohn]

So very sorry to hear this is the route you're having to go down.
I think if their bonded partner spends some time with the body then they sort of understand what's going on.
It won't be easy for either of you. It's amazing just how much you can become attached to these wonderful little animals.

Make sure you're 100%.