Bunny Buds

I don't have many followers on this blog but for those that do follow me, I apologize in advance.  I'm about to share my long journey on the road to bonding bunnies.  Our first bunny addition to the family happened quite by accident or better phrased, luck.  A neighborhood child had repeatedly abandoned his domesticated rabbit and long story short, we bunny-napped it.  Now, if this sounds harsh, I assure you that this child wanted nothing more to do with this rabbit and when we rescued it, it was almost dead of heat stroke.  And for those of you that are reading this not on my follower list of 3, domesticated rabbits are only to be kept indoors.  They are fragile creatures and will easily die of heat stroke at anything over 85 degrees.   It was a terrible hot and humid summer that year with temps in the 90s and this boy kept his "indoor" rabbit in a cage in their backyard.  They had named the Easter time, afterthought purchase, Lucky.  We said he was Lucky he escaped and renamed him Hopscotch. 

I really meant to find him a better home because it didn't seem logical to keep a neighbor's pet and be able to get away with it.  I asked everyone I knew but was looking for a suitable home, not in the arms of a child.  But no luck.  So, I was immediately thrust into bunny-mommy hood.  I read everything I could possibly read on indoor bunnies and started collecting supplies.  We kept Hopscotch in the largest small pet cage sold and then would let him run around in our middle bedroom whenever I could watch him.  He wasn't getting to stretch his legs enough, however, so we built him a three story condo with probably 4 times the living area.  I felt okay with him in that for a while but soon even that wasn't enough.  I kept reading how social rabbits are and that they do much better in groups.  So, I went out and got him a buddy bunny.

Once little Putter had grown enough, I tried to introduce them but they simply did not like one another.  I kept trying over the next couple years but fighting always occured.  They hadn't had any time to get used to each other living in separate pens so I thought about having them live right next to each other and watch their progress.  We built an entirely crazy bunny haven in our basement with open play pen areas for both of them to run and be near each other except for a gate separating them.  Recently, I've witnessed them pressed up against the gate lying next to each other, and I even started feeding them hay where they could share to teach them more social skills.  When I caught a moment of what could be considered extreme bunny contentment between the two, I decided it was time to start the bonding process.  And here starts the journey....