April 8, 2025
It’s not quite a “last resort,” but it’s close. During our bonding session tonight with Hugo and Cloudy, we decided to bring in some baby food – as a way to entice some grooming.
When one bunny grooms another, it’s a positive sign. And there’s this whole power dynamic to it all, in terms of who is in charge (the one being groomed).
But for us, we’re wanting to encourage this grooming along. Hugo did groom Cloudy a while back, but it’s been a while now. And so far, Cloudy hasn’t willingly groomed Hugo back.
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April 6, 2025
We did something like this a long time ago, with Baxter and Quincy. And our hope tonight is that Hugo and Cloudy would get a little closer together, having gone through something stressful together.
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April 4, 2025
So far, Lizhas been doing all of the bonding sessions. She’s been sitting with both Hugo and Cloudy, keeping them separated as needed, and then trying to encourage them to get together (carefully, without biting).
Tonight, we decided to change things up and let me sit in, instead. Their sessions tend to go longer, as it takes them some time to calm down. So probably an hour for them to settle, and then another hour to see if they’ll get along.
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April 3, 2025
I think this move is meaningful because it’s a sign of trust. And Liz is always over the moon, when it happens. But I also think it’s an indicator of how fearless Cloudy is – she reminds us a lot of Phineas, in that way.
Even with her just having one eye, you can see that she is scoping out the full length and breadth of her domain.
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March 31, 2025
While I’ve seen many bunny flops in my time, I have never, ever seen any bunny pursue flops with such frequency and… aggression? When she flops, Cloudy really, really flops.
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March 26, 2025
I came down this morning to a bit of a shock. I had heard some rustling and gate-banging earlier, and walked downstairs to see… Hugo. Outside his pen area, bold as brass.
He actually looked a little confused. And that would make both of us.
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March 25, 2025
There was this special moment, where Cloudy flopped right next to Hugo. It’s always a little dicey when they get this close, because anything could happen – and things could get violent/aggressive very quickly. But it worked out well.
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March 12, 2025
We set up a separate area, which was different from both of their current areas. The idea is to have some kind of “neutral ground” that doesn’t technically belong to either of them, so that there’s less of a chance of any territorial behavior.
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March 11, 2025
Bit of a staredown in this photo. Blocks of wood are to prevent them from pushing the gates together, and getting too close.
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March 8, 2025
A quick bunny bonding primer: if there is some interest, that’s a good sign. If there’s a really strong interest, there’s the potential for strong reactions. If two bunnies get into a fight, it can get nasty (and dangerous) quite quickly. So the screen is to help provide a bit of a barrier.
If the bunnies are indifferent or mostly ignoring one another, that’s actually a good sign.
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March 4, 2025
A little uncharacteristic of him – Hugo, hanging out inside the tunnel. He’s been a little low energy, since Daisy’s passing.
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March 3, 2025
Normally, when we let the bunnies out in the evening, we extend the pen so that it opens into the main room… but prevent access to the living room or the dining room. Tonight, Liz decided to give Hugo access to the living room.
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March 1, 2025
Yesterday after work, Liz and I went over for an appointment at Animal Care League (where Liz Rench works as a staff member).
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February 26, 2025
We’ve brought out the maze most evenings, when we open up Hugo’s area. And tonight was the first time we saw him exploring a bit more – rooting around (without hidden treats inside).
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February 16, 2025
Liz has had a maze waiting in the wings for some time now. With Daisy’s condition, it didn’t make sense to set this up. As a bit of a distraction (for Hugo, as well as for us), we decided to set up the maze today for him.
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