Friday, March 16, 2012

Bunny Battles

Well, we've had some ugly scenes here since Bunya's return. Lucy wants to be top bun and is not willing to concede to Bunya. They were so loving for so long but it only takes a short separation to tear apart that delicate relationship.

This morning's episode happened so quickly that one's brain can't slow down the action to figure out exactly what's happening. It's like from the old cartoon, with the Tasmanian Devil whirling around. Only in this case, it's two bunnies spinning around, falling down and jumping up, all in a blur.

Once the fight's broken up, the only thing that remains are the tufts of hair all over the pen.

Bunya
Lucy

In this instance, it appeared that Bunya came out worse. There were more and bigger tufts of his hair littering the pen. as an added bonus, Lucy pooped all over their pen. I don't think that these were necessarily from the fight. It looked more like Lucy was trying to claim the pen as her territory and proclaim herself alpha bun; the poops were almost laid out geometrically, with one poop at the intersection of every square foot in a grid pattern.

Of course, all of this is going on while Bunya is still sick. We are ecstatic when we see him drink water, eat hay, or poop. He is on mostly a hay diet, but to supplement that we have to force-feed him a high-protein, high fiber goo three times a day. Fortunately, my wife has really got this all down pretty well. There are three different size syringes (no needles) so that he can get his medicines and the survival food. Oh yeah, and she likes to fill a syringe with water, too. Bunya prefers to supplement his diet with cardboard ... not really the best time for him to do this, but every bunny needs a hidey box.

So for now, we have set up a temporary pen alongside the regular pen. Every 12 to 24 hours, we rotate which bunnies are in which pen. This is hopefully so that they will all get used to each other's presence again. I know there are lots of bunny people out there who have a bunch of rabbits, which may include some bonded pairs. However, you can't let the whole herd play and live together – I don't know how you do it.

Well. for moment of Zen, here's the entirety of my observance of Bunya eating some hay this morning. Unfortunately, it's not that long a clip...


At the end, you can see Ethel is shaking the pen gate, like: "Why is this closed? Humans are here, we should be running around!"

8 comments:

  1. I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going too smoothly with the reintroduction. I'm working on bonding my girl with a new boy bun and have had more than a few tufts of fur left behind. Hopefully everything goes well after a few more days on your end.

    Snuggles to Bunya and whisker kisses to the girls.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Some work, some don't .. hang in there, but good you don't let that frenzy go on - that can't end well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No kidding! Seriously, I don't know how you handle a house full of rabbits (and a cat).
      www.houseofrabbits.blogspot.com

      Delete
  3. Hey! It's actually a really good sign that Lucy isn't trying to attack *through* the barrier! I know it doesn't seem promising, but at least in her mind Bunya is "supposed" to be there and is not a vague intruder. Now it's just all about re-establishing the pecking order. Do you know if Bunya's on Bene-bac?

    I wish you much luck, and I'm sending whisker wisps and nose-wiggles. Of course Bunya is in my thoughts.

    (I myself had to deal with Nutmeg's runny-stools today and major poopy butt...the butt bath in the bathroom sink didn't go as difficultly as expected, so I guess we can both be thankful for the small things)

    And hey, it's St. Patrick's Day!!!! Extra (green) hay for all!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Bunya's on Bene-bac. I hope you were asking that in a good way. There's one other med and the survival recipe goop. And unlimited hay and water, if he'll have it.

      Delete
    2. And today's my son's birthday - must find something green!

      Delete
    3. Well, YAY!! Happy birthday to both you and your son! Is this the same Sushi restaurant which you've mentioned before? It is wonderful that they appreciate your adoration of our furry friends.

      I asked about the Bene-bac because yes, it is a good thing and very standard treatment. It really helps re-establish all that good gut bacteria our bunnies need.

      Best wishes and safe celebrations!!!! ~Sharon
      ~Nutmeg Wonderbun and Abby the 15 year old Maltese

      Delete
    4. Thank you. Yes, same restaurant (see following post).
      When you mentioned earlier that it's good they are not attacking through the fence, you are absolutely right - that's what happened after Alice got sick and unbonded from Bunya.

      Delete