There is someone new in the deRosier household! Meet Tulip.
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Tulip was very young and pregnant when she was rescued by East Bay Rabbit Rescue. She gave birth to six healthy babies in July and was an outstanding mother. All six babies have now been neutered and adopted, so it's her turn to have a forever home.
When we adopted Brayden on April 30, we planned to find a companion for him in August after we returned from our Europe trip. Little did we know that I'd be diagnosed with cancer three weeks after adopting Brayden and that August would be about radiation, not bunny adoption. While I'm not "done" with cancer, I'm doing so much better and am able to handle the responsibilities of a second bun.
We didn't go actively looking for potential bunny friends, but when Tulip's profile showed up in my Facebook feed in mid-October, I felt instantly that she was The One. I showed Steve and he agreed. We both felt Tulip belonged in our home. Of course, Brayden's opinion matters more than ours, so on Saturday we brought him to meet her.
Brayden has met a fair number of other rabbits and he's largely indifferent to them. That was pretty much the case with Tulip. They ignored each other at first. They each ate a little bit (a very good sign) and each groomed themselves in front of the other (another very good sign) and then Tulip groomed Brayden (the ultimate sign!). They stayed together for 30+ minutes with no issues, so we signed the paperwork and brought her home. And then the real work began.
Rabbits are territorial, so you can't just add a new rabbit to an existing one's territory without going through a bonding process. To prepare for Tulip, we moved our dining room table and put a fence up to separate it from Brayden's territory. He still has access to the living room, entry way, and stairs (with supervised playtime upstairs). Tulip has a separate enclosure, which is about 8" from the fence. That allows them to get near each other if they want, but not near enough to fight if there's a problem. That's Brayden's existing space on the left and Tulip's on the right.
Tulip settled into her new space right away, investigating every corner. She used the litterbox immediately (hurray!), sampled the water (she's a loud drinker, just like Trouble was), zipped into the igloo, and poked at each toy.
Brayden watched with interest.
Occasionally, they mirrored each other (another good sign). As soon as Brayden heard Tulip munching on her apple leaves, Brayden ran over to his to eat. I loved the chorus of crunching!
During the bonding process, we bring the bunnies together to a neutral location (the family room, where Brayden has never been) to get to know each other. Here, Tulip is asking Brayden to groom her. He is ignoring her request. Whether that's intentional or if he's just oblivious, who knows. (We strongly suspect he was taken from his mother WAY too young and didn't learn basic rabbit behaviors and communication skills from her.)
While it would have been wonderful if Brayden had immediately groomed Tulip, love at first sight is very, very rare. Brayden did lunge at her once during the 15 minute session, but otherwise they seemed perfectly comfortable together.
In fact, just a few hours after that first bonding session, they were lounging side by side, as close as they could get with the fence in the way. Another good sign.
Unfortunately, the evening bonding session did not go well. Brayden lunged at Tulip again. She lunged back at him and nipped. They avoided each other for a bit, then lunged again. I'm bummed.
It could take weeks (or longer) to properly bond Brayden and Tulip, but we are hopeful. We're eager to give this sweet girl the home she deserves. Welcome, Tulip!
