YOUNG DWARF TRIO – now called Fudge, Fluffy and Floop!

CottonTails Rabbit & Guinea Pig Rescue > My New Home > YOUNG DWARF TRIO – now called Fudge, Fluffy and Floop!

by | Apr 9, 2020 | My New Home

I am delighted with the home this trio have found – I could not have wished for better. A lovely family totally committed to providing a forever loving home for these little rabbits – wonderful!  Here is their story.  Sadly, after some weeks, the trio had to be separated as fighting broke out between the brothers – it is not uncommon for trios or groups to end up fighting, which is why I rarely allow them to be adopted in anything other than bonded pairs, so in hindsight I should have stuck to my adoption model, but then we are all brilliant at hindsight are we not … Thankfully the owners had no hesitation in deciding to alter the accommodation to be able to keep all three, so they now live happily as a pair and a single.  Funnily enough the male that appears to have been causing the problems was the very baby that was growling at me at 17 days old!  You will find a film of this towards the end of this post.  Also at the end of this post you will find a film, taken by the owners, of some of the fighting that happened.  I have posted it here to illustrate how serious such fighting is and that action must be taken immediately to prevent injury or worse.

Update:  The great news is that the trio have accepted each other again and are best friends once more.  I must emphasize that this is unusual in respect that once males start to fight that is usually the end of the bonding, but this little trio had such a strong bond that they were able to work their way through it and emerge all the stronger.  The most recent updates will appear towards the foot of the page.

Update:  Sadly, once again, fighting broke out – typically in February which is when the daylight is increasing and this triggers breeding/territorial behaviour in rabbits, even neutered ones.  For the full story on this, see the update towards the end of this page.

UPDATE by new owners:

Hi Mairwen,
They are settling in well (see photos below).  The names that the children have chosen are:
Fudge (doe)
Fluffy (buck – white and brown)
Floop (buck – white and grey)
We thought you might like this video of Floop taken this morning 🙂 (see below)
They all seem to be doing well and are excitedly coming up to see us and what we’ve brought them each time we go in. They didn’t seem to be drinking from the bottle on the enclosure wall so we put in a bowl of water and they’ve enthusiastically taken to that. Yesterday they had some fresh brambles and dandelion leaves that we picked on a walk which they really enjoyed. Most of all them seem to love broccoli – Fluffy and Floop stealing it from each other and chasing each other round the enclosure!

Further update:

Hi Mairwen, 

It’s been a wonderful first week and we thought you’d like another update 🙂
Every time we come out to the enclosure to see the bunnies they come straight up to the door and up onto their back legs to see us 🙂 
We’ve made use of lots of cardboard boxes to hide treats and give them little places to hide and explore. They love freshly cut tufts of grass, dandelion leaves and fresh parsley from the garden. They also love broccoli and cabbage!
Today we added a curved platform which we got from an old deck chair which has given them another area to hide in and explore.
Our cat is very interested in the bunnies and is often seen sat outside the enclosure!
We’ve also got some special rabbit friendly grass growing in the house so that when ready we can put one tray in the enclosure for them and rotate them once they’ve demolished it!
Maks has been a super helper with cleaning and feeding, attached is a short video of him stroking the bunnies after feeding them.
We’ll send you another update in a few weeks!

Cheers, 

Ryan

Another update:

Hello Mairwen!
I hope you are safe and well. I thought a bunny update would help brighten your day ????
All three are doing just fine, enjoying their new home and today a little excursion into the garden while we give their enclosure a spring clean.

Cheers, 

Ryan

 

UPDATE April 2020:

Hi Mairwen, 

I hope you are safe and well! The bunnies are all doing well. We still have Floop in a separate space within the enclosure to avoid any further clashes with Fluffy. We have been giving them each space, alternating between in the enclosure and the run in the garden. With the less favourable weather today we decided to bring them all into the house – into a neutral space – to see how they get on together. So far it is looking positive!Floop seems really nervous around Fluffy, occasionally panicking when Fluffy got too close. Fluffy didn’t seem to be aggressive, coming up to Floop and flopping over next to him as if inviting Floop to groom him. He is definitely the more confident and dominant male, and from the behaviour today it seems like he feels secure in his new role.We will continue to keep them apart in the enclosure for the time being… baby steps!

Cheers, 

Ryan

UPDATE May 2020:

Hi Mairwen, 

The bunnies are all doing well. We’ve extended their garden run to give them more space to run around in which has been a big success, so much so that we’ve been able to put the 3 of them together without any fighting or fur pulling that we saw previously.

Floop (the grey bunny on his own) seems very timid and jittery around the other 2. When they come too close or go towards his bottom he will become startled and run away. Sometimes he goes into submissive mode (head down flat and body low) and lets the others groom him. He will occasionally seek the others to groom him but doesn’t seem to groom them back.

Since they were getting on so well in the enlarged run in the garden, we decided to give their enclosure a renovation to make it all a little new to them all, then see how they get on overnight together without isolating Floop. This morning there were a couple of small tufts of fur, nothing serious and everyone seems happy and chilled. So far so good!

I hope you are safe and well!

Cheers, 

Ryan

Another update (July 2020):

I thought you would like a quick update on the bunnies. They are still together as a trio with no further fighting or fur pulling. The below picture is of the boys chilling out together.  

When the weather permits we take them to their run in the garden so they can stretch their legs (and binky lots!) and get some fresh grass. 

When the weather is not so nice we have occasionally banished the cat from the house and allowed the bunnies free reign downstairs which they love! When having cuddles with Floop he has even groomed us 🙂 

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Photos taken in 2021

Update:

Hi Mairwen, 

I cannot believe it’s been 1 year already since we adopted the bunny trio!

Since our last update the bunnies have been together and happy, often snuggled up together to keep warm during the Winter months. When there were sunny days we managed to get them out in the run for some fresh grass and a change of scenery:

That is until we got to the start of February when we found this in the enclosure one morning:

The boys had been fighting again and this time it got rather nasty ???? Floop had a lot of bald patches, but no injuries that we could see. Fluffy on the other hand had a few open wounds, including the one below which was very concerning. We took him to the vet straight away and they shaved a little around the wound and gave us some oral pain relief for him and some solution for cleaning the wound.

Floop is back in his own little space within the enclosure to keep him and Fluffy apart. It’s not ideal but it works and they are still able to see each other. Fluffy and Fudge will often sit on the hibernation box next to Floop.

After 2 weeks of treating the wound it is looking much better! Fluffy never let it bother him, he was active, eating and behaving normally throughout. He was really good at taking his oral medicine and very patient with us when we were washing his wound.

Today was a lovely sunny day and we were out in the garden and decided to bring the bunnies out too. They’ve had lots of fresh grass and a good run about. Hopefully this period of aggression will subside as it has done before and we can put them all back together again soon????????

Cheers, 

Ryan

Here are some photos of the trio hwilst still with their mum.

 

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