# Melvin & Laverne



## fluffybuns (Apr 14, 2015)

One week ago today, I adopted Laverne (1 yr old Dutch) from the humane society to join our family. My fiancé and I found our little pride and joy (Melvin, 1yr old Mini Rex) as an abandoned bunny in January of 2014. Laverne's story is similar, she was abandoned around winter of 2014-2015 and lived at the bunny shelter for 4 months until I brought Melvin in for a meet and greet when they hit it off.
Week 1: Laverne has been super shy mostly, but comes for cuddling in the evening when Dan (my fiancé) and I are watching Star Trek and playing Yahtzee. The first few days she was home, she hid out in the corner of the rabbit tunnel beneath my desk. She tolerated some petting and holding but mostly preferred to keep to herself. 
I feel like Melvin (2 yr old now) has been kind of overbearing in that he follows Laverne around and watches her every move, not giving her much privacy. He seems to enjoy it when Laverne cuddles and bathes him but he is reluctant to reciprocate these affections....hopefully he can learn that love is a 2 way street. Although this is kind of understandable since Dan and I have spoiled the pants off of Melvin since day 1 so he thinks the world revolves around him. 
Overall, Laverne seems to be settling in just fine. She comes to breakfast and snacks on time and seems to tolerate Melvin's awkward boy attitude just fine. Melvin scratched at Laverne the other day when Dan was petting her, scaring her away and making Dan and me mad at him.


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## stevesmum (Apr 14, 2015)

Not to worry, it's very early days. It took my two a few weeks before they were fully bonded. Sounds like yours are off to a good start. For some silly reason rabbits, who are very social animals, need to be reminded that they like each other and belong with their own kind. And yours make such a cute couple too!


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## hamsterdance (Apr 14, 2015)

Melvin sounds like Macy... She's a total diva and Leo always grooms her and she never reciprocates. *sigh* that's what we get for spoiling her rotten as a baby


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## fluffybuns (Apr 20, 2015)

Last night was a total breakthrough. Melvin licked Laverne's head and ears and cuddled her on his own accord. I had been spending time letting them both with one hand so that they had to snuggle to get cuddled and Melvin seems to be getting it cuz he's all about giving Laverne little cuddle baths.
Laverne is catching on pretty quick too. She hangs out by my bedroom door in the morning waiting for breakfast time and hops into Melvin's hutch and shares pellets out of his bowl, then they share the pellets in her bowl. She knows when and where every meal happens and even comes in for a visit when I'm snacking on fruit or popcorn. 
I think Melvin is teaching her how to get into trouble. You see, Melvin loves to hide in the TV room when we're watching Star Trek and eating popcorn so we will step out and leave him alone in the room...then he jumps on the table and gets into the snacks (popcorn, crackers, chips, donuts) whatever we are snacking on at the time he has to have some or he gives us the stink eye. Up until now, Laverne never cared for junk food. Once she saw Melvin's attempts, she's been nosing into junk food containers when we're not looking. Looks like we're going to have to cut chips and donuts out of our snacking routine because our bunnies are taking a liking to them as well!!


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## fluffybuns (Apr 21, 2015)

I left for work this morning and Laverne and Melvin were snuggling on their favorite rug. These two little trouble makers sure know how to fill my heart with joy and put me in a positive place to start the day in!
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1429670467.893882.jpg


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## fluffybuns (Apr 22, 2015)

Melvin and Laverne visited the vet today for a routine checkup. Melvin weighs 4.8 lbs and Laverne weighs 4.3 lbs. I thought for sure the vet would say Mel was too fat and needed to go on a diet since he eats nonstop and always seems to figure out a way to sneak into the popcorn and potato chips. However, the vet recommended sticking to his regular diet and adding even more treats and chew toys for dental purposes, so the buns will be pleased about that.
Additionally, I suggested the vet check Melvin first since he was the gregarious one and Laverne was the shy one...both of them made a liar out of me since Melvin did not tolerate being handled by the vet well at all and flipped out and ran all over the room. On the other hand, Laverne was surprisingly patient during her exam and did not seem to mind being there one bit. Melvin was adamant about returning home, he couldn't get back into the pet carrier fast enough and seemed to relax once secure in there with Laverne.
They weren't exactly thrilled to go into the pet carrier this morning:
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1429724352.004272.jpg


But they were more than happy to return to relaxing in the lounge once we returned home: 
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1429724417.410767.jpg


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