I had to part two brothers :(

[Angiegweeble]

Hi there,

I am new to Binkybunny, and wish that I had found this forum before.  It might have made a difference

I got two lovely brothers from the rabbit rescue. Mum was a lion head and dad was a Netherland dwarf. They were born there last April, and I got them in October. They were already neutered and vaccinated.  When I got them home, I expected that they would not want to socialise with me due to the change of surroundings and being taken away from mum and their other brother.  However, nothing that I have done has changed their lack of wanting to socialise.  They had a lovely large house and run in our home, and also had access to the house.  They had plenty of toys – mostly homemade cardboard things as they never wanted to play with the shop bought ones.  They never wanted stroking or grooming, but seemed to be devoted to each other, constantly grooming each other and cuddling up together.  They got to the stage of not really playing very much round about the beginning of December, but were still close.  Then it got to where they did not spend much time together in their area, and mostly sleeping. They both ate and pooped ok, so I was not unduly worried.  At the beginning of January, I was noticing large clumps of fur frequently in the morning, and it was becoming obvious that one of them had got very bossy and jealous.  Then The bossy one – Dandelion – the more human friendly of the two, started attacking Pipkin.  It got so bad that we had to part them many times – each time the attacks got more and more vicious.  Eventually, after we had tried everything that the rabbit rescue advised to try, we had to take Pipkin back to the rabbit rescue. We chose to part with him as we had always had a bit more of a soft spot for Dandelion due to his being slightly more sociable with us.  I think he is missing his brother despite everything.  He still is not very sociable and does not seem to do anything apart from sleep, eat and poop.  I wonder if he might be depressed on top of his not naturally being sociable.  Also, I wonder if he would bond with a female.  Rabbit rescue would do this bit for us if that’s what we want to do.  Has anyone ever been in this sort of situation?  Any thoughts on where I might have gone wrong – if at all, and what your thoughts are on the likelihood of him accepting a female in his home.  I want him to be happy, but I also want us to have a relationship with him.

[skysblue]

Two things i can think of…

If the rabbits were neutered not long ago before you got them, their hormones were probably still trying to wear off

Because their social structure changed from a group of rabbits to just two. They will have to re-establish the social hierarchy…
Two males tend to be very hard to bond. Male-Female tends to be easier. I think you can give that a try. Once rabbit reach adulthood, there is not such thing as “siblings” anymore.

[Gina.Jenny]

I rescued two girls last summer, who I am sure are sisters. There is no way they will bond any time soon, but one bonded instantly with a boy bun we had.

I hope in time to get the girls together, but if I reached a point where I could afford it, I would try to get her her own boy bunny to be with, so I would have two separate boy/girl pairs

[Angiegweeble]

Yes, I think you could well be right. I think I am going to leave it a few weeks and then see if rabbit rescue have any likely females. I have to add, that tonight, I laid on the floor and eventually, Dandelion cane and washed my nose and one cheek!!! ?

[Angiegweeble]

I am in the lucky position that I can get a girl bunny for free from the rabbit rescue as I made a considerable donation when I got the boys. I also contribute stuff for car boot sales etc, so there will be no further costs incurred. I do really believe that bunnies should always have a companion. I hope you get your boy bunny soon. ??

[Author]

Messages