Vacation in 2 wks- not enough time to bond new rabbit/current bun?

[Dee]

Hi everyone,
Since my Nelli has passed, I’ve decided to get Lukie a young wife. He is VERY attached to me- he sleeps with me every night. Lately he sits on a blanket next to my head and I pet his ears until we fall asleep. I work one overnight shift a week and feel terrible leaving him overnight. My husband sometimes sleeps in my bed with him, but Lukie doesn’t pay him much attention.

Anyway, we are going away on Monday, June 13th to Laconia Bike Week, and staying for 3 nights. My aunt will stay over 1 or 2 nights, and my son’s trustworthy friend who also has a rabbit will hang out for a few hours each night after work. I’m seriously considering coming home to sleep on the 2nd night- it’s only a 3 hour round trip. I just know how quickly rabbits can get sick, and my baby Lukie is so sensitive ❤. Basically, on the 2nd day he would be alone from about 9am to about 6pm, then alone again from about 9PM until about 11am- longer if my aunt can’t go over in the morning ?. Thats a long stretch.

I had planned to adopt a bunny- only going for one that was VERY compatible with Luke. I’m not willing to go through another match like Luke and Nelli- although I must say it was Nell’s aggression that caused the match to fail. With another bunny, Luke wouldn’t be as lonely ☺. I was planning to go today to the rescue- but it’s almost 90° and I have an old car(with AC) and all I can think of is it breaking down and Lukie dying of heat stroke. And now, I’m really looking at the amount of time to bond them before we go away. 2 weeks to get them to the point where they can be trusted completely alone together for over 8 hours a day. I prefer not to keep them kept separately with us gone, that would delay any bond they had.

So my questions are:

Do you all think I should wait until after we return from vacation to adopt a wifey for Luke?

Or would it be better to try to get him a mate now and just keep them separate if they’re not trustworthy alone by vaca time?

Should I come home on the second night just to sleep and check him out for myself?

How much should I pay my friend (my son’s friend actually- early 20’s and employed full-time)? I was thinking $30-40 for about 3 hours- $60 if she slept over, but not sure if that’s enough.

Sorry for the long post but I felt that history/details were helpful to include. Thanks so much to anyone who replies! ?

[jerseygirl]

I wish I had some good advice for you, Dee. It sounds like the relationship I have with TimTim. He is my only single bunny and is bonded to me. So I worry how he’d go being alone for longer periods of time. I think if you are having people come in for him, he will do okay.

As to a new rabbit, is there one you have in mind you think suitable for him? Otherwise, I tend to think it would be better to wait until you are back.

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