Sometimes these things don’t work out. Don’t beat yourself up over it!

I’m sure the rescue would be happy to take her back and let you try somebody else. They want to find you and Pixel the perfect bun for your whole family.

I went through similar feelings when we first got Hannah and she ended up working out. How long have you had Zelda? I think it’s been over a week, so you’ve had a while to think about it and give bonding a good try. She just might not be the right rabbit for you.

Up until yesterday things were going very well as you posted in your other bonding thread. There comes a time in rabbit bonding, when it’s not an instant match, that the rabbits, or one of the rabbits, wants to have it out. Your job is to protect the other rabbit from this. This is stressful and time-consuming, just draining.

Either return her to the rescue, or take a little break because you sound exhausted, and resume with a new game plan. You would continue bonding sessions in a way where she cannot hurt him, where you are in control.

However, since you say you don’t like her at all, I would return her so she can find a new home. Bonding is very much dependent on the owner’s attitude towards the rabbits. You really have to want it to make it happen sometimes.

You’ve given her a good chance and it sounds like she’s just not the rabbit for you or for Pixel.

Definitely take her back. All of the rescues in my area are happy to trade rabbits for another one and actually mention that up front. If you’re not the right home for her, I don’t think you’re letting her down by taking her back. Maybe she doesn’t want a rabbit friend.

spend some quality with Pixel one-on-one, just destressing together! Sleep on it. You don’t have to decide today.

Posted By Elrohwen on 06/11/2010 02:30 PM
Maybe she doesn’t want a rabbit friend.

I’m not sure that her behavior is indicative of that. She’s just being a female rabbit trying to secure a new territory. She is still a herd animal. Maybe her aggression is from being overwhelmed too. She may be stressed and just act it out that way.

Four weeks is a good try, and if he is that upset I think you can bring her back to the rescue without feeling guilty. You got her at a rescue, which was a wise choice, and they are set up to accommodate her if she is returned, so it could be much worse for her. If she is attacking all the time, she isn’t happy either, so maybe a better match for both of them is needed. I know that BB’s Vivian was in a rescue for quite a while because she was seen as aggressive, but when she met Jack, she was clearly much better. So it’s possible that Zelda will take a while to find her best mate, but in the meantime, it’s not Pixel. Others may disagree, but I think the safest thing to do is bring her back and let him have some peace with you for a while. The vet visit is a very good thing to do also.

Did they let you bunny date him first?
Honestly, 4 week’s isn’t very long, it can really take a long time, like months (a year for some). Now she may be kinda just a bag-bunny, or she may just be stressed out and not used to this whole new life of hers. Don’t be mad at her, I find the more negitive thoughts/feelings we share with our bunnies the more their bad behaviours feed off it. Try one-on-one time with her, give her some time to settle in and get to know and trust you before introducing her again to you male.
What is their cage set-up like? are they close to one another?

Things may not work out, it happens. Like people rabbits arn’t going to get along with eveyone they meet. If you really feel she is not the bunny for your family talk to the rescue you got her from (I’m taking from an above post thats how u got her). Let them know about her behaviours, and what you have been trying.
Is she spayed? if so when was she done? had she ever lived with another bunny? how old is she? And how many homes has she been through? Some bunnies who get passed along can be very grumpy, untrusting and territorial.

Don’t beat yourself up, your trying and that’s all you can do. Try to stay positive and take it all slow, things will work out

Honestly, I would return her. There is no reason to have an aggressive rabbit with no litter skills, who attacks your current bunny. I honestly don’t think there is anything wrong with returning her – not everything works out on the first try. It doesn’t sound like she’s happy either.

Okay, okay, I think you should definitely take a deeeeep breath. I can see that you are really at the end of your rope, you poor thing ):

I apologize if I’ve already read this, but I have trouble keeping up sometimes (: Where are their cages right now?

Well, I would take the vets advice immediately and get him into another room now. No more bonding sessions. It’s in a bad place, even if you keep her, so you will need to take the bonding process back quite a bit to see any progress. Right now he needs to be resting and alone.

Sometimes a rescue has experienced people who bond others’ bunnies – there’s a good one in CA – but if this were my pair I would be giving up for the sake of Pixel. I don’t want to outweigh anyone else who may disagree, but if they do, you need a very specific plan of action to see improvement. Bunnies, like people, have individual temperaments and behavior. If you are going to give her up, now would be the time to lessen the impact of the change for her as well.

With the sounds of that “rescue”… I’m not entirely convinced they had Zelda spayed. Which would explain aggression and lack of litter box habits.

WOW….. is that really a REAL rescue? i feel bad for the other bunnys… could the vet tell if zelda was spayed? did he check?

I agree with mocha, are you sure she was spayed?

You could request for a spay certificate, thats what I did for Leo. Or if you doubt it they’ll give it to you (or it even happened), you could request for the name of the vet who did they spay, they should have a record of it.

Until you decide what is best, you should keep the buns in separate rooms. They should then hopefully calm down a little (and you too!).

Keep us updated!

And don’t forget to relax… whatever happens, whatever you decide, do it as guiltlessly as possible. (:

I don’t think that woman had it together at all! Those poor bunnies. I agree that you should get a spay certificate. If for some reason she tells you she cannot get you one, ask her what vet did the surgery and contact them. A rescue or shelter should not push you into a certain rabbit at all. I understand there may be certain ones that are not adoptable yet but it was all your choice. She wasn’t right about telling you that either would work. That sounds so dumb. “oh, you know, it doesn’t matter, your bunny will love them all”. Come on! Anyone who knows anything about rabbits or any territorial animal knows that is just not how it works. I would be contacting someone. You are doing the right thing. Just don’t feel guilty..whatever your decision may be. You know in your heart what is right for your rabbit.

Oh, I know this sounds kind of dumb but just out of curiousity, have you noticed either of them peeing red? The reason I ask is because Bella was peeing red when I first brought her home. I did research and then talked to vet and found that is what color thier pee is if they are stressed. Actually a lot of sites referred to it as “stress pee”. I was just curious. Good luck!

Wow what a story. I am so sorry you had to go through that and the pressure you must have felt. I can see how she could have easily pressured you into something you didn’t want but you felt obligated after thinking it’s a legit rescue, traveling almost 2 hours and then somehow ending up at her house instead of Petco. How weird!? Keep your chin up, it will work out for you.

It wouldn’t hurt to call and ask anyway. If she can’t tell you if/where Zelda got spayed, I’d book an appointment with the vet to do a thorough check to see. Because her behavior is just screaming “Hormonal” to me.

Moosie decided to shred a towel that we left too close to his pen wall.. so yeah, thats a typical behavior or a bunny, spayed or otherwise lol.

I found also that my Bun was much happier in a larger cage and she used to box and bite me when I tried to put her away and get her. She is now in a 4×2 grid cage and I don’t get attacked anymore. Sorry I don’t know what size cage you put her away in at night but maybe that is making her unhappy too when she gets free roam and then has to go back to a smaller area? This is just a thought, again I don’t know what your living spaces for your buns are. I just know that I saw an instant change in Bun’s attitude after she had more room in her bedroom pen.

Bed Bath & Beyond sells only the small grids for $14.99. Less if you have one of those 20% off coupons they send in the mail.

I’m not sure what you mean about having them out for playtime? Each bun needs at least 3 hours of playtime outside the cage per day. This doesn’t really have anything to do with bonding – they still need 3 hours out individually. If they’re not getting along, I wouldn’t give them the same playtime.

A lot of her behavior is normal, and I’ve seen territorial female buns who are spayed, but the red flag, for some of us, is the lack of litter habits and territorial-ness. Both of those are typically more obvious in an unspayed female. Not to say there aren’t spayed females who act like that (especially if they were spayed later in life) but both can have hormonal causes. Also her behavior towards Pixel – it’s also within the normal range, but her being hormonal would explain it.

I agree that the rescue sounds very shady. Now sure what the HRS meant by “no rescue would have cages stacked like that”? Just curious.

Wow. What a dilemma. My first thought is everyone knows there is no guarantee of a bond working. But when you adopt the second bunny, you make a *commitment* that even if they have to live separately forever, they have a safe place in your home.

But in this case, it sounds like it goes much further beyond that. It’s up to you what you do. I wonder if she is even spayed, or if the spay was done correctly and completely. The time would be right that if she was experiencing a false pregnancy, you might have a spike in aggression.

The rescue I got Max from was a privately run rescue out of a woman’s home. They were allowed to play outside in a pen all day on nice days, and then were brought inside at night. The conditions weren’t up to my (and HRS) standards… but a rabbit in need is a rabbit in need. I don’t regret adopting him from her, but in my case… it worked out beautifully.

What would you do with Zelda? Did the woman say she’d take her back?

Is there a chapter of the (real) HRS that you can go dating at? If there is, I would wait awhile, maybe even 6 months. Let things get back to normal at your house.

after lulu got spayed, she wasn’t completely litter trained yet and before she was spayed she was just like zelda was with her habits. I know this is going to sound like a LOT of work but this was the only way my bunny got litter trained. For about 2-3 weeks, every day i would take her out of her cage and completely clean it out, scrubbed the floors with vinegar and scrubbed the boxes. another thing is, How many litter boxes do you have? during litter training i had about 3. i agree with beka i don’t think the spay was done correctly.

So she has a very nice large cage, well there goes that idea.

That sounds like a very strange statement from the HRS. I’m not saying that it wasn’t a shady rescue, because the woman doesn’t sound all there, but I work for a reputable rescue and she houses the rabbits in cages in a garage. They’re all in large dog crates, and the garage has been converted for their comfort (has flooring, a/c, heating, lighting, windows, etc), but it’s essentially stacked cages in a garage. It just seems strange that the HRS wants a shelter to not cage their rabbits – what are they supposed to do with them then? That comment just makes me not trust your HRS chapter either.

I would try to let her out to run around as much as you can and at least burn off some of the energy, but it sounds like you’re already doing that.

That is weird. The Dallas rescue I visit has theirs in stacked cages in the garage. They’re double cages, plenty of aisle space, a big pen in the middle they can take turns exercising in. (and airconditioning of course)

‘Stacked cages in a garage’ is pretty vague, it could be a great setup or it could be a miserable setup just depending of the person in charge.

I’m very glad to hear Pixel is doing better.

I would agree that a visit to the vet for Zelda is in order. She can be acting out due to a bad spay, or another issue altogether that could make her behave badly. If you are willing to keep them separate for several weeks, get an accurate update on Zelda from the vet, and go slowly with the option of never bonding them, you could keep her. But I’m still more in favor of her going to a rescue that isn’t the one you got her from, now that you’ve described it. You need to want to live with her too. And she needs a chance to be happy in her home. Definitely try the stunt double to see if that’s a comfort to her. There may be hope after all if the vet finds something treatable.

Some other rescues may be willing to trade you a new bunny for her, assuming you haven’t signed anything saying you need to return her where you got her.

When we first got Hannah and were thinking of giving her back, a local rescue quickly offered to take her in exchange for one of theirs. I couldn’t do that because she came from a private owner who would want her back, but I it seemed the rescues were willing to do what it took to get me a good bunny for our family, even if we didn’t adopt from them in the first place.

i think if you trueley don’t want her then give her back. i am sure someone esle will adopt her after she is more used to people… that woman is WEIRD! i feel bad for the rest of her buns she has.

So sorry about your guinea pig *hugs*

Hope you can find yourself a nice little bun to bond with Pixel, that both of you like!

I’m so very sorry to hear about your piggy, they are very special,

Kathy

Oh! You poor girl, all this nonsense had to come down on you all at once? I can’t even believe it! That woman makes me really mad, she’s OBVIOULSY NUCKING FUTS. I mean beyond crazy. It wouldn’t surprise me if, in a year, she got sick of the whole “rescue” business and dumped them all in a pound. Poor rabbits.

I am glad you decided to relinquish Zelda. (: You can chill and destress with Pixel for a while, and I am sure that Zelda will be taken care of. I think that you are obviously a very loving person, and that her time with you will have been a positive experience in what could have been a very unfortunate life so far. She’s probably better for having known you.

I am sorry that you had such an aweful experience adopting, and about your piggie. I just wish there was a way of knowing if Zelda was spayed. What is going to happen to her? Unkown reproductive status coupled with these behaviors will make it hard for her to find a home. I think a vet would be able to tell by xray if she was spayed. I bet that lady from the shelter won’t bother having it done though.

I’m sorry for the loss of your piggie

If that ‘shelter’ is as bad as mentioned I would not take her back there. Honestly, this rabbit will keep going through the same thing, she will either live there with that lady forever or keep getting dumped on new families who will return her. She will not get the attention needed to reverse these behaviours either way. If you feel you do not have the time/space for this rabbit, i would ask and see if another rescue would help you with her, maybe they know someone who is good with these types of bunnies.
And since the ‘shelter’ Lady is pulling new stories out of her hat, it would be a good idea to see if this bunny really is spayed or if this woman is full of poop.
Makes me so frustrated that this woman would lie to people just for them to take take the rabbits, my guess is she doesn’t get them back often b/c people are to affraid to say anything and grow attachment to their new pet. To lie and tell soemone they are getting something and it’s the total opposite is just wrong, and unfair to the bunny at the same time.

You are fostering Zelda now? Are you trying to adopt out? I agree with one of your statements that it could take months to make that rabbit tame. I think that lady pushed you and lied to you because she obviously was trying to get rid of that rabbit! It all makes sense now.

I’m glad you are going to foster Zelda and that HRS will work with you. She deserves a good home too – I don’t think she’s a bad rabbit, she just may not be spayed and she needs to learn to trust.

I am really sorry to hear about your guinea pig. She had a long, loving life with you! ((((Piggy!))))

Keep us posted on what happens with Zelda and where you go from here.