A story that needs to be shared.

[Lake and Meatball]

I had come to a point where I truly felt that rabbits may not be the pet for me.
My boyfriend and I had gotten our first bun, Coco, a brown dwarf mix, from a local rescue. From day one, she was terrified of us. From what I understand, she was recovered from a large-scale abuse case, where someone had left her and many other rabbits in their yard unattended for months. It explained her behavior well, and I just hoped that with love and dedication, she would come around.
After six months of being a free-range only child, we decided to find her a companion. Perhaps that would bring her out of her shell. In came Otto, our 4 month old white lionhead. He is a ball of energy, and more sociable than Coco, but won’t stay still long enough to give or receive attention. I believe it was bun love at first sight. From that point, they were inseperable, and withdrew even further from me. The more I tried to interact with them, the more they retreated into their hidey holes. So I respected their wishes, and learned to care for them the best I could without any affection. 
I read more and more online about the misconceptions people have about pet rabbits, and how they are independent, and often don’t enjoy conventional pet activities like snuggles and pets. I began to think that I was expecting too much of them, and I should be happy just to co-inhabit with them. Don’t get me wrong, I was. But I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing. 
Pair this with the fact that I worked full time, and my boyfriend didn’t have a job. By defunct, he ended up bonding with them way more than I was ever able to. When we split up, it was obvious that they deserved to stay with him, and all I wanted was for my bunnies to be happy. I get regular updates. They’re doing incredibly well.

Flash forward two years, and my life is completely different. I now work out of my home, and I live with a wonderful man, our best friend, and his girlfriend. They all know endless stories about my previous big-eared companions, and I’ve often hinted at wanting to give bunnship another go. But, every time we got to talking about it, my boyfriend would paint himself an image of stinky poo and fur everywhere. Not like I can blame him.
We have a pet shop in town that also takes in forfeited animals, and rehomes them. As much as I have reservations about purchasing animals from a pet shop, that all went out the window the day I met Meatball.
I wasn’t even looking for a rabbit that day. We had actually come to see about hairless rats (my boyfriends favorite). After realizing we had a small animal-shaped hole in our hearts, we thought a few small caged buddies would be easy to maintain and love thoroughly. Well, they didn’t have any, but they did have one gorgeous shiny grey mini lop.
There she was, in all of her glory. Couldn’t be more than a year old, if that. By herself, in a pen on the floor, next to a glass tank filled with much smaller babies. The tiny piles of bun seemed to be stealing her thunder, and as a result, she just spent her time quietly munching. That is, until I sat down on the floor next to her pen. Like lightning, she is beside me, stroking my pants through her cage. I’ve never had a rabbit behave this way towards me. When I got up to leave, finally, it was as if I’d broken her heart, as well as my own. 
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. So naturally, when my roommate needed to pick up supplies for his lizard the next day, I needed no convincing to tag along. Lo and behold, my baby girl remembers me, and anxiously greets me with more nuzzles. My roomie is impressed. “Lake, that bunny loves you.” Like I didn’t know already. Jokingly I suggest that he buy her for me, and he says SURE! (I mean, she’s only thirty bucks. And my best friend rules.) But I knew it was more of a fantasy, and my boyfriend would not likely go for it. Did not stop me from trying. I called him, and received a “We’ll talk about it.”
The next day was his day off, so we went to lunch. Somehow, we ended up back at the pet store. He says “ok, we can go visit her, but we’re not buying her.” I agree not to pester him, as I would do anything to see her again. My boyfriend starts to pet her, and she starts lavishing him with that same super fluffy affection. And then we put a deposit down on her.
A full day of talks, promises of clean cages and low odor, and habitat logistics later, my sweet Meatball came home with us. I am absolutely amazed by her. I can’t get enough. She is the smartest, sweetest, cleanest, most friendly outgoing animal I have ever seen. I’ve had her for 48 hours, and she is already binkying all over her new home, and endlessly lavishing us with kisses!
Not just that, but my amazing little lady litter box trained herself  immediately upon entering her house. I’ve yet to see more than two little stray poos outside her box, and she goes right in front of me, with such an attitude of pride about it. 
I seriously feel like I’ve been blessed by the lagomorph gods with this one. I assumed that amazing buns like this were forged out of years of dedication and bonding. I never imagine I could be so loved by any living thing so instantly and sincerely. I’m chalking my previous experiences up to a bad personality match. Do you think there is such a thing?
Anyway, without further adieu; My Meatball.

[bunnylova123]

She’s so lovely, bunnies like that are very rare, you’re a lucky bunny mummy.

[NuggetBuns]

omg she is such a sweetie pie. It must have been love at first sight for you and Meatball, wonderful story! And is she grooming your bf in that picture? Oh so much love!!

[Lake and Meatball]

Yes. She literally spent an hour licking every inch of his face last night. Would not let him move until she finished. :]

[BinkyBunny]

How wonderful! Sounds like she picked you! I am also glad you were able to discover that not all bunnies are untouchables and scared. Part of that is their prey instinct but they still have very unique personalities…. like people do — some are extroverts, introverts, laid back, or bossy, some are shy and anxious, (which sometimes can be worked through OR will be like that most of their life.) We have a few members that have bunnies like that – that don’t like to be touched. Sometimes people give bunnies up for that reason, and so I commend you for taking care of them and giving them a safe and loving place regardless. It was nice to hear that they were able to come out of their shell a little with your ex and that you can get updates about them. I have a bunny who is very wary of who she connects to, and you have to spend a lot of time with her to gain her trust. She will run up to me, allow me to pet and snuggle her, but my husband she won’t let touch her and she basically runs away. Though when he does spend more time with her, she warms up slowly, but it’s hard for him to get close to her and work through that because of his schedule too.

And though I have yet to have a bunny that doesn’t like to be pet and enjoys a good snuggle on the floor, your meatball definitely is an enthusiastic social bunnerfly that expresses her bond to you in such a sweet and endearing way!

Welcome to BinkyBunny and congratulations on Meatball! She sounds like absolute gem and I can’t wait to hear more about her! Love the photos, especially the one of her giving your boyfriend bunny kisses.

BTW. Funny t-shirt your boyfriend is wearing. LOL

[Sarita]

What a great story and I also am glad that you cared about your first pair of rabbits so much and just let them be who they were – sounds like they were happy and cared for. Very unselfish as well to let your ex-boyfriend take them too.

I’m glad you found another rabbit who has stolen your heart and is more affectionate.

I don’t believe that the prior rabbits were a bad personality match really, just not what you needed at the time. My rabbits are all pretty much like your prior pair and I’m fine with that – although having an affectionate ball of fur wouldn’t be a bad thing either :~)

[Lake and Meatball]

When I say ‘bad personality match’, I suppose I’m referring more to myself. Otto and Coco were wonderful and well behaved.
I’m definitely overly motherly and nurturing to my animals. I can’t help myself! And that was often met with “Hey. Mom. Leave us alone. We’re playing!”
Even after the two years we spent together, they never grew out of the angsty teen phase, I suppose.
I love that Meatball wants to play with me. I’ve never experienced that before.

And here’s a photo of wonderful Otto and Coco, sharing a dish of food. Bunny love. :]

[Lake and Meatball]

Err.. http://imgur.com/liL3wU8

[BeaBunny]

Ahh what a lovely story! It almost makes me jealous Such a pretty bun too! Welcome

[Koralsie]

I just love this story. Thanks for taking the time to share it. Your bunny sounds very special, and I’m so glad that she found a great home to bestow all that loving energy on (and vice versa)! I got my first house rabbit, Juni, last summer, and although the litterbox training, etc., wasn’t quite as seamless as yours, she also has an extremely loving, affectionate personality. She doesn’t seem to like being alone very much either. She will come right over and leap on the couch next to me, then climb on a book I’m reading or start licking my hand furiously. She LOVES being petted. She will come and sit for a half hour by someone who is petting her. People are always shocked by how friendly our little Juni is.

Now I’m thinking of getting another rabbit to bond with her, but I’m still not 100% sure. It sounds like in your first rabbit situation, the bonded pair actually both drifted more into their own world and away from you. I wonder how common that is.. My vet actually warned me that that might happen if we got Juni a friend, but I still want to because when we are at work, I imagine a social butterfly like her might be lonely. By the way, is your bun spayed? Juni got so freakishly hyper starting at about 7 months of age, and she started dropping pellets everywhere and nipping us at that time (for the first time). She was just spayed 2 weeks ago. Her litterbox habits went back to normal, and she stopped nipping and went back to her old, cuddly, licking self – however, she is probably even MORE hyper than ever now. She races around the living room like she’s on the olympic track team.

Anyway, great story. Thanks again for making me smile.

[Mimzy]

Beautiful story! She sounds so grateful to finally have a home. I’m sure she was overlooked for a while with the baby bunnies next to her. And she is beautiful!

[Lake and Meatball]

Thank you so much, everyone! You’re all so sweet.
I’m making an appointment to have my girl examined this week. From there I can figure out when I should have her fixed.
I hope her personality never changes. I don’t think I could live without her grooming me for hours, now that I’ve experienced it. :]

[jerseygirl]

Welcome!
I really enjoyed reading this story so thank you for posting it. (Are you a writer btw?)

I seriously feel like I’ve been blessed by the lagomorph gods with this one

I think you’re right. She sounds like a great little rabbit. Congrats in being groomed. So sweet!

Coco and Otto are cuties also. It’s good you get to check in how they’re doing.

[Author]

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