Companion Buns-The Smell

[Mommy]

Hi,

I have a young male bunny who I am thinking may need a companion. The problem is I (or rather, my bf) is worried the smell will overwhelm his room. Does anyone have companion buns after having one bun and noticed an increase in smell? If so, what do you do to get rid of it?

[Deleted User]

Its not the smell issue that I personally feel can be a problem, but more importantly introducing a new bunny to your young male bun. Bonding bunnies can be very difficult and sometimes does not work out. Are you intending to bond them? How old is your current bunny and is he neutured.

Overall, there is the cost of having two bunnies, additional cleaning, vet bills, vaccinations, housing options, food etc.

I have two bunnies, but they are not bonded even though they are both spayed/neutured they have to be separated as they will fight. Awful injuries can be sustained which is very unpleasant and in some cases cause permanent injury.

Make sure you also have the time for two bunnies … it is hard work, particularly if you have family, other pets, work etc.

I can only suggest you do lots of research and reading up … this is a good website here to post to seek information. Are you familiar with this website … http://www.rabbit.org (fantastic stuff there).

All the Best.

Dawn

[MooBunnay]

Hi! Welcome to Binky Bunny! Sir Puff is just adorable!!

I always think its great to have two bunnies together, since they can keep each other company, and it keeps them happy and healthy. The first step is to get your bunny neutered. Also, is your bunny litter box trained? Fixing your bunny and litter training your bunny will dramatically reduce the smell, and then adding a second bunny will definetly not increase the smell except for the time when you are litter box training the new bunny. Also, you can use a covered cat litterbox to put Carefresh litter (or whatever litter you like) and hay in, and that contains the smell excellently.

It would be best to make sure that your bunny is well trained before introducing a new bunyn, so that the new bunny will understand how things work at this new house. When you are ready to start introducing new bunnies, be sure to read some information on “bonding” bunnies – which is the process of introducing two new bunnies.

Don’t forget, its super important to the bonding process to make sure both bunnies are fixed – that will make the process easier and also eliminate the risk of a whole bunch of new friends for your bunny….!

[Mommy]

thank you both for responding. my bunny is a 10 month old male, and he is neutered. I was interested in adopting a young female bunny who is spayed so they could fall in love and i wouldnt have to worry about much in terms of aggression.

i am a student so i worry about having room and money, but having my bunny has posed no problems so far, and he just seems so lonely. i know me hugging him an hour a day doesnt fulfill his need for socialization

i am considering it, but im not sure…

[MooBunnay]

Hi! I am glad to hear the bun is neutered. What area are you in? If you are in the United States, you could look at some local rabbit rescues and that way they can assist you with the bonding process and hel you pick out a female that would be approriate for your lifestyle. When you see two bunnies snuggling and kissing, it is a great thing to see! Let us know what you decide.

Have you been having any problems with smell now? Anything in particular, the bunny pee, or the poops, or something else that is making a smell? My bunnies don’t really smell so thats why I was wondering, perhaps we can give you some tips on how to get rid of the scent!

[poopy]

1) In an open litter box, urine + timothy hay= nasty smell. However urine + oat hay= sweet smell. Another reason to try oat hay if you are only using timothy.
2) Get a coverered litter box. Completely covered with door! On the air vents, you can put a scented filter. This should eliminate all smell. I know it did for my bunny, but her urine only really smelled a bit when it was on the timothy hay.

[Mommy]

i live in the states, and the bunny i am considering is a mini lop from the local shelter. she is spayed and the same age.

the smell comes from the urine and the occasional smelly cecotropes he refuses to eat and just end up firming up days later. i clean his cage out every day, as well as the litter box. im not bothered much by it, but my boyfriend is.

oat hay? i have never heard of it before… is it customary for buns to eat it? ive only heard of timothy and alfalfa

 

btw, this is his cage and the other bun i am considering:

 

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[Hedi]

Sir Puff is famous! I have seen him on cuteoverload and i thnk myspace? He is adorable! Such a ball of fuzz.

There are a lot of other hays out there as well, brome hay, bermuda hay, etc. All of those are fine for a bun. Many petstores carry the bermuda hay/grass. Oxbow is a big carrier of all of them.

The cages you have picked out look fine. The excess smelly cecotropes are probably due to too many carrots or treats in his diet. Have you tried to cut down on the treats to see if the cecotropes went away?

 

And the girl bun you are considering is adorable!

[Mommy]

yes, yes, he was on cuteoverload i cant believe he is recognized! wow, such an honor…

i do feed him a whole carrot a day plus a broccoli or two, and now im trying to give him a grape. i guess it might be too much, poor thing im starting to cut down now, only half a carrot a day. i just want him to be happy

[Hedi]

lol Yep he is famous. He is just so cute!

Recommendations say only 1tbsp of treats per day based on a weight of 5lb. So even half a carrot really is too much. Have you ever tried to feed him baby carrots? My girls all used to snub them but now they dont get a choice. And they are the first thing they eat when they get them which is usually every other day. You can also mix it up and just grate some carrot slivers over his veggies each day so he still gets some just not in a huge quantity.

My buns all love blueberries, slivers of banana, grapes cut in half (choking hazard d/t the size of a grape), pineapple. We buy it all frozen then thaw some every few days for a night time treat. Oh and RAISINS are the best treat in the whole world according to my buns. They know the packaging and the word. lol

 

[BinkyBunny]

Welcome SirPuffsMommy!! You have received some great advice and suggestions. Finding a bunny companion is wonderful as rabbits to crave companionship. But there are just some things to be prepared for (which many have already noted)
Here are some tips for success, as well as just some things to expect.

1. Best to have your bunny pick out his companion.(I know this can be hard if you fall in love with a cute bunny and want to bring ’em home) Many people think ….eh, I’m sure they’ll just get along, but wow….I can’t tell you how miserable it is if they don’t. And you have to be prepared for that. But even if they seem promising with bunnies that HE chose, bunnies will urinate, and poo more during bonding as they establish territory and hierarchy issues. This is a given. SO, it may be more stinky and messy while they are bonding. Once they are bonded, that should subside, but you are looking at on average, a few weeks of possible poo chaos. So as long as you and your bf are okay with that then it shouldn’t be an issue.

2. Save your dollars! Vet bills are expensive. A common issue is GI stasis, and it can require urgent care, which can be around $200 for visit and treatment. And because rabbits can decline so fast – be fine one day, and then fighting for their life the next, it’s important to have enough cash so you don’t hesitate to race to the vet. You also might think about getting pet insurance. It has saved me tons of money. It cost around 12 dollars a month. I also have a "care credit" card. This card is only used for health or vet bills, so I can’t see a great pair of shoes and get tempted to use it. You just have to be sure that the vet you have will take it. Many do.

3. I don’t think two rabbits are more smelly than one. I use  Yesterday’s News and I scoop up the urine soaked portion daily, and add a fresh handful of hay. (and of course do a full wash of the box a couple of times a month with a vinegar/water 50/50 mix.

4. You’re doing my last suggestion which is asking questions before acting. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to get too emotional or too focused about just wanting something so cute! (well, bunnies are a bit irresistable!) To further understand some of what you may expect in bonding is to use the "search" tool in the forum, and look up "Bonding" to find out what others have gone through.

[wendyzski]

I have to pop in here with another "commercial" for the wood-pellet litters.  I use Feline Pine and just realized I went 10 days without remembering to change the litterbox and it STILL didn’t smell.  Now I have just he one bun, but still….

[poopy]

As I said, get a COVERED LITTERBOX & scented Cats Rule filter. That’s the only way you will contain the smell!!!

Cute pix btw!

[Lucy]

I agree with Wendyski- That feline pine is amazing. I have two bunnies- a male (which I had first) and then got a female. So I’m basically in the same boat as you are SirPuff’sMommy.

It was okay with just one bunny.. but then Fujoe started “marking” the litter box once Patina came into the picture. I started out with using carefresh, then tried yesterday’s news, newspaper and now feline’s pine. The feline pine stuff is totally amazing. You can only smell pine. Sometime if Fujoe just peed you can kind of smell it for just a few mins until it’s absorbed. It’s also really cost effiicent (I just graduated college, so instead of being a student I’m a starving artist).

So my advice is to use feline pine for the two bunnies. Also about the oat hay- I’m in Chicago and I can’t find it anywhere- I don’t know if any of the chicagoians have the same problem as me- so you might be in a area that doesn’t carry it.

[Hedi]

I have never seen Oat Hay either on the shelves here. I have looked everywhere. I know Oxbow carries it but its expensive to ship here from them. SO our shelter is going to start carrying bunny stuff and I requested they carry Oat Hay and Timothy Hay from Oxbow. I think busybunny.com or forotherlivingthings.com carry it for 3.50 a bag. I cant remember which one.

[Lucy]

hey hedi- i just noticed that you buy frozen fruits and then thaw them to give to your bunnies. Letting you know that Fujoe LOVES frozen blueberries. I sometimes just put them straight into my yougurt in the mornings (esp. in summer) and I’ll give him one or two. I mean, he goes bonkers for them- more so than fresh ones. But then again, Fujoe really likes cold things. See if any of your bunnies go for the frozen stuff- it might be a good way to cool them down.

[poopy]

Over here, all horse feed stores have them. Horse feed stores are really the cheapest you can go for hay. Even cheaper (by half) than the what local rescues around here sell for (although their profit goes towards buns).

[Author]

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