Different Breed Personality Traits-Question

[Sugarbear]

Hello All.  We are new here and had a question.  We currently have a American Polish male rabbit named Sugar.  He has what the doctor termed as a “blink deficiency”.  He is very lovable and well behaved (for the most part).  He does run around sometimes, late at night and is inquisitive and persistant.  We have been mulling over the idea of getting him a buddy, and are not sure which breed may be best for him to get along with.  The doctor has addressed his eye issue, and his health is good, I just mentioned it as it may be a factor in his physical reserve.

We used to have a Netherland Dwarf, and he did not like to cuddle as Shug does, but he was much more active and energetic.  He did lots of binkies and laps around the house but did not like to be held.

We were thinking about possibly a lionhead or a lop.  Any ideas or info would be great.  Thanks! 

 

Are there any general behavior traits more inherent to different breeds?  We are open to any ideas…

[RabbitPam]

It is frequently thought that the larger bunnies are calmer than the very small breeds, as you described with your Dwarf’s friskiness.

But I would recommend not considering the breed as much as the preference of your bunny. You can take your bunny on “dates” to meet other bunnies, usually at rescue shelters where there are more to meet and they know how to handle introductions. The bunnies themselves will show a mutual preference. It’s usually the best way for an ultimately good bond.

[Sugarbear]

Once we get him fixed, we will definitely bring him to a shelter to see who he may bond with. 

Do most ppl recommend a m/f getting along better than m/m?

[Sarita]

Generally a spayed female/neutered male is the easiest to bond. I agree with RabbitPam, be open to all of the rabbits as potentials for Sugar and let him help chose his new friend.

Did the vet say if the blink deficiency is genetic? Are you treating it with eye drops. Just curious as I’ve never heard of this and I always love learning.

As for personality traits – honestly, in my experience, it’s hard to generalize. For instance my Dutches are all 3 totally different. Mango is a sassy thumpy vocal rabbit. My pair Peaches and Peppermint are very very shy. I do find most Dutch rabbits to be extremely intelligent though.

[Monkeybun]

Moose, my dutch, is very shy as well Sarita. But, he sure is sassy and thumpy when he comes out of his little shell now and then! Very smart too… tis scary how smart he is really.

Monkey, my netherland dwarf, is very opinionated, sassy, somewhat snobbish, anti-touchy, bouncy, non-stop running, curious as a kitten, cute as heck…. and my sweet baby girl all at the same time lol. With me she is a sweetie, with my hubby… not so much. I think she gets a kick out of growling at him. Itty bitty scawey bunneh!

[Balefulregards]

Coco, my Dutch is Super smart as well. Yikes. She is a Diva. She is not a cuddler, but demands many head rubs. Very personable.

Jackson is much larger than she – He is a Grey Chinchilla mix -He is a Scaredy bun, he is also rather hand shy ( still) and very foot flicky. He loves him some Coco, though.

But honestly neither of mine are cuddlers. If I want to spend time with them, I have to lay on the floor and allow them to choose to approach me.

[Elrohwen]

It’s tough to generalize with rabbit breeds as they’re not bred for their personalities the way dogs are. However, generally big bunnies are more laid back and gentle while small bunnies are more hyper and inquisitive. Dutch are often too smart for their own good 😛 And I’ve found, personally, that mini lops are fairly active and love to shred paper. Not sure why, but every single mini lop I’ve seen in rescue (and my own) is a paper shredder. Haha. Other than that, it’s really hard to say.

I would think about whether you would prefer a laid back or hyper bunny – then you can talk to the rescue people and they can tell you which ones fit your desired personality best. Then take that group of bunnies (either the calm or the hyper ones) and introduce them to your guy and see who he gets along with.

[MirBear]

i own a lionhead (3-4 lbs) and a standered rex mix (about 6 lbs), and the larger bunny is much more laid back. however your bunny may get intimidated by a larger bunny, many of the smaller buns on here were intimidated by the larger bun at first. i do prefer the lionhead breed myself. my lionhead is a bit of a diva but does enjoy a snuggle. where as my rex mix (not 100% on the breed, its a quess) doesnt like to be touched unless its for noes rubs.. she will sit beside you though…. so i wouldnt rule out larger or smaller bunnies, id try and mix up the dates a little, large bunny (f), small bunny (f) large bunny (m) small bunny (m) then you can see what sex he gets along with and also what size.. then narrow it down from there.
My bunnies may have a different personality because neither are fixed.

[Sugarbear]

Posted By Sarita on 04/21/2010 06:11 PM
Did the vet say if the blink deficiency is genetic? Are you treating it with eye drops. Just curious as I’ve never heard of this and I always love learning.

The vet did not say if it is genetic. He’s had it since we got him from a pet store. We saw him and fell in love instantly.  My wife picked up up and started to pet him and he closed his eyes.  That was it, decision made.

His eyes also don’t close all the way when he is sleeping sometimes, causing them to dry out.   He has an corresponding area near the center of each eye that used to look clouded.    Since being with us and some encouragement to close his eyse more when chilling out, the areas now just look “different” than the rest of his eye. 

He’s been to the vet several times and a veternary eye specialist. We had drops but after a while it would cause his eyes to swell and turn red.  Recently we had his tear ducts flushed since his tears gummed up the fur under his eyes and appeared to be possibly due to  blocked tear ducts.   It seemed to help a little.  His eyes get red (irises) and swollen (area of delicate skin surrounding his eyes) every few weeks now.   We have tried Zatador eye drops, oral antihistamene, Genteal gel, and Cyclosporin eye ointment under advice from vets.  It seems that putting in the drops or ointment sometimes aggrivates his eye condition, so the best we found is an oral antinflamitory that takes the reddness out and relieves the swelling.  The swelling also makes his eyes stay somewhat more closed.  Here is a pic from early on, with his right eye closed. 

 

[Sugarbear]

Thank you all, btw, for the info and advice. We were leaning toward a lop or lionhead and will try to see if he can find any buddies within these groups at a bunny rescue and expand the search from there if necessary. An added bonus we read about with bunnies with eye issues is that a buddy will help with grooming so his eye fur will be better. I do it now with a warm moist washcloth.

[Sarita]

Oh goodness, he’s been through a lot with that eye, poor little fella.

[Elrohwen]

When you start bunny dating you’ll get a better idea of what types of bunnies he gets along with. I wouldn’t worry about size from his perspective at all – he won’t care – but you might care 😉 If he seems to get along with almost any bun you can have your pick, but if he’s much pickier you might just have to let him do the deciding.

[Author]

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