Do bunnies bond at pet stores/rescues?

[MimzMum]

Here’s something that’s been bothering me for some time. One of you who works at/owns a rescue will have to help me with the housing situations there, but….

Do bunnies who are either cooped up (or housed pretty close together) over a long period of time, in small living quarters like at a pet store, wind up bonding with one another? I was noticing when at my local Petco, the bunnies left in the main tank did seem to be paired off in a particular way. (Oddly, if I’m reading their tattoos right, most of them-if not all-are male.) I wonder if they bond with one another, or do they all just wish they could be shod of each other, having to be cramped up like they often are?

I know at a rescue, it is not this way, and that bunnies who come in bonded are kept together so they don’t miss one another and become stressed when it is obvious they are fond of one another…but what happens to bunnies who spend months together, in a tight little pen, and then one by one are sold off to different places and never see one another again? Do you think this could cause them to more likely be untrusting and harder to handle in such a case?

I have a method to this madness…besides being (mis)handled by a bunch of little kids, I wonder sometimes if Fiver had such a connection to another bunny a long time ago, if he remembers it, and if it is part of his personality now in that he does not seem to want to bond to other bunnies, nor does he desire closeness really with any other living thing. I know he was at the store for some time, I remember seeing him there. I remember what his ‘littermates’ looked like. How, I wonder, do bunnies deal with ‘separation anxiety’?

I’ve had Fiver since August. We are no closer to being comfortable with each other than we have been for a few months now, he grunts and charges at me if he even gets a whiff of one of the others on me, and seems to have no real interest in becoming cuddly with either of them-granted I haven’t really tried a ‘formal’ meeting on neutral turf, but….

Pip was used to being handled. She’s been a breeze to deal with when all’s said and done. Mimzy…well, he has his moments. But he can be a real lover-bun, and sometimes, despite being abandoned with two other males, can be quite happy by himself.

Fiver? *sigh* He has scars. It’s pretty clear.

What do you all think? Does ‘time in the tank’ and subsequently being torn from your mates have any bearing on adult personality in buns? Do they ever get over it? (I know, I’m attributing human emotions to animals here, but it’s a theory, what can I say?)

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I agree with you a hundred percent.

I don’t think they really bond at rescues, since they are in seperate pens (Usually they can’t even see each other-although at my rescue, they can see each other as they are in regular cages, and interact through cages when one is out…MOST interactions through the cage are ‘I’m going to bite you if I can!!” though…)

I really do think petstores have no business being in that business because they do stick them all together and then sell them off. When they are babies fine, litter mates do have to seperate-even in the wild that’s natural to prevent inbreeding. But if they are together past a few months then yes I do think they bond. And I think it’s terrible to seperate them later.

How much time are you spending trying to bond with Fiver? I think if you have patience he’ll come around. Have you tried some rescue remedy?

[Beka27]

any petstores where i live only have baby buns, and i’m sure some of them are littermates as they tend to look alike. i think you’d find that more if they were housing older rabbits together, but then the whole hormone thing would come into play…

it was kinda sad when i adopted Max. as you’ll remember i got him from a rescue that was run from a woman’s home. she had over 30 buns, i’d say about 20 of which were all housed together (speutered and vet-checked, of course). imagine having a pen with 20 adult bunnies all running around, snuggled up together, sharing the same food, flopped on top of each other… it was something to behold, lemme tell you! they would all get up at the same time and run in different directions. absolutely amazing! i think that’s all of our dreams to have the space, time and money for several buns to just do their bunny thing. but anyways… it was kinda sad bringing him home b/c he wanted to be with Meadow so bad and she was being a royal… “stick-in-the-mud” and wanted nothing to do with him. he was so used to being with the other buns that he seemed to be very lonely for awhile. at night the woman told me she would pair them up in cages, and she even told me that some buns would make a big commotion if they weren’t paired up with certain other buns, so i think that within a larger group setting, it is possible for them to becomely strongly bonded with a specific bun. but again, these were adult, altered buns.

rambling story short… Max being used to other buns made him WANT a mate MORE, not less. same thing as when a bun loses a mate by death… i think they are more receptive to being paired up again, with the RIGHT BUN… they do crave that companionship. with Meadow, she was the only creature in my house pre-Max… honestly, i had no idea how she’d react to another bun, i was just guessing based on her affection for her human family that she’d accept a bun friend. she put up a fight with Max, but in the end, she loves that guy so much.

my thought on this is that you try and get Pp and Mimzy together permanently first. once they are “cleared out” so to speak, you can re-evaluate Fiver and figure out if you want to work on more one-on-one human-bun bonding, or if you want to get a 4th (gulp!) and give him a mate. if your goal is to eventually bond him with Mimz-Pip… you’ll have to wait a while to do that.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh Beka good point!
I’ve got another story that may help too,

My friend that runs the rabbit rescue with me, she has one rabbit herself. He was the ‘friend’ she got for her original rabbit, who had a broken leg just like Rupert. The original rabbit passed away last year and Noah, her current rabbit HATES other rabbits. She brought him bunny dating numerous times and he just wants blood. (We call him the evil rabbit :p)
For this reason she keeps him in the basement with all the rescue buns. Although he does try to fight through the cage with the bun who is out at the time, I think that’s just defending territory. He seems really interested in all the rabbits who are there now. He hasn’t picked anyone special but when he does, I’m going to help bond him with the friend he chooses. It’s taken a long time for him to come around. But I think he will want a friend soon.

[Sarita]

The dynamics in a warren are different than the dynamics in a bonded pair or trio. In the big warren type situations I’ve seen more of a pairing up by groups rather than a bonding of two. Of course the dynamics are different the larger the warren. I don’t have tons of experience with this type of situation but from what I’ve seen it’s a matter of looking out for number one to get food and things like that – it’s more of a hierarchy type situation.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Beka do you have an email contact for that rescue where you got Max (sorry Mimz I’m OT now!! ). We would love to have our rabbits iin a warren situation at the rescue, but I was wondering if we could email her and see how she does it and how she likes it, how it works out etc etc….

[Sarita]

I worked with a rescue that did this and I have to say, I did not like it but it could have been the rescue rather than the situation. Many times the weak rabbits got beat up – she had tons of rabbits though and they were outside too. It looked impressive but I knowing what I know, it was not a good thing (at least this situation – it got out of hand).

I know Marinell Harriman with HRS has her rabbits in a warren type situation – I think it’s her. But she had her home built around the rabbits – they all go out in a courtyard in the middle of the house. It’s either her or Margot. I’ll find out and get you her email (either Margot or Marinell’s whichever one it is).

[Beka27]

k&K, another thing to keep in mind that i didn’t mention before, most of the rabbits were NOT up for adoption. they were pretty much sanctuary rabbits, some had disabilities, some were just older buns (5+ years) and she had no plans on adopting them out. they had all been together for a long time, and she would just introduce any new ones as she went along. trying to get 15 or 20 buns into a warren set-up would take a lot of work. she only has 3 or 4 buns up for adoption outta the whole 30. this might be something to think about if at some point you guys became a sanctuary also, but i think as long as you are strictly taking in and adopting out, this might not work out as well. also, since you are doing an “alter-as-you-go” thing, that of course is a concern as well… (but i’m sure i don’t have to tell you that… lol!)

that being said, i’ll find the link to her petfinder page and you can email her thru there. be aware, it took a long while for me to get responses from her, she’s quite the busy bee, but she should hopefully repond!

[Beka27]

here’s the rescue page… http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/OH621.html

if you scroll down to happy tails you can see Max’s lil pic! lol…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Thanks guys! Sarita sent me the email so I’ve emailed her to see how she likes it, how she did it, pros and cons.

[Sarita]

This is a different person K&K, not who Beka adopted from.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh *smacks head*

[Beka27]

the woman (Sassy) who i adopted from can be contacted thru the rescue page i posted. Sarita was giving you contact info for someone else…

silly girl, you’re getting way ahead of yourself… lol!

 

 sorry Mimz.  total thread hijack.  back to Fiver…

what are the chances, again once Mr. and Mrs. Mimzy are on their bunnymoon, of Fiver becoming a free range (or semi-free range) bedroom bunny?  maybe he just needs more attention from you in order to become more comfortable?

 

[MimzMum]

lolz…No worries on the hijack. It’s fun to read along (albeit I skimmed much of the thread due to the fact that my reply is going to fade from my crummy memory if I don’t put it down soon) with all these other situations and it’s totally pertinent to my question.

First of all, let me just clarify; there were about 6 rabbits still in the tank at PETCO. (Knowing the selling is going to stop, I am sure either these buns will be on sale around Christmas-Oh Lord have mercy!-or adopted out soon.) I (sheepishly) have been eyeballing one in particular that I think is more than 6 months…like Pip was, but of course it would probably take an act of God to bring it home. It’s not likely, but it got me thinking of this question of the bonding in the pet store.

Now the one I am thinking of (male I think) was paired with an agouti (also male, I think) about the same ‘age’ I would assume, and these are all altered buns of course, the other four are cuddled up with their certain ‘significant other’ for lack of a better word. The tank label says ‘male and female’ but I can’t tell which is which since their ears are hard to see through the glass. But they all get along, as long as they are paired up just so. Anyway, I am pretty sure these bunnies are going out the door one by one. Eventually.
It just seems wrong on so many levels. So I was curious to see if anyone else here thought as I do.

And do all these ‘pairs’ make up a ‘warren?’ I wonder…?

I am too afraid to even think of looking for a friend for Fiver in a sitch like this, simply because how could I in all good conscience be the one to break up a pair/group like that? How can anyone think of it??

Of course it will probably all be moot point the next time I go into town. I guess another reason I ask the question is that; should I find myself in a situation where adding to the brood becomes more of a reality, do I look somewhere that I can find somebun who is already alone? (No idea where that would be.) The reason that doesn’t always add up is; Fiver was alone. I think he got to like it too much. How long is too long for a bunny to be single? Do they get used to it?

….I’m rambling aren’t I? Okay, nevermind….

Your idea is good Beka…that the other two might be in another place altogether and Fiver and I would have more time and room to ourselves. I wonder….?
Considering how he tends to snap and box at other bunnies…I would seriously be afraid to ‘date’ him, as it would kill me to have him injure another bun. Nobunny needs that. >

I spend lots of time with him though, K&K. More so than the other two, since they have each other. I do miss the alone time I had with my Mimzy, he was my first bunny love. *sniffle* Fiver is so different. Night and day they are. And that’s good. I just wish Mimzy were better about sitting with me and just ‘chilling’ when he’s out of his pen, like Fiver is. And I wish Fiver were more mellow, like Mimzy.

But I just thought that, since Fiver is so skittish, maybe he was missing a special somebunny…or maybe he wants nothing to do with any other bunny. Either way, I need to study him much longer.

So that’s why I was wondering about the housing situations. And how they affect them. Since bunnies are so social, and they seem to like to be in large groups for the most part (at least the house bunnies, warrens are another matter, yes) and I would not want to deprive any of my rabbits the chance to be with the bun they love, nor do I want them to feel they can’t be single bunnies either. It’s a tough balance, in my opinion.

And yes, I feel so sorry for these last pet store bunnies. It seems one way or another, they are going to get their little bunny hearts broken. And that’s just sad. ;_;

Okay, woman, get off the soapbox… >.<

[Beka27]

i hear you. unfortunately there’s no way for any of us to really truly know the minds of the buns we love. we can study bunny body language all day long, but in the end it’s a language we don’t speak. petstores are so frustrating anyways, maybe if they insisted that altered buns get adopted out as pairs they’d be happier, but really they would never do that.

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