Easier to rehome just 1 bunny or a pair?

[toki]

Due to moving abroad, I will possibly need to rehome Toki within the next year or two (if my family decide they cannot look after him without me) and recently I have been thinking of bonding him with another rabbit. The reason I wanted to do this is to give him a better chance at being successfully adopted if he is in a bonded pair. But then I started thinking if this is actually true? Do bonded pairs get adopted easier?

Sadly Toki was in the rescue centre for 7 months because he had to live alone (no idea why, I think he just didn’t get along with other rabbits at the time) but I have been advised that I can eventually try to bond him. When I move abroad and Toki has to be rehomed, I really don’t want him to be sitting in a rabbit rescue for another 7 months or more! I would like to show that he can be successfully bonded with another rabbit and prove this myself, with lots of effort and patience if necessary.

Just wondering if it’s really a good idea to get him a partner if eventually he may have to be rehomed? Any thoughts?

[Vienna Blue in France]

Oooer good question.

The obvious reply is what happens if they cannot be bonded? It’s not 100% guaranteed, and then you’d have two singles to give up and rehome !

A trully bonded pair would be great and also would (imho) lessen the stress of you leaving him as he would have his bonded partner to be with.
But then again… 2 singles? See above… It is worth the risk….?

[toki]

Well I would be adopting a partner for him, so he would get to meet her first, and hopefully choose her himself. Also, if the bonding was unsuccessful, I could always return the other bunny to the centre.

[Muchelle]

Another question would be: if you successfully bond him, would your family be more or less prone to keep them?
I mean if that fact would kill the chances to keep him home, it would be a useless effort. Or maybe knowing he’s got a partner they’d be more inclined to keep him and then it could be a good thing.

[toki]

Well, when I say my family would look after him, I really mean that they would take care of him until he was able to be placed in a rehoming centre. They have told me in the past that “oh no, we definitely couldn’t look after him,” but also they have said “well, I guess we could try and look after him” – so I’m not very confident in their ability and I can see them just rehoming him because it is easier than looking after him.

[Muchelle]

Ahh, sorry I had misunderstood! My bad!

[toki]

No it’s fine!

[Mikey]

I think single buns would have an easier time since not everyone has the income, space, and/or time to care for two. If Toki is happy being a single bun, I wouldnt put him through the stress of bonding at all. Even moving homes can cause a bond to break since everything is new. He would have to go through the stress of bonding again, along with the stress of moving

[toki]

Yeah, it does seem that the most popular bunnies (at least at my local shelters) are unbonded buns. I always automatically think of people having rabbits in pairs for some reason, probably because we had pairs when I was a child. Definitely preferable to keep Toki on his own; I think I’m just worried because he was in the shelter for so long before I got him, and it was solely because he wasn’t good with other buns, poor thing.

[Mikey]

If he has to go to the same shelter, will they allow you to write a little note for anyone looking to adopt him? If so, you can write down how hes great with humans and a bit about his personality, and note that you only had to give him to the shelter again because of a big move. That way anyone looking to adopt him after, knows that hes an amazing bun even if he has to be single

[toki]

Yes I’m sure they would ask me to relate my entire experience of owning Toki, so they can get to know him and what kind of home he needs. There is a couple of shelters I could take him to where, if he takes too long to be rehomed, they will keep him in their bunny sanctuary for the rest of his life as part of the family. So I know he will end up fine no matter what happens.

[Vienna Blue in France]

In the uk awareness is increasing that buns should be in pairs and imho i think a pair would go as quick if not quicker than a single bun…

However the thing that concerns me in your particular case is that a bond is not gteed with toki before your departure and you would end up with two singles to home or send to a rescue.

Stay as you are and see how everything pans out…

[toki]

Thanks Vienna, that’s the plan If more people start learning that buns should be paired up, then maybe someone will come along who is happy to have a bun who is better off on his own. I know that this fact appealed to me when I first got Toki; as a first time bun owner, even though I knew buns should be paired up, I only wanted to start off with one. Now I feel confident with buns, I feel I could bond some, but am happy for Toki to stay on his own for his benefit.

[Gina.Jenny]

From my experience rescuing

Podge was on his own for 9 months at a rescue that also had a couple of bonded pairs for a similar length of time, I was told Podge couldn’t be altered, and both bun pairs were older buns, which probably meant they were harder to rehome. Podge was adopted by us after a date with another rescue of ours, Gina, who was caught living feral, and was very wild and aggressive until she bonded with Podge, since then she has been a much calmer, happier little girl.

When I adopted Snickers and Mini from Pets at home, where they had be left by their previous owner, the first thing the adoption lady said is that they could only be adopted together, in a way they left me thinking there had been a few people interested in adopting one but not both. Mini is at least part Nethie, and very cute, Snickers, at the time I adopted her was completely terrified of people, wouldn’t let anyone handle her , was hunched up and had healing bite marks on her, none of which would have helped her find a new home. I was happy to take them both, my guess is most people just wanted Mini.

So, my experience is younger buns are easier to rehome than older, some people want single buns, some want pairs, and some are happy to break up a bonded pair to just take one bun home, if the rescue would let them, which thankfully PaH didn’t.

Answering both your questions, bonding your current bun just to potentially make him easier to rehome is not the best option. And taking on a second bun, when you are unsure over your first bun is maybe not fair to the new bun, who would not be moving into a forever home, but a temporary home.

[toki]

That experience is really helpful Gina This gives me a little bit of hope that one day Toki may find his perfect partner (of course this would be in the future after he is re-adopted, but it is still nice to know that there is hope for him yet. Not that he needs a partner to be happy, but I think it would be nice for him to find “the one.”) I’m glad Podge & Gina and Snickers & Mini had a happy ending!

[Vienna Blue in France]

Good 2nd point GJ.

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