Geting a lionhead guest

[Niamian]

Yesterday morning while enjoying our pj weekend morning Redford and I had a wisit from a grany who lives upstairs of us.

Apparently she has a 3 months old lionhead that her grendson got and now she can’t ceep him, and feed him and so on… and can I take him or they will just give it to rendome kid in the playground or just “let him out”.
So I went upstairs to take a look at the bun whit the idea to tell people I know about him and try to find him a nice home.
Anyway poor guy or a gal is living in a cage that is exactly his size, and that is smaller then Redfords diging box (old shoobox). No litter, naked plastic floor, and yellow fur full of dirt.

I really didn’t plan on second bun, but I am taking him tomorrow to the vet, and after that probably here. I still have no idea what should I do, Im gonna have to go and buy at least some normal size cage for him/her and try to find a nice home or maybe just keep it if Redford agrees.

The point is, I need all of your help guys. First of all any advice, tip from a lionhead owner would be great. About the temper, neutre…
Then how to interduce little one to Redford… and so on.

I probably shouldn’t have mended but couldn’t have let the little one on his own. Oh and btw. It’s a white fur blue eyes lionhead.

[tobyluv]

Thank you for taking in this poor little rabbit, who surely would have gone to another bad home or perished, if let out.

I adopted a 4 year old lionhead last year, to be a companion to my bunny who was around the same age. He was very skittish at first, and didn’t want to be touched, but since I know nothing about his background and how he was treated, that’s understandable. He now enjoys petting, but still seems to be easily spooked by certain movements near him. Of course, you have a baby and other than being kept in a horrible, small cage, hopefully he wasn’t mistreated or mishandled and he or she will accept and bond with you easily. My bunny was neutered at the shelter after we adopted him and before we brought him home. He healed quickly. He is a curious little guy, always sniffing around and investigating things.

Lionheads can have different amounts of fur and longer fur in some places than other lionheads. My bunny mostly has the beard, with a little extra fur on top of his head, and long fur tufts on his hips. He does have a little bit of longer fur around his eyes and I wonder if that somehow obscures his vision, which is why movement near him can startle him.  But the fur isn’t long enough to need clipping. There is a lionhead at the Sanctuary where I volunteer that has very long fur all over, and she has to be clipped periodically, so that she can see and so that she doesn’t have excess fur on her private areas, where soft poop can stick to it.

Here is one good article on bonding: http://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/

I hope that the new bunny will settle in well in your home and bond quickly with Redford.

[Niamian]

Thank you a lot. I read the article, it’s really helpful, I just have few more questions.

First, little one is 3 months old, so probably to young to be fixed yet, so does that mean that I shouldn’t try to bound Redford and him/her until I can get it fixed? Or can we start it now.

The other thing is, I was thinking putting their cages next to each other. Redford is closed in his cage only when we sleep, the rest of the day he is free roam, but he still likes to longe there from time to time and that is his safe spot. Will he be upset if I put another cage next to his safe house?

[tobyluv]

I’m assuming that Redford is neutered. No, you can’t start the bonding yet. Rabbits can fight and can really injure each other. You never want to put them together unless both/all have been spayed or neutered. You will have to spay or neuter the new bunny, then wait 2 to 4 weeks for recuperation and for all the hormones to be flushed out, before you can start the bonding. Some males are ready to be neutered as early as 3 months. It all depends on when their testicles drop. For females, they are usually spayed at 5 to 6 months of age.

It’s good that you are taking the bunny in for a vet check. The vet can hopefully determine the gender (sometimes even they have trouble) then you can know more about when the surgery can take place. It’s generally easiest to bond a (neutered) male to a (spayed) female, so it might be better if this bunny turns out to be a female, but that would also mean waiting a couple of months longer for the surgery.

Many people often will place 2 cages/pens near each other when they plan to bond the rabbits. Although they usually do that only when both rabbits have been spayed or neutered and will soon be ready to bond. That does get them used to the sight and smells of each other. Rabbits can fight through the bars, though, and make bloody noses if they bite, so it might be a good idea to have some sections of an x-pen or the grid cube panels around the new bunny’s cage if it is near Redford, to make a buffer zone where they can’t actually come in contact with each other. That’s what I did when I adopted a new rabbit last year. My other rabbit was free range and I didn’t want any biting through the bars to occur.

If having the new bunny’s cage near Redford happens to upset him, then you might have to relocate it, but hopefully that won’t happen, or Redford will settle down after a while if he does get upset at first at a new bunny being in his space. It’s natural for Redford to possibly resent the new bunny in his area, and Redford might jump at the cage at first (or may not). Maybe someone else will weigh in on your questions, regarding whether it’s okay to place the new bunny near Redford, even though the new bunny isn’t spayed or neutered yet.

[Niamian]

Ok. Thank you for the answers and time. It was more then helpful.
And yes Redford is neutered almost 1 year old mini loop bun. It would be really nice if the little one turns out to be female. But, whatever hapens we will love it none the less. ☺

[Niamian]

Update:
It’s a she! ☺
Her name is Bianca and she already checked out the house, and is now lounging in her tiny cage and wainting for me to get back from the shoping and bring her new spacious house.

She also just found out what hey is and is really happy about it. ☺

[tobyluv]

Bianca is a nice name. Has the poor bunny never had hay before? I’m sure that you will make up for that. I bet she had fun exploring your house and getting some exercise. I know that she will appreciate a larger pen. Hopefully, she and Redford will bond quickly after her surgery.

[Auburnie]

Aweh yay for Bianca! Lionheads are so fun. I’ve had my girl for a week and she’s such a blast and so lovey.

[Azerane]

Aww, it sounds like she is loving life so much more already Good on you for rescuing her from a bad situation. I hope you can keep her but if not I’m sure you’ll find a really good home for her

[whitepumpkin]

Love your photo. In my experience, my little lionhead was very curious & loved to explore. ( get into things she shouldn’t have.)
For a 3 month old dwarf, she could jump higher than anyone can imagine.It seemed her digestive system was a little more sensitive
than other rabbits I had. She also seemed shy or afraid at times, even after having her for some time. I can’t help on the bonding part,
as we don’t have another bun, but hope to help with the temperament. Girls are sure different (mine anyway) than boys. Her hormones
may start to kick in the next month or so, so you’ll want to consider that in relation to their cage placement.
Bianca is so fortunate to have found you! Good Success!

[LittlePuffyTail]

So sweet you took her in. Bianca is a beautiful name.

[Niamian]

Thank you all guys. We are settling easily now.
She is quite a little lady, full of energy and extremely curious and smart far as I could see.
She already figured out where is what and what it is for. Looooves all the toys and diging box and also love to rearange her blankies. Lol
Unfortunately I just figured out that Redford is even more laid back than I thought since I never ever had one problem with him and cables and Bianca is ready to get in all kid of trouble she can get her pows on.
Of course she binkies along so its hard to be mad on her. Guess I’ll have to bunny prof all over again.☺

She was very dirty when she came and never had a hey before so I had to clean her up and fill her hay box to the top. Poor girl couldn’t stop eating.

Anyway she is actually more like 4 months old. And hire is one of her first pictures. She is extremely hard to be taken picture of.

And of course she is staying for good.

[tobyluv]

Bianca is so cute!

Does Redford have an opinion of her yet?

[Niamian]

Oh yes he does. He spend most of his lounges in front oh her cage when she is inside.
They have sniffed each other trough bars and bouth look very interested and friendly.
I’m still keeping them separated but vet said that it might be good to bound them even now, before her surgery because she is still a young bun and naturally submissive so it might get easier for them to get along and bound from a start. I’m still thinking about it, and reading.
But for now they look friendly, and she is extremely interested too.

And Redford is very laid back bun, well behaved and relaxed so I think they will be fine and very happy together once we get over this few months.

[Azerane]

She’s a real cutie and sounds like she is absolutely loving life.

[Q8bunny]

I always enjoy your posts, Niamian, but this one made my morning!

Bianca looks as adorable as her name. I’m so happy that you and Redford have adopted her into your family.

My little Chewie is a lionhead. As a baby, he was white like Bianca, but now, almost a year later, he’s a very pale grey on top.

He’s very energetic and playful morning and evening (to the point of being mischievous), extremely smart and curious (loves to explore), but he also loves to just hang out quietly the rest of the time, lounging and/or enjoy serious petting/kissing sessions.

He has long(ish) fur, but nothing crazy – mostly on his head. Actually, Bianca reminds me of him as a baby – a LOT. lol His fur did change significantly after his first big molt, though, so perhaps you can expect that too with your little girl.

Can’t wait to see more photos of her and Redford.

[cinnybun2015]

Aww, she is adorable! It’s so great that you took her in! She looks like she is going to live a great life now

[LittlePuffyTail]

She fits her name well….she’s really beautiful.

[Niamian]

Thank you all on complements in Biancas name.
And thank you Q8bunny for sharing Chewies story it actually sounds pretty much like her. lol

Btw. We had a break through today! She was running past me today, so I gave he a scratch while she was passing through not expecting much and she just stopped, flopped and let me pet her a while. I melted away.
It looks like for a start me and her are bounding nicely. ☺

[drwil]

Awesome bunny. Just got a blue eye white lionhead myself, he was kept in a cage his whole life.
Lionhead are great rabbits they are not so big but are still friendly.
You need to let the people who had him know it is illegal to release animals into the wild.
White bunny would just be fox food. In England somebody just decided to release an American squirrel in the wild and their native squirrels were decimated. These laws exist for a reason.

[Author]

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