Lone Free Run House Bun?

[Andi]

I’ve recently been keeping PitStop in the upper level of my home, free run.  Pitters lived with Kyoto and Ani in my rabbit room, and though he socializes with them, his interaction with them and other rabbits (Since his partner Mittens passed away) has ben minimal.

He won’t go in the top floor of the NIC Condo in their pen where all the other bunnies (Including their neighbour Baby) like to socialize/groom/sleep, and during free run time in the rabbit room, he was never with any of the other bunnies, but more hanging out by himself.

Once and a while Kyoto (Who’d been his cagemate for over a year) would lay on the floor of the pen with Pitters, but that’s about it.
It had been normal practice that PitStop play upstairs without the other bunnies, since he doesn’t pee on the carpet, but last week, i started leaving him there instead of putting him back downstairs at bed time. And when we did put him down at night before bed he would  feet flick us, refuse treats and well, be pissed off.
It’s been a week now, and he’s not wrecked anything, does a lot of lounging streched out and sun bathing… and pooping… poop every where.

I feel bad he is not getting social rabbit time, my other rabbits love their partners. I don’t want him missing out, but then I see he is happy having the house to himself as well, and getting super spoiled.

For those who have single bunnies, what are some good signs they are happy?
All my rabbits have lived in pairs or groups, and I am not willing to take on another bunny ‘just’ for PitStop as i am not planning on anymore rabbits (Not till after I have kids, and everyone I have now has gone over the bridge… many years from now   ).
Also I clean up the piles of poops and stray poops multiple times a day (Putting them into the litter box), any other encouraging ways to keep them in the litter box?

I plan on still having him outside for playtime with every other bunny as we usually do, and am thinking I’ll also have him down when i am doing cage cleanings, so he can interact with them there if he wants to.

 

 

[Sarita]

My rabbit set up sounds alot like yours. I don’t let Pepe in the rabbit room though – he has free roam to the upstairs (he can go downstairs but never does) and the rabbit room has a baby gate to keep him from pestering them. I put his litter box though by the baby gate to the rabbits room. He does poop under the bed where he usually lounges during the day. He does like to lounge by the baby gate as well.

I guess the only sign I can really tell he is happy is that he eats. He also runs up to me and away from me and likes to be petted. Oh, and he jumps up on my bed to pester me when I’m trying to sleep (and that’s not necessarily a plus).

[Karla]

It’s difficult to tell whether or not a bunny needs company. Karl lived on his own for a few months before I got him company, because I thought he looked lonely. But reality is that I think Karl is one of those bunnies who will be fine if he has lots of human companionship. Although he loves snuggling with Molly, he keeps to himself more than the others do. The others give him support, but he likes doing his own business.

Jack lived with Molly and Karl and would snuggle with them a lot, but he totally prefered my company over bunny company. No doubt about it.

I guess if you see him do his binkies and he is curious and and active, then it seems to me that he is not a kind of bunny-bunny seeing you say he never goes into the condo where the others hang out. And you are still going to let him have the chance to interact with the others, so to me that sounds like exactly what is right for him.

Did any of it make sense?

[Deleted User]

I might be wrong, Andi, but your setup could be confusing to a rabbit. I mean that they have exposure to each other but only at times.. and so it would be hard for a rabbit to really settle. I would try to find one space and one other bunny out of your bunch for him and stick to a routine.
I even noticed with my rabbits that my chaning things up too much affected them, it stressed them. I used to let them have time in a room, r on my patio, then I built various outside pens… at night they always ended up back in their basement ondo and it was too much change. Deirdra is my stress indicator: when she starts hiding from me I know something is not right. So now it’s only outside pen, and condo at night. I also don’t bother transferrring them any longer from condo to pen unless I know they can have many hours in the pen. Rabbits must have a routine. Especially lone buns because they lack the steadiness of a partner.

I don’t mean to say you are not doing awesome job here with yours but I just wanted to share my observation

[Andi]

He’s a binki machine upstairs, and he will race up and down the hall way. Pitters lived a lot upstairs when Ebony passed away before he was bonded to Mittens & Kyoto, & he’s always been very bonded to me. I have to be careful when i walk up to him, as he ZOOMS to you right to your feet to get pet, i’m always afraid to kick him or something!

I know what you mean about enviroment change related stress, Bubba stresses out when i clean his cage, nevermind move him somwhere else. He get’s very upset. Pitters isn’t really like that, I mean he doesn’t like being in a small cage away from home, but he’s had to stay with other people when he was sick and going to a Vet and even then he wasn’t to upset. He sorta just moves in, claims his space. He’s very easy going. I’ve got comments on what a good visitor he’d been when with others.

PitStop will NOT jump on furniture and goes into a panic if u sit on the furniture and cuddle/pet him. You can hold him standing or sitting on the ground but not on the couch/bed it’s very odd. But I don’t have to worry about him hoping up on them to bother me when i am sleeping LOL

[Deleted User]

There is an advantage to him being a lone bun, though. Once you get into pairs and trios the free-range concept becomes much harder.

[Michelle&Lolli]

He’s a binki machine upstairs, and he will race up and down the hall way

That’s a sign of a happy single bun! LOL I think if he wanted bunny companionship, he’d have been socializing more with the others. Maybe he’s just a loner.

Eddie is bonded with me so as long as I’m around, he’s perfectly content. He was fine being an only bun but I obviously couldn’t meet all of his needs, so I got him Lolli. I think he would have been pretty content with just me. But he was driving me nuts with constantly having to be on me, etc. lol Since Lolli does not like being petted or much attention from me, she definitely needs a companion. She would have been completely unhappy being an only bun. Even as a baby, she was just trying to be friends with Eddie. lol

[wendyzski]

Pepper is a lone frree-range bun.  We tried bunny-dating and she attacked most of the other buns – My theory is that she doesn’t know she’s a rabbit (she was a park dump) so she doesn’t know what to DO when they approach her.  And once she developed chronic pasteurella, it made sense not to infect somebun else.  

I think she’d like another animal around – she loves dogs – but with my allergies that can’t happen.  She has always ignored any stuffed animals, treating them like any other three-dimensional object that was in her way.  She it’s just her and me.  I know she misses me when I travel, and she’s definitely happier with me since I lost my job last Nov and am home all day.  But she loves people (especially the sloppy ones who drop food on the floor) and even though she’s not into pettins from strangers she will usually choose to hang out in the room where people are.

I think if he was lonely he’d either try to socialize more with the others or be a bit clingier around you.  You could check again in a few months, but maybe he’s ok the way he is.

[shareen]

i only have one bunny and the way i know he’s happy is just the way he races around the room and then jumps up on to my lap then to my shoulder, and if im on my lap top he will jump onto it and sit right in front of me to get my attention..im still trying to litter train him (hes still young) I now dont use any shavings or litter/bedding anywhere but in the litter tray, so hes learning thats the spot to go in, he wont pee or poop in the cage without shavings down so he’s started going in the litter tray now…and like you’re doing now, while i was training him i would pick up any poop from the cage and put it into the litter box so he would get the idea.
I think like all animals bunnies all just have their own personality, and some are just more social than others. maybe your bunny just wants to do his own thing.

[Andi]

He has been very social with me the last few days, asking for constant pettings LOL… Even first thing this morning, he saw me ran up to my feet, and put his head down, if he doesn’t put his head down, then he wants a treat LOL
Night before I left my bedroom door open as he was sleeping just outside of it in the hall.

A downer… I’ve cleaned spots of pee in corners of the livingroom

[Author]

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