Lonely bunny

[Gem]

Hi. I have been googling my problem and keep comimg back to this forum, so I am hoping someone here can help!

About 2 weeks ago, my 18 month old male passed away very suddenely. Vet suspects a heart defect as she couldn’t find any other cause from examining him. I adored this bunny and would prefer to wait a while to get another, but my 10 month old female seems very lonely and is becoming quite aggrivated and unhappy.

I have emailed a few rescues about neutered males but none seem to be getting back to me, in the end I went to a pet shop with an adoption section and found a gorgeous male who would come with a neuter voucher. They refused to send him home with me however as he had fought with his previous companion (his unneutered brother) and they’ve decided he needs to live alone.

I went to another pet shop and looked at the baby buns for sale, explained that I was looking for a companion for my female and was advised to take 2 females as that would apparently be easier.

I would love a trio if it was really that easy but I can’t imagine 3 females is the way to go at all. Is there any truth though to the idea that I could introduce 2 babies to my female?

I bonded her to my male over a period of months, really just having them both in the garden in seperate hutches, one loose in the garden and one in the pen, eventually both loose in the garden then the male gradually allowed the female to share his hutch. Am I naive to think I can do the same again? I’m starting to feel really put off after today. I want my girl to have a friend though. Should I just buy a male baby and go from there?

[OnyxMoon]

Hey there, I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.

Getting two babies together wouldn’t make it easier at all. Not only is it super hard to tell the gender when they are young, but as soon as they hit puberty their hormones cause them to become aggressive to each other and extremely territorial. 

Its no surprise that the not neutered male fought with his not neutered brother, that was them hitting puberty and becoming territorial and hormonal towards each other. When buns are so young, they haven’t developed personalities yet and are pretty passive.

Same sex bonds tend to be harder from what I’ve read and experienced. I would go ahead and get a male to bond with your female, if you are ready. If you’re feeling put off, I would take time and think about it. You just experienced a big loss, and that can’t be easy. Try to spend more time with your female in the meantime. She probably is lonely, but it’s possible for them to be happy alone. You’ll just want to increase play time and spend more time with them so they don’t get bored or depressed.

If you still want that gorgeous male, i would go back to that pet store (who turned you away) and explain to them the process of bonding. I’m sure you already know all this, as you have completed a bond before, but they probably don’t realize that you can’t bond two unfixed males or females ever. A month after they’ve been fixed you need to do pre-bonding, which takes about another month, and then slowly introduce them to each other, and it could take months to bond them. They aren’t like cats or dogs.

They take time to understand that another bunny is safe to be around, and that the other bunny can be around their territory. If someone throws them together, they can (sometimes will) fight to the death.

But if you do want to go the baby bunny route, i would get an older one. The older they are, the easier it is to tell their gender. And its easier to see what kind of personality they might have. 

[YandereCapybara]

Gary was fine with being a single child, as my mom gives him constant attention, and he likes to follow her around the house. When we got Micky and his sister, we gradually introduced them to Gary. All three were unfixed, but they get along great. Of course, we only let the three of them stay together when someone is supervising them, but there have never been any incidences of violence. At first, Gary humped Micky, which we tried to stop, but then my grandpa told us to let it happen, and he never did it again after he established dominance. Now, the two siblings follow Gary around the house (he’s like the leader of their little group) and things are just fine, even though all three of them are sexually mature. My mom is against spaying and neutering because she thinks it’s inhumane, and I’d say they’re doing fine. Keep in mind that his is only my experience, and your bunnies might not get along so well.

[DanaNM]

Posted By YandereCapybara on 5/23/2018 6:44 PM

Gary was fine with being a single child, as my mom gives him constant attention, and he likes to follow her around the house. When we got Micky and his sister, we gradually introduced them to Gary. All three were unfixed, but they get along great. Of course, we only let the three of them stay together when someone is supervising them, but there have never been any incidences of violence. At first, Gary humped Micky, which we tried to stop, but then my grandpa told us to let it happen, and he never did it again after he established dominance. Now, the two siblings follow Gary around the house (he’s like the leader of their little group) and things are just fine, even though all three of them are sexually mature. My mom is against spaying and neutering because she thinks it’s inhumane, and I’d say they’re doing fine. Keep in mind that his is only my experience, and your bunnies might not get along so well.

Sorry but this is bad advice, and you are risking pregnancy if you have an unspayed female with uneutered males. Rabbits can mate through cage bars in seconds, so even being supervised they should not be together. Females have high rates of uterine cancer when unspayed (75% by age 4). 

Not trying to lecture or attack you, but mostly I do not want the OP following this advice. 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[DanaNM]

Sorry for your loss Gem.  

Bonding two females is thought to be the most difficult pairing, as female are more territorial than males. It can work, as it all comes down to personalities, but if given the choice I would go for an adult male. Pet shops tend to give very bad advice about bunnies unfortunately

  

Your female would probably get along with the babies at first, but once they hit puberty they would need to be separated, the babies spayed/neutered, and then re-bonded, as babies cannot bond. 

I think your best bet is to go for a male, and then get him neutered if he isn’t already. So if he’s a baby, there is more waiting time.

Your way of bonding them isn’t conventional, but in the wild males let females come into their territory, so that’s probably why it worked (also you went very slowly). 

Whatever you decide, the method that I’ve used (and that is usually advised on this forum), is to start with “pre-bonding”, where you house the rabbits side by side, but dont’ allow contact. Let the new bunny settle in for a week or so, then swap cages every day or two, for 3-4 weeks. This lets the bunnies get used to each other’s scents and lose track of their territory. 

Your girl will probably feel better having a neighbor, even if they aren’t bonded yet. 

The next step is supervised “dates” in neutral territory, so an area that neither has been before. During this time you allow them to establish dominance, but prevent them from fighting. Some people start with short dates and work up, some people prefer to go straight to “marathon” dates. There are pro’s and con’s, and what works for some bunnies doesn’t work for others, so it is a bit of a learning process! 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Sirius&Luna]

I agree with all Dana’s advice, and think the pet shops have all given you terrible advice to be honest. Just because the two unneutered males fought, it does not mean that he’s a violent bunny. I can see no reason why you couldn’t bond him to your female if he was neutered and you took it slowly. I also agree that getting two female babies would make your life very difficult, not to mention you would have to wait months for them to mature before you could spay, and then bond them.

In the mean time, could you bring your bereaved bunny inside so she gets some extra interaction? That might help with her loneliness.

[Gem]

Hi thanks everybody for the advice. I have just tried one more rescue a bit further away and am waiting to see if they get back to me.

I’ve seen 3 boys on their website around the same age as my girl, so am going to see if I can bring her to meet them and see how they get on. One of the males is a wild/domestic rabbit hybrid which I am quite fascinated by. (I think this is an american site and your wild and domestic rabbits aren’t genetically compatible? Here in the UK they are but its still pretty rare to get hybrids). They would also help start the bonding process at their facilities.

Hopefully I have some success with this attempt. It’s been quite frustrating.

Unfortuately I do not have the space in my house to bring my bunny inside, she has been hanging out watching the guinea pigs in their enclosure a bit at least.

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