Might be getting 3rd bunny- some questions

[KatnipCrzy]

Today we went to a pet store that is about 1/2 hour from our house.  We went to get parrot food that we special ordered in bulk.  It is a small local chain that has bunnies for adoption from the local Humane Society.  The Holland store is a smaller store, but is still the best to buy from in Holland and they have bunnies from the local humane society too- I was just in there and they had 2 Mini Lop brothers that were neutered- one for $55 or 2 for $55 total- to encourage a second adoption- 2nd cat or bunny is free.  Well, they were marked “pending” which is good because I would not want to break up the pair, but can not imagine bonding 2 males to 1 of my bossy females.  So, I thought it was really neat- but not too interested.

We go to the other bigger store to get the parrot food- and they have 2 bunnies there (separate) and they are from that county’s Humane Society.  And one is a Mini Lop that is white with black spots- neutered male, was found as a stray and estimated to be 1 1/2 years old.  So of course I am looking at him, and he is just adorable- and ALREADY neutered, which is a huge bonus in my book!  I am not even sure I would consider an un-speutered bunny.  He came into the shelter in November with his brother, they were neutered and his brother went to pet store first and was adopted right away, and then “Edward” went to the petstore right after his brother was adopted, and has been there ever since.  He is very sweet, I held him and petted him.

He feels a little skinny to me, but I am not sure if they are giving him veggies- I saw that he had food pellets in his cage, and I can not remember if I saw hay or not.  His cage was very clean, so the pet store does a great job in that regard.  He did not have a litterbox- but had a thick layer of Carefresh and some pelleted litter.  I don’t think there will be much of an issue getting him to use a litterbox- most buns seem to get the basic idea when presented with a box in a large enough cage.  He looked healthy otherwise, teeth and ears looked OK- I did not check out his belly as I did not want to seem too weird.  I am SERIOUSLY considering adopting him to try to bond to one of my female bunnies- Cotton or Penny.  I have worked on bonding Penny and Cotton but they still squabble and little things can set them off to boxing and rump hair pulling.  Penny always gets the worst of it, though she seems to be just as much an instigator.  She has had an ear scratch, rump wound that I had to clean and flush, belly scratch all in the course of the last 3-4 months.  She even had a small chunk out of the tip of an ear that MUST have occurred when she was sitting next to the cage wall that is up against Cotton’s pen wall- I think her lop ear must have poked thru the grids.  When I found the wound I freaked out and looked for the blood- and there was no blood.  But the wound was freshly scabbed and they were not together otherwise- and not a drop of blood in either cage.  Penny has healed without problems- but I feel bad that it is always her that gets hurt, even though she pulls hair out of Cotton and bites Cotton just as much it seems.

I had decided that it did not matter if they never bonded- I am keeping both bunnies.  If I get a neutered male bunny to bond to one of them- will that make a trio impossible?  Has it EVER helped to have a 3rd bunny?  I am thinking that if Cotton or Penny bonds to the male bunny that would make them less likely to accept the other in the future.  But they way the are going now- it is not as if they can be together anyway, and it should be good odds that “Edward” can find bunny love with ONE of the girls.  How do I choose which one to bond to?  Let “Edward”, Cotton or Penny choose?

I filled out the pre-adopt and then hubby and I went out to lunch and did some other shopping.  We got home and the Humane Society left a message that I was approved- no problem and we just need to set up details.  She even offered to let me adopt both bunnies that are at the pet store…LOL.  So, I am really, really interested.  So I left a message for her to call me back tomorrow when she gets into work.

There is really no where at the pet store to do any bunny dating.  Am I making a huge mistake by considering getting a bunny without this step?  I understand why Penny and Cotton are such a hard bond- 2 females and their personalities.  I am sure the Humane Society would probably let me adopt and try to bond and if it does not work- then try another male (with enough time obviously).  But that is the problem- by that time I fall in love with them!  And if I get a 3rd bunny and he will not bond at all to either female- that will be it- I will not get another bunny and risk 4 separate buns.

I looked at him and my heart started thumping.  It was one of those moments.  I think I could give him a great home with tons of stuff that other non-BinkyBunny bunnies only dream of.  What should I do?  What should I ask?  If it had not required a pre-adopt I probably would have brought him home today- yeah, crazy I know.

If he is not used to hay- do you have to get slowly introduce it?  His poos looked to be dry and large.  And I would wean from what they are feeding to Oxbow pellets, and slowly introduce veggies.  Would large, dry, light colored poos be from no veggies?

Julie

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

WOW Lots of questions

For starters, I think bunny dating can be beneficial but I really believe if you want to bond them, take the time and use the right techniques, then you can-period. But you need to consider that a new bunny in the house might upset the other two-and it might not. It’s hard to tell, and like you said you can’t bring him home to try it out and give him back-you’d be in love.

Hay’s probably not something you’d need to slowly introduce. Their pellets are made out of hay so it’s not a new food, just a new form-should be OK to go ahead with it. I’m thinking the large dry light colored is good hay consumption but it’s always different from bun to bun-but they do sound like good poops….OK you know your a bunny slave when your noticing the poops of the bun your considering to pre-plan his diet integration LOL

I think you’ll do fine, I don’t think it’ll be a mistake-especially with all the preplanning and forthought. However, I’m forever the bad influence and will die a “crazy cat-dog-bunny-horse-zoofull” lady

[Sarita]

Oh goodness :~) Well, I think it would be wise to see at least what the 2 girls think rather than chancing it. I think if it were me, I would discuss this with the Humane Society and see if they can make arrangements somehow for the 2 girls to meet “Edward” and even see how that goes and see if there is a possible chance of a love at first sight thing – although what happens in the store doesn’t always mean they will hit it right off at home (but I have seen this happen, so I know it can).

That sounds like a very typical setup in a store too and he probably does not get veggies. No, you don’t have to slowly introduce hay but it’s wise to introduce the other stuff.

If it does work out I would get him right away into the vet for a checkup and a fecal float too since he’s been in a petstore/shelter situation before I would put him full-time with the girl of his choice.

[KatnipCrzy]

I figured out how to send my cell phone pics to my computer- so I will try to post pics.

“Edward” looks like a cross between Beka’s 2 bunnies- markings of Meadow and lop ears and fur of Max.

 

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[2lops]

Sounds great to me… You probably know ALOT more about bunnies than I do, but here’s input anyways lol ;]
I would let Cotton + Penny choose if they like Edward or not… maybe something like.. “the one who ignores him best or doesn’t attack wins” haha :]

And about the bunny dating thing… honestly I’ve never done it. I didn’t even know what it was until I became a member here! We got Delilah from a shelter,(no bunny dating) than shortly after bonded her to Pudge. I guess we were lucky because Pudge took to her right away and of course did what boy bunnies do *rolls eyes* but she didn’t mind at all and just ignored it. Then before we knew it they were grooming and snuggling etc. They never had serious fights but did occasionally argue of who is top bun. When Delilah felt brave enough she would hypnotize Pudge with her grooming than mount him. Haha! *very clever* but he hated it and they would chase each other in tight circles, I would seperate them and they would keep they’re distance for a bit until they made up.

Anywayss, point is I think it still may work out if you don’t bunny date but may also take a longer time. But with all these tips on bonding here I wouldn’t be to worried *thinks for a sec* I’m actually going to go try out stunt double Pudge with Leila right now.

good luck with Edward!

*looks at pics AWW!♥ so cute *

[Deleted User]

identical to my Boston!!!! soooo cute! ( i might be biased!!! )

I’m not sure about the bonding thing, cuz i dont’ know much about it, but I wish you good luck in your decision! yay for you!

[2lops]

Edward,Max,Boston and Leila all look alike XD

[KatnipCrzy]

If I get him, he is getting re-named!  All I can think of when I think “Edward” is from the Twilight movie, which I liked, but the cute fluffy bunny does not remind me of the movie character at all.  My husband joking suggested Hugh or Heff which is funny but I can not see naming him that OR explaining to my Mom. 

I like Schroeder (from the Peanuts) or Disney.  But by chance so far I have Cotton (who is named for coloring and is a type of FABRIC) and Penny (named for coloring and type of METAL).  So if I was to continue with the theme I could name him after a type of wood, rock, etc.  But unless it really fits and I really like it- no way.  My husband also suggesting “Nylon” or “Polyester” to fit with Cotton but fortunately he was laughing.

[jerseygirl]

I started to reply with some advice to help but felt like I was just posing more questions. I’m a chronic over thinker! So I’ll make just a few observations………despite the bonding dilemma, from everything you’ve said, it really sounds like this bun is coming home with you. I will say sometimes it helps to look at “statistics”, percentage of successful bonds made without buns meeting first etc. And you have a contigency plan if they don’t bond, housing separately. Now to be contrary, I’ll say ignore all that, all the things going on in your head about this decision, and ask “What does your gut tell you?”

You’ll know what’s right and the answer will come! On the name themes, I’m putting forth Marble because it’s the only black and white rock I can think of! (Can you tell what way I’m hoping your decision will go?! )
Good luck Julie!

[KatnipCrzy]

I am surprised that I am so interested in this guy- I didn’t think I was looking even though I had THOUGHT about it.   I do like the name Marble or Marbles.

I think I will talk to the adoption counselor tomorrow that approved my app and see what she says.  I would like to see what he thinks of my girls, but don’t want to do it in a less than ideal environment either.  I think that I can bond 2 bunnies- just not Penny and Cotton necessarily.  And they typically have A LOT of rabbits at that shelter.  I see tons listed on petfinder and I would not be surprised if there are other buns in the other locations of this pet store that are humane society bunnies.

[Beka27]

i did not do bunny dating with Max and Meadow at all. it was 95+ degrees outside and the rescue was 90 minutes away. we thought about it and decided we had our hearts set on Max anyways, so we figured it would be easiest, less stressful to leave Mead at home in the air conditioning and go get our boy. start to finish, bonding was 3 weeks. so it can be done.

my first thought would be to try and bond him with the strongest willed of the girls and see how it goes. not just try once or twice, but try consistently for a few weeks or a month at least. Meadow started off waaaaaaay dominant but was able to take a back seat to Max when all was said and done. i think that could end up opening the door for introducing the 3rd somewhere down the line.

[KatnipCrzy]

OK, for those that are following the thread.  I DID adopt the bunny today.  I had to make Cotton pens a little smaller to fit a 3rd bunny cage in the room.  But I set up a dog cage crate for him which is bigger than what he was in at the petstore.  I did a mini dating session with “Edward” and Cotton in our kitchen with some throw rugs down- and it went well.  There was no immediate aggression like with Cotton and Penny- curiosity mainly.  There was a couple of twisting jumps (like shown in Beka’s Max/Meadow boding video) towards the end of the 10 minute date- but nothing like what Cotton and Penny still do now- Cotton and Penny will not separate once they jump and twist together.  Cotton and “Edward” would stop and and retreat after jumps.  I was going to try Penny and “Edward” but husband did not want to stick around to help- he had errands to run since we spent the whole morning til early afternoon doing “pet stuff”- picking up foster dog from vet, driving to get “Edward” and redoing the NIC pen, and setting up new dog crate cage.

He is really adorable- though skinny.  Fortunately when I went back to the store to get him, he did have hay!  He has passed some dry-looking poos that look huge to me (compared to what I am used to in a bunny that size) but he is a hay mowing machine.  He was on cheap pellets- so I am hoping a slow transition over to Oxbow, varieties of yummy hay and eventually the into of veggies and then intro of treats put him up to a little better weight.  He is by no means sickly looking- just a titch skinny.

I will have to post some more pics soon!

[jerseygirl]

Wow! That was quick : ) Good that he likes hay too. Hope things continue to go well!

[Beka27]

congrats Katnip! it sounds promising that the bond might work out after all!

[Sarita]

Congratulations! It does sound promising. I would transition him to better pellets pretty quickly. I’m glad he was eating hay too.

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