Picking Up A Baby Bun Tomorrow (UPDATE)

[SugarBunBun]

Hi everyone.  I am new to the forums but have been following for a year.  I currently have a 1 year old unaltered female holland lop.  She is such a good bunny.  She’s litter trained and affectionate but not overly so.  She likes to be petted quite a bit but she won’t come to you for it, lol.  She wants you to come to her.  I also have an 8 year old miniature dachshund dog and they get along just fine.  I leave her cage open in the day but she never travels out of dining room, where her cage is kept.  I have been wanting to get another lop and a breeder nearby has babies available tomorrow.  I was all set to get another girl but now I’m getting worried after reading through the forums.  I see a lot of people say females don’t get along well.  I plan to have Sugar, my 1 year old doe spayed.  I wasn’t planning on trying to bond them until after she is spayed.  But, now I’m wondering if I should get a male baby.  What would you all suggest?

[Azerane]

Hello there and welcome to the forum

Traditionally, female-male bonds are considered the easiest to achieve, however there are also many female-female, and male-male bonds that have worked out just as successfully. You may have more luck getting a male, but that doesn’t mean to say that she wouldn’t bond with a female. It all depends on the particular personality of the other rabbit.

I know that’s probably not much help towards your decision making process, but for me it wouldn’t determine that I should exclusively get a male because I already have a female.

[Love4Bunny]

Welcome, SugarBunBun. Awesome name I agree with Azerane about it being more about the rabbits personality. I know a lot of people like to get bunnies (and I don’t want to assume that there are always rabbit rescues in someone’s area), but I would suggest adopting a desexed male or female adult.

I think the most pressing issue you’ll run into is the age difference and waiting for the bunny to hit maturity, as well as spaying your resident lop, if you choose to go that route. I’m sure you’ve read about neutering babies, and waiting to heal, and separating the rabbits till a certain age, etc, etc. I dunno, I really like knowing a rabbits temperament, and I feel like I get a sense of who they are when they’re past maturity (just a preference). Yes, we have to work with them, but I honestly believe that time, love and patience win out most times. Sometimes the “cute” bunnies can just be holy terrors when they grow up (and we love them, regardless), but the ordinary looking [older] ones can be the sweetest rabbits ever. Hope this helps a little.

[SugarBunBun]

Baby bun is home! She’s teeeeeeny! She’s younger than I thought, only 6 weeks! I held her while Sugar came up and sniffed her. Sugar put her chin on the baby’s head. Our dog was over sniffing too and Sugar lunged at the dog! They’ve always gotten on fine but we’ve only been home an hour so I’m not too concerned yet.

[SugarBunBun]

Well…my sweet affectionate one year old bit me this morning…HARD! She’s never bit before. I was stupid. I had been holding the baby this morning and then I put her down and went to feed Sugar. I reached to grab her food bowl to fill it and she bit my hand so hard she was attached to me I put baby bun’s cage next to Sugar’s. But, baby had to sleep in the bathtub last night because she can slip through the bars! My husband is going to wrap hardware cloth around her cage today. What do you guys think I should do so that Sugar isn’t aggressive toward me? I read this could happen but, of course I didn’t believe it!

[Azerane]

At feeding times, feed and interact with Sugar first so that you don’t get the smell of the baby on you. If you do handle the baby first, wash your hands and arms thoroughly, even changing your shirt can help.

[BB & Tiny]

Yes, my rabbit will literally attack me, growling, biting when she smells another rabbit on me. One time I came home from the rescue and was lying on the couch and hadn’t showered or changed my t-shirt and she lunged at my throat because of the smell on my shirt ! Although she is only 2+ pounds her attacks can be frightening.

That breeder should not be selling babies under 8 weeks.

[SugarBunBun]

I totally agree about the breeder selling such a young bunny! At 1st I thought these babies were nearly 8 weeks then, when I picked her up from the “breeder” yesterday, she told me the babies were 6 weeks. Well, I looked back on her Facebook page. Come to find out these babies were born April 1st!! 4 weeks . I came to learn this was her 1st litter. I feel really bad they were separated so young but I can’t do anything about it now. Is it ok in your opinion to keep the baby’s cage next to Sugar’s? Or should I keep her in another room?

[Roy]

I would maybe keep the baby in a separate room unless you are 100% confident that she will not slip out again. She is so young! I can not believe it.

[SugarBunBun]

My husband surrounded the entire cage in hardware cloth and it is good to go now. No slipping out for this little one. Sugar is doing much better. I am keeping the cages side by side. They both sit side by side in their cages. Sugar has not tried to bite or charge since that day. She has an appointment to be spayed Wednesday. I’ve been feeding and petting Sugar 1st in the mornings, get her situated and lock her back up, then I feed and clean up after the baby. Then I make sure to wash my hands before I touch Sugar again.

[SugarBunBun]

I’m not really sure what to think of Sugar’s behavior. She’s binkying more when I let her out of her cage. Normally she would only binky when I let her into my bedroom that has carpet. She binkys in front of the baby’s cage, lol. Is she showing off?

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