Should I get a friend for my bunny?

[BrokenBlue]

Hi everyone,

I currently have one lonely bunny. I’ve had her for about 3 years now and she’s estimated to be 6-8 years old.

I got her from a rescue. At her previous home she had been living alone but had escaped and got pregnant and came into the rescue with her newborn babies. Apart from them I don’t think she has ever lived happily with another rabbit. When I got her I asked the rescue to bond her with a very young male rabbit which seemed to go OK. He wasn’t neutered but I got him neutered a couple of months after he got home. She was neutered while at the rescue. I didn’t often see them together but I assumed that was because he was extremely shy (his father was a wild rabbit) and she was very friendly with people so he would often keep his distance and she would stay with me.

After a while (I think maybe 8 months?) my friend’s 3 female rabbits came to stay while he was on holiday. They were all female, unspayed and fought like crazy. This seemed to trigger my boy’s aggressive behaviour and when I went to check on them that evening my boy was attacking my female bun and she was squealing and terrified. I split them up so they couldn’t see each other overnight and tried to introduce them with a barrier in between the next day with no luck. I tried again to bond them after my friend’s rabbits left but with no luck. She was scared and he was extremely aggressive.

About a year after I initially split them up I gave up on trying to re-bond them and found a new rescue bunny for my girl. I dropped her off at the rescue where they tried to bond them but they gave up after about a week because he kept trying to attack her. He had only recently been neutered so I suspect that his hormones may have played a part in that.

After that my friend was considering rehoming his bunnies and asked if I would like one or all of them. I tried bonding the most submissive one with my girl and it seemed to be going ok but his family ended up deciding to keep them all. They only met a couple of times and his bunny was probably not displaying her typical behaviour (she had been badly bullied by his other rabbits, was very thin and weak and was probably just exhausted).

My male bunny passed away in October so I am now considering getting a friend for my current bunny. She used to see him occasionally from a distance so she did get at least some bunny-bunny interaction but now that he’s gone I suspect she is lonelier than ever. Obviously the only rescue near me is closed at the moment due to covid. I think they are doing rehoming but I don’t think you can go in and have a look around so it wouldn’t be easy to arrange any speed dating for her (I did used to volunteer there so they may make an exception). Unfortunately I am moving away in a few months and my family will be looking after her. They will definitely not be getting her a companion so if it’s going to happen I need to sort it out now. At the moment she gets lots of playtime with me but once I leave she will probably get a bit less.

Overall she seems relatively happy. She loves her food, she plays with her toys, shreds boxes and makes her own nests and she binkys when I take her out on walks. She chatters her teeth when I cuddle and brush her. But as she gets older I feel it would help her if she had a rabbit friend to groom her and cuddle with her at night. Once I’m gone I also think a friend would help keep her entertained when she’s on her own.

I am just looking for people’s opinions on whether I should get her a companion or not. I firmly believed for years that rabbits and guinea pigs must always be kept with a friend but after bad bonding experiences with both I am somewhat reluctant to try again. Do you think she might just be one of these bunnies that does not get on well with others? Will it just stress her out more than it helps her? If I did, should I get her an older bun since she’s about 7 or would a young bunny be best? I assume a male would be best? Any other advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[DanaNM]

I understand the predicament. I think since she was happily bonded at one point (which only broke because a bunch of unspayed females upset things), then she would likely be happier to be re-bonded, especially with you leaving for a while. It also sounds like the other attempt would have worked out with more time.

An older or younger bunny would be fine, I would go with one that seems the best match. If you can’t do dating, then I would pick a neutered male that you seem drawn to. The vast majority of bonds are possible (a recent survey by the UK rabbit welfare association found that over 95% of pair bondings were successful), but some just take more work than others. Perhaps the rescue can do some speed dating for you, even if you can’t come in personally.

Some things to consider:

-do you have time and neutral space to do the bonding? With a big move coming up, that might be an added level of stress. Based on my experience, having a time line on when the bond needs to happen adds a level of anxiety to the process that doesn’t help!

-what will you do if you aren’t successful with the bond? will your family be OK to look after two bunnies? Your girl might still be happier to have a neighbor, even if they aren’t bonded fully.

-how long will you be away? if it doesn’t work out before you leave, could you try when you get back? If she is in good health, you can always try later.

. . . 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.  

[BrokenBlue]

Thank you DanaNM. I am glad to hear the 95% statistic because none of my bonding attempts have worked out and when I worked at the rescue we so often had people bringing us bunnies that had fallen out with their friends. I had started thinking it would be impossible.

At the moment I have plenty of time on my hands (one benefit of lockdown!) and I won’t be moving until September/October time.

I will likely be away for a few years, so considering her age I don’t think I can wait until I get back.

My family would not look after 2 seperate buns so if they didn’t work out then her companion would have to go back to the rescue.

I guess I am also a little worried that she will have been traumatized by her bad experiences with other bunnies.

[DanaNM]

Ah I see. In my experience volunteering at a rescue, and also on this forum, most of the falling outs seem to be people who got bunnies as babies, and didn’t realize they would likely start fighting at puberty if not castrated super early. Not sure if that’s what happened at your place, but that’s what I’ve observed! That was also the most common reason for falling out in the study I mentioned, which was interesting to me, because I don’t consider that to be a true bond breaking since babies don’t really bond to begin with.

Here’s the article if you’d like to read the full survey results: https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/further-reading/owner-rescue-centre-and-veterinary-professional-experiences-of-rabbit-bonding/

So, I think you have enough time. If the rescue will allow some dating (or foster-to-adopt while you try to bond), then I think it would be worth a shot. But you would want to make sure your family was aware of any differences in care with a bonded pair (keeping track of appetite is more important, since it’s harder to keep track of poop, keeping an eye out for scuffles, etc.).

I don’t think she will be traumatized. I know of quite a few cases where bunnies don’t have great experiences and then bond wonderfully when they find the right match. Bunnies do remember individuals, so having a bad experience with one doesn’t typically make them hate all other bunnies.

 

 

. . . 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.  

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