When to look for “husbun”? Mini Lop and Flemish Giant?

[KatnipCrzy]

I am just wondering if there are members here- or if there have been members here that have had a Flemish Giant house bunny.   Cotton, my Mini Lop, was a brat about couch peeing and that has finally settled.  Do bigger bunnies like a Flemish Giant have extremely different needs than a medium sized bun?  I thought that Cotton peed a lot when she would have an accident on the couch- do Flemish Giants have huge bladders and create a horrible mess when they go outside the litterbox?

Is it possible to bond a Mini Lop and a Flemish Giant or will the size difference be too great?  They just look so big and mellow and awesome.  I am a little worried about bonding my Mini Lop- Cotton is spayed but she is very dominant.  The other night she charged the dog.  The dog was laying on the couch on the bunnies blanket- I saw Cotton put her head down and charge- she hit the dog and “bounced” back.  It was really odd as it did not hurt the dog- but convinced her to jump off the couch.  It was like all of a sudden Cotton thought she was a ram.  Cotton will also bite the cats when they do not groom her when she presents herself.  She is only about a year old now- and I thought I read somewhere that it is easier to bond when they are 2 years old or so???  So I am thinking maybe in the next year looking for another bunny.  Has anyone ever had the patience to wait that long?  I look on petfinder occasionally. 

One of my biggest worries is that she won’t have as much time for me anymore.  She loves to cuddle with me and give kisses.  If I get her a “husbun” is she going to change towards me?  Has anyone with a single bun that they bonded with as a person then added a bunny to bond into a bunny pair- how did it affect your relationship with the bunny?

Cotton seems happy with how things are- being a single bun.  My husband is happy that Cotton is a single bun.  I had hoped she would have a close relationship with our youngest cat (both in my avatar) but that didn’t happen once Cotton started belly nipping Pixel for refusing to groom her.  Although Pixel does not realize that Cotton is wanting grooming, Pixel just wanted a napping buddy.

I like Flemish Giants- but I am afraid my husband would freak out about the size.   And I do absolutely love lop bunnies- so I am guessing I would be leaning towards another lop bunny.

[MimzMum]

Oh dear. 0_o I’ve seen Flemish Giants. There were quite a few of them at my local valley fair this summer. I would be more worried that my Flemmie would roll over in his/her sleep and squash my mini-lop! ~_~

They ARE gorgeous bunnies though. I can see how anyone would want one. Maybe in my next life.

Hm…bunny vs. cat. I have that problem here. My female cat has taken to trying to reclaim the bed and Fiver does not like it. That is HIS space. And he’s a teeny guy. She outweighs him by 12 pounds easy. Sweet and demure woodland creatures, bunnies are NOT.

From what I understand though, the Flemmish temperament is supposed to be VERY low key. My vet had one and she said it was the sweetest bun she’d ever raised.

I cannot possibly imagine how one would keep a bunny like that fed, however. They must eat an entire produce section every two days or so!

Lots of things to consider. And the bun you want to bond really should be allowed to choose it’s own buddy. I wish I had done that with Mimzy and Pip. *sigh*

[Beka27]

Mike and i were talking about flemish’s last night. you’d have a big increase in food/hay/veggie costs… but if that were not an issue…

also traditional cage/condo space really wouldn’t work i don’t think. you would need a large area as home base.

that being said, i’ve heard wonderful things about them. the rescue i got Max at had 3 flemmie’s and a 1 (maybe 2?) of them are THERAPY bunnies. yes… going to nursing homes/hospitals…

i think any bun can be bonded. it might take a lot of work if Cotton is going to give you a hard time tho… i wouldn’t necessarily rule it out as being able to work tho.

of course, your best bet is letting her pick out her own mate, but i can understand the desire on your part. for her, the ideal would be a shelter with several altered flemmies to choose from. another option you have is getting a mate for her and waiting to get a flemish as your next single bunny…

[PeppersMama]

i also was looking into getting a second bunny and was wondering if the bond that builds between human and bunny will not be as strong with a second bunny is introduced. is there an answer to this?

[MimzMum]

I have to say, I thought Mimzy would be less interested in me as he bonded to Pip, my daughter’s bunny, but instead of becoming closer to her, he wound up liking my daughter better than any of us! Go figure! :-/ To this day he’ll launch into her lap if she’s in the xepn with them, and favors her company over mine any day. He even demands she ‘groom him’ (nose rubs)on a regular basis.

I think each bun is different. Pip will be nice to just about anyone and expect love and devotion in return, Mimzy is still kind of stand-offish and mellow, and Fiver is very much interested in having human companionship, but doesn’t seem interested in other bunnies except to be sure they aren’t messing with HIS human, namely yours truly.

No definitive answer here. I think it really just depends on the bun. But I understand bunnies seem to live longer and are generally happier with mates if they want them. And some bunnies are just more content being solo.

[Veronica Vigilant]

This will show what a nerd I am… I’m actually planning on making up an Excel spreadsheet to calculate the cost of getting a Flemish Giant based on the estimated weight of a Flemish and the amount I spend for food/litter/etc for my 6 lb mini-lop… not that I’m going to get one in the near future, but I want to be ready for when I do

[BunnyMuffin]

Haha – that’s awesome. I love Excel spreadsheets!

[MimzMum]

*waves hand* I’ll take a copy of that spreadsheet! ^_^

[KatnipCrzy]

It is amazing to me how much a Mini Lop can poo- so even though I love the thought of a big, mellow Flemish Giant- the thought of the output scares me.  The input part isn’t so bad- more pellets and veggies are not an issue as our grocery store has a decent selection of veggies and year round they are pretty reasonable.  How big of a litter box would a Flemish Giant need?  It would probably have to be big to make sure the hind end does not hang over.

My husband isn’t sold on the idea on a 2nd bunny- and I think he would like the big, mellow part and he wouldn’t mind the increased portions of pellets and veggies (that might be hard to feed with 2 different sized buns and Cotton being so dominant).  The peeing is what would really freak him out- if a Flemish Giant had an accident on our couch I think he would have a heart attack. 

Cotton is just about a year old now (spayed).  Has anyone else ever gotten a bunny as a youngster (she was 12 weeks old) and waited until the bunny was 2 years old to try to bond to a partner?  I am lucky in the fact that there is a House Rabbit Society about an hour or so from me.  I wanted to volunteer- but with the cost of gas I am reluctant to make the commitment to drive that far and in the winter it would be even worse with bad roads (so longer travel time).  So not only will Cotton have to “date” the bunny my husband will have to also…LOL.  Even though he says he does not care, I know that I have to get one that he likes too otherwise he will be completely disinterested.

I am just a little worried about my bond with Cotton- she is so sweet and cuddles and kisses- when she is not being a total brat and not letting me catch her..LOL.   She is so contrary……yet she can be so affectionate it makes me overlook the fact that she teased me 4 times before I could catch her.  Plus she is so dominant… I almost feel sorry for her possible “husbun”- she has never humped the cats or her stuffed bunny- but she nips the cats and doesn’t take any bull from the dogs either.  I have to make sure she is never around the parrot- as both think they run the house.

[MimzMum]

Hmmm…I smell a BUNspiracy! ^_^

It sounds to me like Cotton seems to be very happy on her own at the moment. I know Mimzy is a contrary bun…wants to be petted one minute, is taking the flesh from your fingers the next, lolz.

But the thought of another sweet little ball of fluff is sometimes almost too much to bear. So I can understand the desire to bring more love in to the family.

However, if you bond her with another bun, what’s to stop the both of them and the parrot from taking complete control of the home altogether? ^_^ (BTW, what kind of parrot is it?)

[Beka27]

Mead was about a year and 3 months (approx.) when we got Max. i had had her for 11 months at that point. our bond was not affected but it is true i have not bonded with Max the way i might have been able to had we not been bonding from day 2. he’s come around in the 4 months he’s been here, and i love him dearly, he’s a sweet guy, but my Mead is still my baby girl. i don’t think it’s uncommon to not have as strong a bond with a second or subsequent bun… it’s going to depend how much time you really put into it. now if you were to get another bun and keep them separate for a length of time, that human-bun bond might develop stronger, but i don’t think that’s going to make bonding any easier later on.

i wouldn’t allow the bun on the couch until he or she could be trusted with their littertraining. i’m assuming this would be an adult, altered flemish, so it really might not even be a big issue. i’d get the largest cat litterbox you could, two of them actually, so once bonded there were two boxes for them to share. or you could get an under-bed storage box (the long plastic sterilite kind, about 5-6 inches tall…)

i’m sure that with any breed of bun, the “mellow” part might vary from bun to bun. so your best bet would be a rescue insider who knew the personality of the type of bun you were seeking.

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