Will I have enough time for a bunny?

[Jellos]

Hello. I’ve been thinking about getting a bun bun for a while now, but my biggest concern is time. Well moreso if my bun will get lonely. I work a full time job and during most weekdays I’m working 10-11 hour shifts. I live alone in an apartment (I did already contact them to see if buns were okay) and I was just wondering if that’s too much alone time. I was thinking about getting two, but that’s effectively doubling the work load and cost. Should I just suck it up and not get one for the sake of the bun bun, or do you think it’ll be okay?

[Azerane]

10-11 hours is a long time for a bun to be alone, however two bonded rabbits are not double the work of one. If you adopt an already bonded pair, they share a living space, a litter tray, food and water bowls etc. Yes you have to feed both and clean up after both, but for me it’s not a great deal more work because everything i do i would have to do for one bun anyway

Cost of course for food and vet care will double, but that all boils down to what you can afford.

[Krista]

That sounds like plenty of time. If you’re worried about the time, adopt a bonded pair of fixed rabbits. It’ll save you money to adopt (I personally didn’t, but found out there’s a rescue that adopts out spayed/neutered for $90 which neutering is $150 from my vet so it’s worth it) a rabbit. Bonded rabbits mostly socialize with each other so as long as they have room to play they should be fine while you’re at work:3

[12345ABCDE]

I wouldn’t get just one rabbit if I was out of the house for 10 – 11 hours a day. A bonded pair would be great, and although food and vet bills would be doubled, everything else would remain relatively the same. If you don’t feel you can take on two rabbits, I wouldn’t get one at all to be honest.

[Krista]

If you can’t afford two rabbits, I wouldn’t just not get one. My rabbit is quite happy and he isn’t bonded with another rabbit. He gets jealous very easily and even if I’m just petting my dog he gets mad and pees. He does have a stuffed animal in his kennel while I’m away that he grooms and sleeps with. If you interact with your rabbit when you’re home or have a friend interact with him/her you’ll be fine. Especially if your rabbit is going to free roam and give them things to do. I do not plan on bonding Bilbo with another rabbit either. Many people on this site have only 1 rabbit or have multiple rabbits but have not bonded them. You’ll just have to give your attention to the rabbit.

[12345ABCDE]

Posted By Krista on 2/08/2017 1:40 PM

If you can’t afford two rabbits, I wouldn’t just not get one. My rabbit is quite happy and he isn’t bonded with another rabbit. He gets jealous very easily and even if I’m just petting my dog he gets mad and pees. He does have a stuffed animal in his kennel while I’m away that he grooms and sleeps with. If you interact with your rabbit when you’re home or have a friend interact with him/her you’ll be fine. Especially if your rabbit is going to free roam and give them things to do. I do not plan on bonding Bilbo with another rabbit either. Many people on this site have only 1 rabbit or have multiple rabbits but have not bonded them. You’ll just have to give your attention to the rabbit.

That’s good in theory but if she is out of the house for 11 hours, plus sleeping for like 7 hours, that only leaves 6 hours a day left. It’s not enough in my opinion. 

[RubyTuesday]

I would suggest 2 buns considering the amount of time, but imagine 2 buns like two kids, they play together so it is less work for you!

[Tay]

I think if you can commit to two it would be great for your bun to have a friend and you wouldn’t have to worry about being gone for longer periods of time. BUT if you can’t afford to vet two rabbits then I think you could weigh the pros and cons of one rabbit. I only have one and likely won’t get another any time soon – even though I would love to and think Charlie would love it. I’m a student and can’t afford two vet bills right now – maybe some day. That being said, I am a student and commute to school, so there are days I’m gone from home for 10/11 hours. Those days are hard because I feel guilty not being there to give Charlie attention. The up side of it is that I’m able and committed to giving her lots of time when I AM home. When I get home at night she is with me almost the entire time I’m awake. If I’m out particularly late, Charlie and I are up until 2am so she has time with me – even if it means I’m only getting 4 hours of sleep. She’s happy and seems well adjusted, but 10 hour days aren’t typical for me. I have two 10 hour days a week and more like 8 hour days two other days of the week. The rest of the week I’m typically home and able to spend time with her.
Rabbits can become depressed if left alone for long periods of time, and you just don’t know how your rabbit will react – it could be fine, or it could require more of your attention. I think you need to consider how much free time you have and how much of that time you’re willing to commit to a rabbit LONG TERM. They’re always home waiting for you – no matter how long your day at work was, and how much you have to do at night. You’re the world to your rabbit so if you can’t give it the bonding time and exercise time it needs then it might not be the best choice for you.
I think adopting rabbits is great, but just realize it’s a long term commitment that will likely come with some sacrifice on your end. There are ‘seasons’ to life, – maybe this season isn’t the time for you to bring home a baby, but one day your days may thin out and you might have more time to commit to one.
Good luck

[sigge]

Rabbits are herd animals. It does not mean that you have to have 10 rabbits in your house for them to thrive, but all alone, without even the owner’s company isn´t good. Please read ‘Watership Down’ from Sweden which is a nice story about rabbits, written by a man who studied them all his life. Rabbits are very smart and funny if you take the time and spend time with them, you can get nice friends. But if they are alone and unhappy, they are of little use to either you or themselves. 

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enacom

[sigge]

Rabbits are herd animals. It does not mean that you have to have 10 rabbits in your house for them to thrive, but all alone, without even the nodaddy company isn´t good. Please read ‘Watership Down’ which is a nice story about rabbits, written by a sweden man who studied them all his life. Rabbits are very smart and funny if you take the time and spend time with them, you can get nice friends. But if they are alone and unhappy, they are of little use to either you or themselves. 

[Bam]

I agree that bunnies need company.

[Boston's Mama]

They do need company – whether it’s human or another rabbit
I got Oakley at Christmas as a sole bunny and he thrived and was fine without another rabbit because I was home all day. In saying that though I think the most important time to be home is dusk and dawn as they do sleep a lot during the day so a 9-5 job still works for most rabbits as you would be home at their awake times – but 10-11 hour days would cut out one of those awake periods and that changes things. I think your hours can still work for rabbit owning but you would need to get two as it will be lonely if alone that long
I would go with an already bonded pair as you’ll otherwise need time to give two seperate bunnies until they are desexed and then time to bond whichever it sounds like you won’t have
A rescue centre would be your best bet – a bonded pair – already desexed less cost involved – less time involved ( in the seperating / bonding etc) and they are already known to each other and company for each other before you even start

[Author]

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