Should I adopt a new bunny?

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Clobbersaurus

Active Member
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Nov 26, 2005
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Location
, New Jersey, USA
Hi, all. I have some questions and I hope this is the right board to ask them on.

I have a Netherland Dwarf. His name is Little Guy. He isaboutto turn7 years old. Not too friendly, but a good guy. Alwayshas been well trained since the day he came home.

His brother(not biological) passed away earlier this year from what wewere told was probably Cancer. His name is Puff. He was almost 7 yearsold. I miss him terribly, I have to be honest. He was the nicest andmost friendly bunny I have ever met. And I'm not just saying that ashis daddy. He was the first bunny in our family. After family memberssaw him and how great he was, people in our family had to go out andget themselves bunnies. He was a trendsetter. Little Guy is the lastremaining bunny inthe family, which is sad, but I am thankfulhe is still here with us. It's taken me months to come back to readthis board and to alt.pets.rabbits since Puff passed. It still hurts agreat deal.

I would NEVER EVER think of replacing anyone.But since Puffpassed, Little Guy has been alone. We have a cat, but they aren't allthat friendly. Like I said, he's not a people person, but I don't lovehim any less. He's been very melancholy since his brother passed. Ifeel awful for him, like I feel he is alone and sad. And it breaks myheart. When we brought Little Guy into our home, he and Puff didn'texactly get along for a while. We tried bonding them, but Little Guywanted to be the dominant one. He would pull Puff's hair out a lot. AndPuff let him. There were a few times it came down to a brawl, but Ibroke them up. Eventually they loved each other and would spend 99%ofevery day together. So like I said, I would NEVER EVER wantto replace anyone, but I don't want him to feel alone.

That's basically the story. Now onto the questions. Since he is almost7 years old, is that too old to bring a new bunny home? I don't wanthim to get stressed out or have heart problems because of stress. He isvery healthy, except he put on a little tiny bit of weight over thelast year since he doesn't run around and play as much. I just wouldn'twant stress to hurt his health. Especially if some new bunny were tocome home and tried to claim dominance over Little Guy, I wouldn't wantthat to affect his health.

I honestly don't know if this would be a good idea for me or my wifesince Puff's passing was so hard. It is 10 months later and I am cryingright now as I type this because I miss him so much.Iwouldn't want to go through any of that again, but with Little Guy, andour cat, I fear I will. But I don't want Little Guy to feel aloneanymore. My wife and I were watching videos of bunnies today on theinternet, and there was one video of one bunny cleaning another, and itwas so sweet. We watched it for about 20 seconds before my wife startedcrying and walked out of the room. I started to cry too, but Iremembered how Puff and Little Guy would clean each other and how theyloved it, and I want Little Guy to have that again. I want him to behappy and feel loved and to share his love.

So I would appreciate any thoughts, suggestions, or opinions on this. Thank you.

Jesse

 
Hi Jesse,

I'm sorry to hear about poor Puff.

It is possible to bond an older rabbit, and much of the ease of bondingdepends on personalities of the individual bunnies. I know myrescue just had an 11 year old bunny go to a new home where he is nowhappily bonded with his new girl friend.

What I would recommend would be to contact a local rescue and see ifthey have any older bunnies that you might be able to introduce LittleGuy to. A young teen age or baby rabbit would most likely betoo hormonal and active for an elderly bun.

I'm sure you and your wife would feel wonderful about providing a bun that would most likely not have a forever home other wise.

Majority of rescues have a spay and neuter program included in theiradoption fees. So any bunny you get will already be spayed orneutered. This will help with bonding, and will also preventunwanted pregnancies if Little Guy gets a girl friend.

--Dawn
 
:hello Jesse and :welcome1to ROF. I'm Really Sorry to hear about Puff.

It sounds like yourfamilymight all benefit from aNewfriend for Little Guy. Someone to brighten up the home andbring back the smiles.:biggrin:

Is Little guy neutered? If so it would be best to find him (from Arescue Center) a older fixed female, but just remember that all bunnieswon't bond so if at all possible take Little Guy with you and let himpick his new house mate.

:goodluckwith whatever you decide to do and I wish You and Yours The very Best!



Happy Holidays!:santawink: :reindeertongue: :gifts:



Mike E.

"Tell Me,I'll Forget"
"Show Me,I'll Remember"
"Involve Me,I'll Understand"


 
Aww your story touched me very deeply and icried a few tears,it's sad when they leave us..very..very sad :(,i havelost two bunnies in the past,and i still think about them all the timeand then i will have a little cry because the memories sometimes hurt :(

I think you should go for it and get Little Guy a mate,like the othershave said,go for an older bunny that is more relaxed,a little girlbunny to cheer him up.It will probably do him some good :)

But only you know what is best for Little Guy



Let us know what you decide to do :)



cheryl



 
Hi, all. Thank you so much for the replies thus far.

Thank you for the kind words, especiallyabout Puff. It means a lot. Thank you.

Little Guy is neutered.

I would love to bring him with me to find him a friend. He does not getalong with any bunny at first. I already said about how he and Puffdidn't get along at first. He and Puff also had playdates with otherbunnies and Little Guy wasn't very friendly with any of those buns fora while, either. So I would be kind of skeptical to bring him to meetany other bunny Imight bring home because he might not benice to any of them at a shelter or rescue center, even though if Ibrought one home I am hoping he would EVENTUALLY bond with them. So Ias much as I would like to bring him with me, I think it might beuseless to. But I don't know.

I wouldn't want to bring a much younger bunny home. That goes back tothe whole stress thing. Don't get me wrong, Little Guy is still lighton his feet and puts up a good fight, especially when he has to go fora checkup. But I wouldn't want someone too young. And he does get alongbetter with boys than girls, I don't know why. But I am not opposed tobringing a little girl home.

I am going to look for some rescue centers in NJ. I haven't found anyyet, but I will keep looking. I will update with any news. Thanks somuch.

Jesse
 
You could try making a post in our Rescue section to see if any local members need to find a bunny a new home.

I checked in our Rescue List: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_forum.php?id=13
But they don't have any rescue's listed for New Jersey yet.

You could try calling local shelters and perhaps they could suggest arescue organization to you or they may even have a few buns for you tocome and meet.

Most rescues will have lots of experience with bonding and will be ableto help you choose the best match and provide you with help during thebonding process.

Good luck!

--Dawn
 
Hello,

First off let me just say that I am sorry for your little Puff'spassing. It is a hard thing to lose such a special part of the family.

I have had people come to me with older bunnies wanting to bond themagain. What I would suggest is a female over the age of 2 and one thatis calmer and more submissive in manner. But you have toremember that there is a bonding process. More than likely it washarder for you to bond your two boys because males are particularlyterritorial of one another so it takes longer to bond them most of thetime unless they are babies. This is why I suggest a female instead.

I do have one female, a little dwarf that might be a good canidate foryour boy. She still needs to be spayed, because we just rescued her,but she has shown to be very sweet and very tolerant of my boy bunnieswho aren't always tolerable lol. And I do allow trialadoptions when bonding is involved. We also arrange at least twomeetings between the rabbits, although this is not a way to determineif they are going to bond,butwhat their firstreactions are toward one another can show a lot about how the bondingproccess will go.

Although, you always have to option to keep him by himself and just geta friend to share his space but not to bond with him. This might alsohelp him if he is lonely. I have had a few adopters do this and saythat their bunnies seem a lot happier just seeing the other bunnyaround.. if you havea way to keep them seperated or onlyallow them out together for supervised romps.

But I think that he would probably been a good candidate for bonding ifyou are willing to go through the ritual with him one more time. ;)

Hope that helps!

Steph
 
Thank you for the reply, Steph. And for the kind words about Puff. I appreciate it.

I messaged you about where you are located, and you replied. That is abit far since you are a long way down the Turnpike from me. I wouldn'twant Little Guy to be in the car that long to drive downthere,let alone for a round trip in the same day.

I honestly don't know whether to keep him by himself or to try to finda new friend for him. I remember how loving he and Puff were(after theygot passed the bonding stage), and I feel bad that he doesn't have thatanymore. He's not a great people person, so he doesn't like rubs or toplay with us at all. I don't want him to feel alone. He's put on alittle weight in the past months because he barely runs around anymoresince he has no one to play with. He loved taking care of Puff, and Idon't know if he wants that again. I wish he could tell me.:) He loved laying with Puff for the majority of the day. SoI don't know if he would just want someone to be around. I think hemight want someone to be everywhere with him.

I was thinking a girl might be good for him, also. Someone not too young.

And of course I'd be willing to do anything for him. As long as he's happy.

Jesse
 
This is long, sorry!

I started out with just Pipp, who I love more than I could ever imagine-- to the point where it was scary. She seemed likesuch a special little rabbit.

On a whim one day I contacted a rescue place and told them I had aspare room in my house and if they had a hard to place rabbit, I couldtake one in. They dropped off Radar, who turned out to be avery ordinary rabbit, more like how I had thought rabbits were before Igot Pipp.He was friendly, sweet, butnot alot of personality. He lived back there by himself,I visited often, but couldn'tspend much time withhim.

Then I took in an emergency rescue - a lop and a mini-rex -- from a badsituation. The mini-Rex turned out tobe as specialas Pipp. I fell head over heels in love with the little guy,Dill. I never thought I could love a rabbit as much as I lovePipp, but I do. I'm so much more relaxed around themnow.It has eliminated that constant fearof loss. Yes, it will be horrible to lose either one, but Iwill be able to seek solace with the other.

The Lop that came with the mini-Rex -- they weren't bonded, and the Lopwas said to be nasty and aggressive and unadoptable -- wasintroduced to Radar, and it was love at firstsight. TheLop has lost all her aggressionandstand-offishness, and both her and Radar became such happyrabbits, it was an amazing change.

ThenI got a foster bun, a littledwarf namedSherry-- same deal asRadar, sweet, but not a lot ofpersonality. I was so in love with Dill, I didn't want him tobond with another bunny, I was his bunny! (Yeah, I wastwo-timing Pipp, but she remained my oneand only bedroombunny). Dill ignoredSherry, butshepursuedhim relentlessly and eventually they didbond, much to my chagrin. But much to my surprise, Dillremained bonded to me as well, the only difference being he seemed lessobsessive and needy about it, and he happily slept with Sherry (hecouldn't sleep with me). And Sherry became a much moreresponsive and happy bunny as well.

So now I'm an official promoter of the 'two bunnies are better thanone' philosophy. (I've even been thinkingabout afriend for Pipp!)

Hope this helps!

sas :)and the gang :bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance:

 
Pipp wrote:
Sonow I'm an official promoter of the 'two bunnies are better than one'philosophy.
Click to expand...

Ditto!

I'm also of the opinion that gender is secondary to personality, sodon't rule out either males or females. Little Guy will tell you whichbunny he wants to be friends with :)
 
Thanks again for the replies.

That is such a cute story, Pipp.

I love personality. But I want everybunny and everybody to get along.Like I said about Little Guy, he's not a people person. But if I canfind him someone who will get along with him and they will love eachother, I wouldn't care if they weren't a big fan of people either. Justas long as that bunny and Little Guy are friends and are good to eachother.

I'm not opposed to another boy. I just thought a girl might be easierfor him to bond with. But I guess m.e. is right, Little Guy will tellme who he wants to be friends with.

Thanks again for the replies.:)
 
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