Last night i found my beautiful bunny Poppy had gotten outside and was killed by a predator. I was able to return her body for her surviving partner Pinto to be with to help with his mourning and know that she is gone (as i read last night can be helpful). I think that opportunity was good for him. He groomed her head for about an hour and then finally turned away from her and sat a few inches away. He seemed ready to move on, and he's doing well today, eating and drinking as usual. I want to find a new companion for him as soon as the time is right. I have some questions about that which I hope any of you with personal experience can answer.
1. I'm wondering if people have experience around the best time to bring in a new rabbit to start the bonding process after the death of a partner. Mostly i feel theres no way to really know. From what I’ve read, I'm tending to think the sooner the better.
2. Has anyone tried doing the bonding process in the original rabbit's space instead of neutral territory? I did neutral territory with my first rabbits, but this time around i may not have that option. My plan for the bonding process is to divide the 12 x 12 foot space that my bonded pair had shared into two sections, initially divided by a double fence so they can't touch., for the bonding process.
I wonder if it makes any difference that we just moved moved to this new house and my bonded pair had only been living in their new space for 6 days before Poppy was killed yesterday. Maybe that will help and I won't have to go through the work of neutralizing the space by doing extensive scrubbing of all surfaces? Or perhaps there's no difference between a day or 10 years?
When they are ready to try out being in the same space without barriers (supervised), beginning short periods of time, I could do that in a room that neither has been in.
3. How important do people feel it be that the ages of the two rabbits to be bonded be fairly close? (Pint is 4 yrs old)
4. I'm looking at rabbit rescue shelters where I can bring Pinto in to "choose" her new partner. I'm wondering if people have had good experiences doing this, or is it really much effective? l'm aso looking at Craigslist which are usually cheaper, but I wouldn't have the option to try to check for compatability as in a shelter.
Thanks for any insight anyone may have to offer.
Brenda
1. I'm wondering if people have experience around the best time to bring in a new rabbit to start the bonding process after the death of a partner. Mostly i feel theres no way to really know. From what I’ve read, I'm tending to think the sooner the better.
2. Has anyone tried doing the bonding process in the original rabbit's space instead of neutral territory? I did neutral territory with my first rabbits, but this time around i may not have that option. My plan for the bonding process is to divide the 12 x 12 foot space that my bonded pair had shared into two sections, initially divided by a double fence so they can't touch., for the bonding process.
I wonder if it makes any difference that we just moved moved to this new house and my bonded pair had only been living in their new space for 6 days before Poppy was killed yesterday. Maybe that will help and I won't have to go through the work of neutralizing the space by doing extensive scrubbing of all surfaces? Or perhaps there's no difference between a day or 10 years?
When they are ready to try out being in the same space without barriers (supervised), beginning short periods of time, I could do that in a room that neither has been in.
3. How important do people feel it be that the ages of the two rabbits to be bonded be fairly close? (Pint is 4 yrs old)
4. I'm looking at rabbit rescue shelters where I can bring Pinto in to "choose" her new partner. I'm wondering if people have had good experiences doing this, or is it really much effective? l'm aso looking at Craigslist which are usually cheaper, but I wouldn't have the option to try to check for compatability as in a shelter.
Thanks for any insight anyone may have to offer.
Brenda
