Bonding two rabbits, but with a bit of a twist - Help!

[Saffy]

Something I don't really want to talk about is the loss of Benji, my Netherland Dwarf rabbit of nine and a half years. He died on 23rd September 2014 and the loss is still deeply felt.

He was bonded with another Netherland Dwarf rabbit called Luna.

Last year she had E. Cuniculi, and it was only my daughter's 24/7 care that got Luna through this. I think there is a thread somewhere on this so I don't want to go into all the ins and outs; you all know how pretty horrible it is.

Anyway, we have decided to get another Netherland Dwarf and my question is, not so much the bonding, but when/how/what to do because Luna is obviously still a carrier of this.

She is fine now, no head tilt at all, though at the time she was going into spasms and having fits.

We treat her every 4 months with Panacur and this seems to have kept everything ok.

The cage is cleaned out as and when really ... sometimes every two days sometimes less often, but they are always scrubbed and deoderised with pet friendly Clean and Safe.

Right .. now, onto the new one ... Rufus. We have a seperate cage for when he arrives home but we do want to try and bond them.

We are hoping to introduce them to one another in the run, which is huge. It's just a matter of when?

Do we put the new bunny on a course of Panacur before introducing them or will it not matter so much if they are not sharing a cage at first and so Rufus wont be using the same litter tray as Luna.

Will just using Panacur on them at the same time be ok.

Dumfounded.

Thank you in advance for replies.

 

[lopsofloverabbitry]

Sorry to here about your Bun! R. I.P Benji!

I'm not so sure about the Medication. You may want to call your vet and ask about that.

For bonding rabbits it may be difficult or easy. Both rabbits need to be comfortable from where they are comfortable with you. First put them in a large area where they can run if the get in a fight. Just put them together a couple times a day and more and more often until you can trust them to leave them alone


~Breeding Quality Holland Lops Since 2012~

 

[Saffy]

I'm not so worried about bonding the rabbits .. rather the E.C. issues ... :twitch:

 

[hopalot]

Here's something you may want to consider, and Luna's age depends a lot on this also. If she is an aged girl, the stress of another rabbit may weaken her immune system a bit. If this were my situation I would really think on that factor.

By the way, 9 years plus for a dwarf is magnificent! Great reflection on the care taker!

There is a web site on this issue of E. Cuniculi, by the discoverer who owns a rabbitry in California, I believe. I had contacted her in the past with a question, so you may wish to find and ask her.

 

[JBun]

A course of panacur for a new rabbit is often recommended as a precaution, but this is always best discussed with your own rabbit savvy vet.

I do agree with hopalot, about stress not being good for a bun with a weakened immune system. If your two buns don't seem to take to each other right away and it seems to be causing your bun with EC undue stress, it would be good to reevaluate the situation.

Best of luck with your two buns, and hopefully you end up with a very happy bun couple

 

[Saffy]

Thank you Hopalot .. Indeed, Ben was adored and cared for as well as any bunny could be.

With regard to the stress of a new bunny. Luna is a very anti human rabbit. I know rabbits don't like,being picked up but she is ridiculous. After four and s half years you would think she would be aware we're not going to kill her everything time we go near her!

We introduced her and Ben to my Mum's guinea pig once ... Whilst Ben was ready for attack, Luna was the one who sniffed and wanted to know more about her, so I am quietly positive about her meeting a new bunny.

Here is her meeting Ben for the first time.

This is how they spent many a time together ..

.. And how about this ...

She was far happier with Ben than with we owners ..

I'm going to start Rufus

On Panacur as soon as he arrives. Luna is on a course already.

He has his own cage but I want to let them meet I the run and at night I will put each cage face to face so they can see and smell one another.

This was Ben and Luna the same day we got her ..

Hopalot, any idea who this person is who you contacted re EC?

Thank you. :bestwishes:

 

[hopalot]

Hi--I am trying to locate that rabbitry on line. I contacted her back in 2011, and I may have something printed out I'll have to dig for.

While researching I found this from 2004 on this site:

I took the photo below at a rabbit show yesterday of a Holland Lop with a vertical white line down the center of each pupil (in the eye, not on the cornea). I sent it to Dr. Hreiz of ARBA and thought others might find his reply informative:

"E. cuniculi is your #1 differential for stromal masses such as this. The parasite migrates all over the spinal cord and even can be in the eye where they form abscesses such as this. Your other differential would be a stromal abscess of bacterial origin.

This individual should prophylactically treat this rabbit with fenbendazole (Safeguard or Panacur) at 30 mg/kg once a day for 28 days is the treatment. This organism is shed via urine so any rabbits in close proximity should be treated as well. If signs do not resolve, then an antibiotic would be good to give a try."

Note that it states shed via urine. This was on rabbitsonline,2004.

Those babies are the cutest things!!! Benji was adorable. I can see where Luna is a little "stinker" as the independent type. Rufus is definitely a good name for your newby!
:headflick:
I can tell you that the rabbitry owner was big on hitting hard with the antiparasitic and then using a maintenance routine especially with the seasons' changes. She thought Spring was unusually hard on rabbits.

 

[Saffy]

Hmm, it's funny, we took LUNA to the vets with a cloudy eye. Thought she had maybe caught it on a sharp piece of the hutch ... They have a tendency to nibble on it.

Was treated with antibiotics and eye drops.

It was a while later LUNA showed the head tilt, spasmimg etc that brought EC to mind. one moment she was fine, the next, Hollie went to put her back into her cage and she wandered about as thought extremely drunk.

She was quite severe and the vet advised us to have her put to sleep but we wanted to give her a chance. She was eating ... Ok, she though lying down and twisted was the right way up .. But she ate, drank (syringe) and peed and pooped. We had to watch her very carefully because her fits and spasms showed she was a danger to herself, so we invested ina fluffy cat basket and lots of towels to keep her in one position.

Ben was amazing and held her up while we gave her spinach, dandelions and carrots to eat ..

Hollie was one incredible Big sister who had them both in her room so she could take care of them whilst she did her uni work.

She also kept manoeuvring her back legs to keep them moving.

When Luna eventually started to walk a little she obviously had no co ordination whatsoever and we watched over her all the time. She learned by using one side of her body to press up against things and walked round the run like that until she got used to it.

Touch wood she has shown no signs of it getting as bad as she was in July 2013 and we keep her on regular courses of Panacur.

We did wonder ... When we got her, she lived with numerous other rabbits in quite dirty cages ... And they had chickens. It do believe chicken poo can be toxic to rabbits and the lady didn't seem the clean and tidy sort. We saw the mum but she said her friend had the father, which she could,well have done .. But who knows, he may have been EC aswell and the cloudy eye/s would have given us a clue.

She got good owners though. Hollie was incredible in her care and love for Luna.

 

[Saffy]

We have now found a rabbit savvy vet about 10 miles from us ... One who is trained specifically in small pet care.

They are lovely .. And it was so touching to receive a card from them a few days after Be's passing sending their condolences.

 

[hopalot]

Hi, Saffy--

I have searched in vain for that website. But the good news is you found an appropriate vet. I located a good article on e.cuniculi, you may wish to look at. The link works:

https://docs.askives.com/docs_file....xNzEyNi9yYWJiaXRzX2FuZF9lX2N1bmljdWxpLnBkZgow

The article is the one for e.cuniculi. It once again mentions the transmission thru urine and the urine test.

:dutch

 

[Saffy]

Thank you vrey much.

Only 17 more days to go before we bring Rufus home. Excited.