Bunny friend

[amundb]

So Magnet wants a bunny friend, and he's beensearching the internet to find one. We think we found the onehe likes, but a few questions first.

1. The girl will be from a shelter and already be spayed. Isit ok to let them play together to get to know each other if he's notneutered?

2. Can we keep her in a smaller cage until the two of them get to knoweach other and want to live together? Or should they be thesame size?

Anything else I should be thinking of? Magnet has learned tobreak out of his cage during the day, so a few trial runs of all dayunsupervised time was needed. And impressively enough,nothing has been destroyed or damaged. All the wires arewhere they should be, no pee or poop in the room, and the carpet isstill intact; we're very proud of him. Obviously we won't letthe two buns out by themselves unsupervised for a while, till we figureout how they interact.

Here's a picture of Casey, from sweetbinks.org in RI

 

[JadeIcing]

What a cutie. If I am right Sweet Binks will notadopt if your guy isn't fixed. I can find out for you. The rescue Iwork with works with them all the time.

Edit: No has to be fixed.

 

[aurora369]

Are you planning on getting your guyneutered? I think most rescues would work with you on tryingto find a love match for Magnet, as long as you've got a neuter dateset. Perhaps you have to save up for a bit or need to waitfor one reason or another, but contact someone in charge of adoptionscreening and see if they can help you out.

My experience with haveing an un-altered bun with my spayed female wasnot that pleasant. My little baby boy Zeke went to the vets,came home from the vets, and they forgot to tell me that he and hisbrothers, who I was fostering, wheren't quite old enough and didn't getdone. So I continued with my bonding, and he started livingwith Wildfire and Baxter.

Well, Zeke would hump both Baxter and Wildfire, and he sprayedeverything. He would chase Wildfire around, and when shewould run away, he'd hump poor Baxter. Run by sprayings wherealso common.

Both Wildfire and Baxter ended up covered in semen and urine. It was pretty gross.

But, once he was neutered, almost all that stopped. He no longer sprays, and rarely ever humps.

So, it is possible to have an un-altered male with a spayedfemale. You won't have any pregnancies. But it willmost likely frustrate your poor little guy to no end, he'll constanlybe trying to mount her and she'll constantly refuse, which could leadto fighting.

It is possible to do some bunny "dates" before he gets neutered to seewho he gets along with though. He'll want to hump her, but ifshe tolerates him for a little bit, then they should bond okay.

For bonding, I would have the cages right up next to each other until they get used to each other.

There's a whole bunch of information in the Library section, and here's the section on bonding:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12072&forum_id=17

Read through that, and it will give you some good ideas of what to expect.

--Dawn

 

[amundb]

Very good point on the spraying bit.We actually haven't encountered any of that...he only recently startedhumping anything (a cookie monster slipper of all things, big andfuzzy). I'll mention the part about the spraying to myfiancee, and I'm sure that will change his mind about not neuteringMagnet. Now to find a vet that will do the procedure...doesanyone know of any vets in southern NY or northern NJ nearchester/monroe/west milford? I've checked the recommended vetresources on rabbit.org, and all the vets anywhere close to home onthis site, but everyplace is at least 45 minutes away.

 

[aurora369]

Hmm... I'm not from that area, but maybe other members will know.

One thing you can do is make up a list of questions to ask the vet, andcall all the local vets offices. Ask if they neuter rabbits,and ask to speak with the vet when he/she isn't busy, leave a time tobe called back at. Then speak with the vet and ask them abunch of questions, and based on the answers you may find on that isnot on the list.

You want to look for things like:

1. Should I with hold food/water before thesurgury? (No, can cause stasis, and rabbits can't throw up,an hour or so is fine but nothing longer).

2. What do you use to put the rabbit under? (They should use a gas, I can't remember the name right no)

3. Does the rabbit need to stay over night, and if they do,will someone be there? (Some vets like to keep bunnies over night ortill they start eatin on their own again)

4. Do you provide pain meds? (Pain can cause a rabbit to go into stasis, so pain meds are a big bonus)

There's a list somewhere of questions you should ask a potential bunnyvet, but those ones are near the top of the list in my mind.

And another argument for getting your boy neutered. How wouldyou like to go around being so horny that humping slippers is the onlyway to relieve yourself? Not very pleasant.Neuturing will get rid of his urge to have sex all the time, and yourinteractions will be so much better.

--Dawn

 

[amundb]

Awww, Brian applied to sweetbinks to adoptCasey, and she was just adopted on Tuesday. Anyone know ofany mini-lop breeders in the NY/NJ/CT/RI area?


We'll keep checking petfinder to adopt a bunny, but so far no luck infinding another female close by. We're not going to get onefrom the pet store...they're too young there to tell if it's a male orfemale. Don't want any surprises later.

 

[Haley]

Have you checked your local humane society orother rescues? A lot of times rabbits get turned in there as well andperfectly good bunnies get put down because they cant find a home.

I think getting Magnet spayed should be your first step. It reallymakes bonding a lot easier and makes for a much happier andwell-behaved bunny in the long run.

 

[amundb]

Brian's making the appt for Magnet to get fixedsoon, probably next week or sometime soon after. So no moreworries on that front.

 

[aurora369]

Hey,

Glad to hear the little guy is going for a neuter! He'll be so much happier in the end.

You should look on the Petfinder website to see if you can find anyother loppy buns that you think Magnet would like.http://www.petfinder.com/

I would highly reccomend getting in touch with a localrescue. They should be able to help you choos a compatablebunny, and help you through the bonding process.

And also look in your local shelters. You'd be surprised, people will give up the most adorable and loving rabbits.

--Dawn