Morchall
Well-Known Member
Hello, I have never used a forum before (which is kind of weird because I’ve been on the internet before social media was really a thing) but I wanted to make an account here so I could get advice about my bunnies when I need it.I noticed an introductions topic so I think I will write one for my bunnies.
I have two 5 month old continental/checkered giant mixes who were given to us as a gift by a family friend. I live with my fiancé in a small house and we wanted a pet, but he was against getting a dog because they can be too loud (especially the breeds we favor, since basset hounds love to howl and corgis love to bark). He has owned rabbits before and suggested getting a pair of rabbits since they’re quiet. Our family friend happened to have a litter of giant rabbits and offered to give us two of them. I figured a giant rabbit is a good compromise between a rabbit (which I thought would be too small for me to feel comfortable cuddling, etc.) and a dog (which is too loud for my fiancé). Plus I wasn’t going to turn down two free pets when all of those baby rabbits were looking at us so cute and being really friendly and cuddly.
The babies we brought home were named Pokey and Bumblez. Pokey is a brown female and Bumblez was a checkered male. Unfortunately, Bumblez suddenly got bloat after a few weeks and died just a few hours after his symptoms started showing. We got another checkered bunny from the same litter to be friends with the now-lonely Pokey, and his name is GusGus.
While Pokey was bonded with Bumblez pretty early on, she didn’t like Gus and kept instigating fights with him because our house was her territory. We originally introduced them at a different house but as soon as they both came home she became aggressive. He ended up taking a chunk out of her lip in self-defense after she attacked him one day, so we decided we needed to separate them. (Her lip is all healed up now, thankfully.) They have to be separated in play pens for now. We let them out a few times a day to exercise and play but we would like to be able to free roam them in the living room eventually.
We were fortunately able to get Gus neutered recently, but Pokey is still not old enough to be spayed, and we don’t have much money left after Gus’s surgery. So it may be a few more months before we can get her spayed and start trying to bond them.
I’m always worried that I’m a terrible bunny parent, because I’m inexperienced and one of my bunnies died, plus it seems like things keep not going the way we had hoped with them. I feel bad about having to keep them in pens to separate them, and I get paranoid whenever I feel like something could be off, even when it’s not something most people would worry about. I have embarrassingly taken Pokey to the vet twice when there was nothing wrong with her simply because I was worried about something she was doing, and I paid for it (literally...it was very expensive).
But I am reassured when I see how happy my bunnies are. They both seem totally relaxed at all times and have only ever been frightened when there was a sudden loud noise like fireworks. They always flop over right next to us, and Gus even falls asleep next to me while I’m petting him, even in my bedroom where he’s not exactly familiar with his surroundings. They also zoom and binky whenever we hang out or play with them, and they always seem really excited to see us in the morning when we wake up. They’re also both huge cuddle bunnies and will curl up in our lap or lay next to us for pets and do the cute purring-clicking noise.
All the little things they do to show affection and trust make me really happy to have them. I can’t wait until they are able to bond and free roam the living room. We will have so much more fun and be able to snuggle more than we do now, and they will probably be way less bored. I love them so much and I’m really happy we got them.
Also, they’re just really darn cute.
