Yes, we havebonded bunnies who have lost their original partners to other bunnies,both does and bucks alike. The process is no different thanwe used in the original circumstances,by and large.If you are not familiar with the processes please link to the followingsites:
http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htmand
http://www.rabbit.org/behavior/index.html
In one situation, we"fostered" a pair of young does from alocal animal shelter, with the understanding that if we were unable tobond them to our two widower bucks, they would be returned to theshelter. That way, we were assured we would not be "stuck"with any extra buns thatwe would have to arrange separatehousing forif the bonding were not to occur. As itturned out, both bondings were successfully accomplished and the doesboth stayed with us. In one case, the bonding wasinstantaneous, the one and only time that has ever occurred for us.
In another instance, we brought our widowed doe to a rescuecenter, where eligible bucks were introduced to her in neutralterritory, and she/we were able to determine if one buck, or another,seemed to be a likely candidate.
Relative ages don't seem to matter terribly much either. Webonded a older widowed doe, probably about 3 1/2 years old, to a youngbuck of about a year old. It was a May/September romance andthe net effect was the years seemed to drop off her countenance, as shebecame a young girl again, binkying and racing around with her newyoung man.
Some people claim all buns can be bonded, provided one takes the time,makes the effort, and uses proper techniques. Others claimthere are some buns who will simply not bond with some other particularbuns no matterwhat you try to do. I tend to believethe latter opinion, but am the first to admit giving up on the processif I don't see any success within a three week period,or so.
I point this discrepancy of opinion out to you as a caveat, for you mayend up with an unbondable pair, depending upon how you go about thewhole process and the character and personality make-ups of theindividual buns involved.
Best of luck to you, of course! Once you've experiencedbonded bunnies, it's hard not having them around to enjoy.Let us know what you decide and the outcome, if you don't mind?
Buck
My house bunny, Fudge, died in myarms on Wednesday morning. He had been battling a chronic retro orbitaleye abcess and had been in hospital for a week. He came home on Tuesdayafternoon and died on Wednesday morning. My husband and I keep crying.I tried to go back to work on Friday morning but after 10 minutes wasin tears again and had to go home. We thought he was just worn out fromall the treatment as he was very withdrawn in the later part of Tuesdayand was very floppy when we tried to give him his medicine on Wednesdaymorning. He wasn't swallowing his medicineand I put him onthe floor to see if he could sit. He just lay on his side on the floor,I picked him up and he fitted. I tried to blow air into his nose and hetook a couple of gasping breaths and fitted again and then he died. Wewere hysterical, and our other bunny Miffy saw it all. Later, the vetcalled and he believed that the virulent bacteria had made its way tohis brain. We hope and pray that he did not realise fully what washappening. We thought he was just a bit 'out of it' from the medicinebut I think he may have had brain damage or was slowly shutting down.He was the most amazing wee man and we cannot believe he has gone. Weare trying to give Miffy lots of TLC and will eventually get heranother companion as we do not want her to be alone, but she and Fudgewere totally bonded. I hope I will feel better soon. Has anyone hadexperience of introducing another bunny to their bunny after itsoriginal bonded companion has died? Thank you.
