'Play date' for Bunnies, a thing or not?

[Forrest]

Hi Bunny lovers,

Just a random question, and wanted to get some thoughts on if it is a good or a bad idea.

I've been in contact with someone from Facebook, saying they have a single boy bunny who is very lonely and she can't get more bunnies and she wants to know if we can have a 'play date' in a neutral place like a park or something and i bring my two bunnies and we can see how things go?

I really do want to giver it a try because i feel bad for her bunny being a alone.

As always your opinions are all welcome

Thanks

 

[ladysown]

recommendation.. NO.

rabbits carry all sorts of diseases that they are immune to, but can (and do) spread to others they have contact with or even are within breathing distance.

 

[flemishwhite]

Hi Bunny lovers,


I've been in contact with someone from Facebook, saying they have a single boy bunny who is very lonely and she can't get more bunnies and she wants to know if we can have a 'play date' in a neutral place like a park or something and i bring my two bunnies and we can see how things go?

I really do want to giver it a try because i feel bad for her bunny being a alone.


Thanks

My 12+ years of bunny experience only encompasses one bunny, 11 1/2 years, and two bunnies for 7 months. Not an expert.

From my experience, rabbits do not take to changes in their surroundings..or at least they are very cautious about a changes in surroundings.

Taking your rabbits to a strange location...especially a public city park will be very disorienting for them, particularly trying to introduce them to another bunny. First of all you are going to have to catch your bunnies, pick them up, and place them in a carry cage. My experience is that this is a very traumatizing experience for bunnies, even though they are pretty bonded with you.

There's just a lot of internet posts on how to introduce bunnies to each other. Just access and read them. It seems to me that the principal thing here is that before you introduce your bunnies, you human beings need to introduce yourselves!!!! Humans need to meet in a neutral location and talk about introducing their bunnies!

Best wishes for some happy twitching noses!

 

[Azerane]

I don't recommend it either.

First and foremost, rabbits don't do play dates. You either introduce them to bond them, or you don't introduce them at all. Strange rabbits may get along, but they are also just as likely to want to fight with each other. If they do get along, it's because they're inclined to bond which I think is not right for the rabbit to have them introduced to a new bunny that they get along with, only to not be able to bond with them completely.

Secondly as others have mentioned, the park can be a very dangerous place for rabbits. Not just from pests and diseases, but dogs, cats, birds, loud noises, children etc etc. The list goes on.

 

[StormyB]

Why can't she get another bun? I mean, two are really no more work than one....OR see if she can't get a small cat or something for the Bun to play with, one of my boy buns is friends with one of my kitties and I trust them enough to leave them semi-supervised. By semi-supervised I mean, I shut them in the same room I am[usually babygate off the living room] while I'm watching TV. OR even a stuffed animal sometimes helps. Another of my buns loves his stuffed bear, he drags it arounds, sleeps with it, throws it around.

 

[Forrest]

Thanks for the replies all,

Good advice all round, and I think I'm going to listen to the advice. Made some good points and not willing to put my bunnies through that kind of stress and potential harm.

Thanks again