Signs of a sad rabbit, a rabbit missing a person?

[kjell]

I wonder about your experiences with rabbits missing human beings. What are possible signs?

We have an extremely social male neutered rabbit. You can tell that he thrives on being around people and as soon as only one of us is home, he becomes bored (more destructive behaviour and begging for pellets all the time). When we have company he seems extra happy. He just loves people, and it seems the more the merrier (as long as they don't smell like dog). Even when we have strangers coming around, like electricians, he keeps tagging along with them.

We recently had a family member staying for a few days, and at the same time my son had the week off from school, so he got lots of extra attention. As soon as the family member left, our bunny displayed his typical bored behaviours, but more so than normal. (He has lots of toys.) Then this morning my son went back to school, and for the first time ever, he peed on a table cloth. He's since peed on a rug, on the sofa and on the new table cloth, and likely more places I haven't discovered yet. He's never peed outside the litter box since neutered, and even before he was neutered he didn't display this type of behaviour.

Is he missing having all the people around him? There are no other changes in his life and he eats and poops as normal. I know it can be a sign of illness, but I really wonder if it's just his way of letting us know that he is sad?

We are getting two bunny friends for him later this month so it should help with his very social nature. Otherwise he's only alone at night so he already has lots of company.

 

[kjell]

Now he kicked his hind legs, like he does when he is annoyed, but unlike normal, there was nothing obvious for him to be annoyed over. I was busy cooking and suddenly he was kicking his legs as he moved beside me. A sign of craving more attention?

 

[JBun]

It does sound like he's pretty bonded with your son and likes being with people, and was upset about the members of his 'warren' disappearing. When rabbits bond to people or other animals/rabbits, separating from them can be very upsetting to them and can result in some separation anxiety. A bunny companion to bond with is what I would have suggested as the best fix to the problem. Then your bun will always have a buddy right there with him.

Something I will suggest, is consider only getting one companion for him instead of two, and to let him choose his already adult spayed/neutered rabbit friend. Reason being is that trios can be a difficult combination due to two rabbits bonding really well and the third getting left out. It is possible for a trio to work, it's just more common for there to be problems. With letting him go on a bunny date to see what rabbit he might be most compatible with, this just sets up the bond to be potentially more successful. Because some rabbits just don't get along and never will, and you would then be in a situation where you have two rabbits you have to keep separate.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/

 

[kjell]

It does sound like he's pretty bonded with your son and likes being with people, and was upset about the members of his 'warren' disappearing. When rabbits bond to people or other animals/rabbits, separating from them can be very upsetting to them and can result in some separation anxiety. A bunny companion to bond with is what I would have suggested as the best fix to the problem. Then your bun will always have a buddy right there with him.

Something I will suggest, is consider only getting one companion for him instead of two, and to let him choose his already adult spayed/neutered rabbit friend. Reason being is that trios can be a difficult combination due to two rabbits bonding really well and the third getting left out. It is possible for a trio to work, it's just more common for there to be problems. With letting him go on a bunny date to see what rabbit he might be most compatible with, this just sets up the bond to be potentially more successful. Because some rabbits just don't get along and never will, and you would then be in a situation where you have two rabbits you have to keep separate.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/

Thank you for your reply! We were actually just looking for one rabbit, and we wanted a rescue so we could get one that was spayed, so we wouldn't have to go through all the waiting of having one spayed (plus there's the issue of space to keep them separate for so long). However, the only rabbits available, and we even have to travel a days journey to pick them up, were two sister who are spayed and already bonded. Seeing that we get them from a shelter, we also get assistance with bonding so I really hope it all goes well. We didn't want two more rabbits, but figured it was better with two than with none! It is a good point with one being left out though, I wasn't aware that could happen.

 

[JBun]

You could luck out and have a perfectly happy trio. The fact that it's two already bonded girls, I think will give it a better chance than if you had two boys in a trio.

 

[kjell]

You could luck out and have a perfectly happy trio. The fact that it's two already bonded girls, I think will give it a better chance than if you had two boys in a trio.

I really hope so! He definitely needs the company.