What should I do? .... give her away?

[Sox]

I am single and live on my own with 3 yabbies, a tropical aquarium and Sox. I have to be away from home every 2nd or 3rd day sometimes for 1 night and other times for 2 nights in a row.

Sox has plenty of food and water in her hutch and actually is being overfed really as she of course can't work out how to portion out her food over 2 days so I give her excessive amount.

It is only recently that I started not coming home for a night or two and Sox seems to have an extremely good memory, gets annoyed with me. I come home late at night exhausted and then I get crossed as I have to catch her from her escapee episode, and clean her well chewed up hutch and poos seems to be more scattered all over the place lately but still pees in the litter tray. Sometimes I even had to catch her from her escape by grabbing her on the back of her neck/ears which I believe is a no no. In the past it was every night that she gets to go into her play pen, Nowadays it is every 2nd or 3rd night. She gets cross with me, gets bored in her cage and rips everything apart and really chew the wood of the hutch.

She is now just over 4 months I think ... adolescence? Nothing like a shy timid rabbit that I thought rabbits were suppose to be. She has not been neutred as I can't afford it at present. Even had to change her litter to a cheaper one.

I get a strong feeling she is upset with me when I get home, nowadays won't even let me scratch her head much and just runs away. When I open her hutch to say hi wanting to pat her, she quicky tries to hop out of the hutch and has succeeded a few times and I get cross. House is not bunny proof and she is not permitted to run around the house. Since 7 weeks of age I have been cleaning her cage whilst she is inside but now when I try to do that, if she hasn't already jumped out out of the cage, she will run towards my hands kinda like ready to attack and I freak out. Even when I get to put her in her playpen all she wants to do these day is escape. Just carrying her lately from hutch to playpen she now struggles and I've been accidentally scratched twice now. I think she misses going into her playpen, she has a good memory.

Summer is coming in very close and I hear now didn't realise before I got her that summer is a very dangerous period for rabbits as they don't cope well with heat. Her hutch is inside the house but it gets very hot over 40 degrees. I hear rabbits can die from this.

Also in April 2010 I have to go away for 2 weeks. To keep her at a boarding kennel cost $17.50 a day and I am looking at $250 of which I can't afford and I can't get family or friends to look after her.

.... my question is .... am I currently being unfair and cruel to Sox for being away for 2 days. I am getting very annoyed with her behaviour lately and it's bothering me a lot. Will she make the summer. It has crossed my mind the last week or two repeatedly that maybe I should give her away before I get even more attached. I can't change my lifestyle I have to be away. Am I being fair to her, should I just give her away? It's nearly Christmas maybe some families will love her more and whilst she is only young it is easier for all?

I can't seem to decide .... any opinions/advice? .... I do love her I am sure!! :X:?:grumpy:

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Rabbits are very social and need stimulus. Summer heat can be deadly for bunnies also. Do you have any one that can pet sit? That way she'd get stimulus and a regular feeding schedule. The hutch behavior sounds like normal rabbit territorial behavior--something that needs to be modified so that cleaning can be accomplished. Hate to say it, but maybe you should consider finding her another home where she will get more attention and interaction.

 

[Yurusumaji]

I would say if you know you need to continue to travel and you cannot take Sox with you nor have anyone to watch her then something needs to be done - because you can't just leave her for 2 weeks. I wouldn't even leave my hamsters alone for 2 weeks. There is too much room for error there.

With this in mind it sounds like your life is certainly busy and tiring enough without having to care for a rabbit. I do believe you love her and that is why you are considering how she feels about the current situation. Deciding to re-home a pet is never an easy thing to do, it is nice to see that you are putting real thought into it and exploring unbiased opinions as well.

I have to say I agree with Larry. I am sure you want to keep your baby, but it sounds like this particular time in your life is not a good time for a rabbit and maybe it's time to find a great home for her to go to.

:hug:

 

[Amy27]

Can you have a pet sitter come in to take care of her? I have a pet sitter and she charges $15.00 a day. A pet sitter could give the daily amount of food and give Sox some socialization. May be you could find a teenager in your area that you trust and could pay him/her less.

Could you attach Sox's play pen to the cage so she has more room to move around? You could put something on the floor to protect your floor. I think may be if she had more out time she wouldn't be so mad and trying to get out every chance she gets.

What kind of toys does she have to keep her entertained? May be adding more toys will help.

In the summer do you have air conditioning or a fan? If you have a pet sitter come they could also do things like put cold bricks in the cage to keep her cool.

Can you bunny proof one room of the house so she can run around there when you are home? It sounds like she really wants some room to run. You can get a baby gate or something to lock her in that room.

 

[irishbunny]

I think whether you should give her up or not depends on how much you want to keep her. If you really, really want to keep her and are prepared to do as much as possible to do so there are ways to possibly make it work. If your relationship is not good with her, you feel frustrated and you just really feel like you should give her up then maybe that is for the best.

The destructive behaviour (ripping things apart, chewing on the hutch) are classic signs of boredom, because she is in her cage alot of the time with no other rabbit to interact with she is probably quite bored. She probably is also very frustrated at the fact that you are gone alot, she can't go out as often as she used to and the fact that she is hitting adolesence probably doesn't help either.

Solution

- A friend. I believe that would help her alot, I know you said that you can't afford to pay for her spay but is there anything you feel like you could go without and use the money for her spay? Then get an already neuteured male? The only way I could see that working though is if you could do bunny dates because in your situation is doesn't sound like you could have two single buns.

- A pet sitter. If only you lived closer! I pet sit small animals and don't charge much. Maybe there are other teenagers near you that do the same? Or you could put up ads looking for one? On the days you are away have someone come in twice a day to feed and water the rabbit(s), let them out to play and cuddle them. On the two weeks you are away have the person do the same. Teenagers that love animals would be delighted to just spend time with the rabbit(s) and wouldn't want much.

- A safe room to play. I know you said none of your rooms are bunny proofed, but is there anyway you could bunny proof a room, even just a bathroom for the rabbit(s) to play in, having more space goes along way.

- Heat. Have you got AC? If not, I agree that is quite a big problem! How do you make the house comfortable enough for you?

In the end you know what is best for the rabbit, if you feel like you are really struggling and find the solution points I wrote above aren't going to work then maybe finding her a new good home is best!

Hope I helped! :hug:

 

[Baby Juliet]

Since you don't have the time that she requires it's a good idea to find her a new home. As you said it's easier now while she's young, close to Christmas and before you get too attached.

It's pretty easy to buy another rabbit when things change and you have more time for one.

 

[doggie0506]

Could you do somthing like attatch a run off her cage and put cheap toys like waterbottles phonebooks toilet paper rolls and lids in there and put a plastic tablecloth underneath. You can hire a kid from the neibourhood to feed her and play with her when you are away. Lots of kids would love to do that! I hope this helps you to keep Sox!

 

[Luluznewz]

If you don't have the time or interest to take care of her I guess it would be best to rehome. That being said, I hope you find a home for her yourself through this site, word of mouth and craigslist. Shelters are so over crowded and bunnies often times sit there with no home of a very very long time. Some are even put down.

Also, if you rehome this rabbit I think you should think very very hard about getting another one. Yes, it would be easy to "get a new one" but they are living things and shouldnt just be rehomed and replaced when its convenient for people.

It seems like your have your rabbit's best interest in mind, and thats great. I'm sure if you screened potential adopters and took the responsibility of finding a home for her yourself (instead of dumping in in a shelter)she would find a really great situation.

best of luck!