Widower Bun...advice please

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RoseCottageBuns

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I have today lost my beautiful Violet (Small grey Lionhead) ....she was paired with Buzz who is a very handsome Mini Rex. He is a bit lost and confused as he can't seem to find her and he is opening a lot of time just sitting, which is unusual as he is often belting about! Is he grieving? if so ,how long do I wait to find him another friend ? Should I clean out the cage and eradicate any trace of Violet, or let him stay in the same space? I don't know what to do, so very sad to loose her and worried for him. Any advice would be most welcome, thank you.
 
I am so sorry you lost your precious bunny! That's always heartbreaking :(.

I've never deep-cleaned the cage after a bonded friend's death, but that's just me - I don't feel like there's a right or wrong answer on that topic. Rabbits definitely do grieve, and he may also be confused if he didn't get a chance to see her body after she passed away. The best thing to do, imo, is to spend some extra time with him and maybe figure out some interactive toys/games to do together (for example, offering a plastic spoon or something, letting them take it and toss it around, then picking it up and repeating the process; very similar to the game human toddlers love where they throw things off their hi-chair for you to fetch, lol) or hand-feed some of his pellets (both to bond, and you could use them to teach him simple tricks like "beg"). Rabbits are pretty resilient; Nala only seems to be grieving and looking around for a month or two at the most after a bonded companion dies (it's happened to her twice).

As for a replacement bunny, that's entirely up to you and him - don't feel like you need to rush the process (or wait longer) on his behalf. Try to find a shelter that allows "bunny dates" so that he can help to pick out his own new companion - that tends to make bonding easier :) (if you've never done bunny dates before, the BEST reaction they can have to each other is either complete indifference or grooming each other).
 
Thank you so much, shall certainly take your advice about spending more time with him. I also have a bonded female trio, who are ok most of the time, but occasionally the two older ones pick on the youngest. I wondered wether I could move her and start thinking about setting her up with Buzz...take it slowly ,of course, but I have plenty f space and time so thought that this may be a solution...what do you think? Is it a good idea to break a trio? She is very like him, a bit soft and sweet natured, whereas his previous friend ( Violet ) was a bit feisty, bless her. Would it be too soon? Violet died yesterday :(
 
Same-sex bonds are always a little trickier and have some bumps in the road on occasion. Your trio of females is always going to have these flare-ups, I imagine. If you feel like she might be happier bonding with your solo rabbit now, I would trust your instinct.

If you're ready to start bonding them, I see no reason not to. However, I would be prepared to separate her from the rest of the trio permanently and house her separately during the bonding process. Taking one rabbit out of a trio bond and having them come back after a bonding session smelling like "some weird dude we don't know" could potentially upset the trio's bond. You need to watch for this when you return her to her cage and be prepared to deal with it if it happens. It doesn't always - I am trio bonding now with a M/F pair and a solo female, Nala. There have been times that I did a one-on-one session between Nala and one member of the pair. When reunited in their cage, the pair was okay. However, I feel like this might not be the case when the returning rabbit is the one the other two already like to bully sometimes. If you don't separate the trio when you first start the new bonding, I would at least separate them when things start to get serious (think: the rabbit version of getting engaged - it's almost time to move in).

Anyway, you should be able to see pretty quickly if for some reason your widower bunny isn't receptive to the idea of a new bond so soon... But I think the odds of that being the case are very small.
 
Thank you very much. I think I shall go for it as he is looking very forlorn at the moment. Your advice has been very encouraging , thank you :)
 
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