How did your collection of bunnies develop?

We sadly lost our 3 buns 10 days ago (see my thread "Foxes again" for info) Haven't finally decided whether to get more as we're still missing our little ones and are waiting for a bit of time to pass before making any decisions. In the meantime though I'm doing a bit of fact finding.
Our "tribe" consisited originally of two dwarf sisters and after they were neutered we added a younger dwarf buck (who was also neutered as soon as age allowed). The girls behaviour changed for a while after the new arrival and especially after one of them caught an infection and had to be kept indoors for 6 weeks on antibiotics. There was some difficulty re-bonding the sisters but we got through it in the end and all 3 lived happily together running free in our garden 24/7. One of our greatest pleasures was just watching them interact with each other and also with the neighbours two friendly cats. I must admit we loved those rabbits very much indeed.
If we start a new bunny family I'm curious to know what's the best way to develop it eg. if we wanted 4, should we get them all at the same time from the same litter? Same sex? Or would it be better to get 2 girls and 2 boys? At the same time? Maybe getting 4 in one go they wouldn't bond with us as quickly? Hence my thread title. Ideally we'd like them all to be able to have a free run of the garden during the day but be secured in a safe hutch/place at night. I know buns have their own personalities and bonding is never guaranteed and the timing of having them neutered is also significant. Information on your experiences will be very much appreciated.

:wave: i got barney at 1 and a half through this site on the same day i found nettle as a baby in the garden! worked really well! Have now got foxglove but nettle isn't having any of her joining the gang so i think i will end up having to have her separate with a friend so i would defo say get them at the same time. Try local rescues coz they might have a group with members already neutered if it is a group you want. I work at the local rspca shelter at weekends and we have little groups and lots of lovely ready bonded pairs looking for homes. although foxglove is very friendly she really comes alive when she sees the others so i would defo not just get one or one at a time. also i have a great relationship with them which i think is enhanced by them having each other as they are happier and so more interactive. when nettle was neutered or when either of them go to the vets they go in together to give each other reassurance and also to keep the bond strong (nettle spends the whole time at the vets with his head under barney's tummy - i mean the whole time - so it is obviously very important for him to have barney there with him).

Many thanks for the info.

Lovely picture of Barney & Nettle!

I got Nigel first, because I stalked him P@H for months until I couldn't stand him being in there anymore and brought him home. :roll: So he came to live in the house with me.

Then I got Dougal when somebody couldn't take care of him anymore. I was going bond them but that went very wrong when Nigel attacked him! :shock:

So Dougal went to live in a hutch outside and I got Doris for £5 from someone as a result of an unexpected litter. She is bonded with Dougal and they are inseperable.

Recently I got Gladys from ARC rescue as a mate for Nigel, as although he gets on really well with our cat I had room for one more in our family, and he loves her. They are so devoted to one another I wish I'd done it sooner.

I didn't mean to have this many but I'm sure I'll end up with more

My bunny's

I started with my little boy Cotton (my avatar), he is my only pet store bunny. I'd had bunny's growing up and wanted my kids to experience these wonderful animals.

Next came Thumper, he's my little trouble maker, but oh such a softie. We rescued him from the SPCA, he'd been there twice already and even lived on the streets for a while.

Third came Oreo, my sweet lady, she was given to us by a couple who could no longer care for her. She's a white and black rex and a cuddler.

Fourth, Kilala, she just arrived on Sunday, Mother's day. The SPCA had an influx of rabbit, 203 to be exact, all from the same residence, Kilala is around 1 1/2 years old.

All my rabbits are fixed and all of them are indoor rabbits, they have all given us tremendous joy.

I got Oscar from a lady that had just had 1 litter from her netherland dwarfs, he was my first ever bunny, then I started to learn more about them and went and got Boo for another lady who had 1 litter. Eventually Boo accepted Oscar and they were bonded. (Oscar is sterile, he had e.c as a baby so never developed properly so it was safe to put him with Boo).

That was it I was hooked and wanted a lop so got Henry from a breeder (this was all before I really thought about rescues). Then not long after Humphrey and his brother came to where i keep my horses for a girl there, I told her they were boys and she said she did not want them. They were a scraggly pair so I took Humphrey and my friend had Monkey his brother, put him in with Henry and cause they were both young i guess they fell in love and have been ever since.

Then 3 days before Hen and Humph were to be neutered Boo escaped and got in with them. Low and behold 4 weeks later she produced 7 babies!!!

Hence I had 11 buns all of a sudden. I think Henry is the dad as each and every one is different and 3 of them are ginger like him. I have found a lovely home for 4 of them and I am keeping the other 3. I have the girl living with mum Boo and the 2 boys together.

Oscar made friends with Henry and Humphrey so now lives with them after Boo kicked him out when she gave birth.

I hope that the baby boys can be bonded back to Boo and Baby girl when they are neutered.

Humphrey wants to kill Boo and vice versa so I doubt I will ever bond all 7.

My collection of rabbits started because I canot say NO :lol:

I originally had Starlight when i was 11.
She was my best friend and we were inseperable!
When Star was 5 i got Shadow as a present from my then partner as his dad's boss's rabbits had a litter. Well as Star had been thriving on human attention for 5 years she was out for blood over the whole sharing of love so bonding was not an option. I then got Moonshine in the hope to bond her with Shadow.... not good as Moonie was violent!!

Starlight passed away at 6 and a half years in December on my 18th and i took it so hard my college friends took me to meet this beautiful chinchilla bunny, i fell in love and she came home with me, and was called Storm, she bonded with Shadow after 30 minutes!! Whilst i was out looking at Storm (i took my other two along to see if they would get on with her) Moonie managed to find their male bun :roll:

Low and behold 6 babies. But i thought, Moonshine being the rottweiller she is towards other buns (she will go for anybun and as she is as fast as a whippet they dont stand a chance) I took advantage and kept one of the litter, Scraggles who is a replica of her mother, i now have two bonded pairs!! And i know the number will just keep rising!

Only have 2 now - previously had a bunny (Starksy) about 8 years ago but died aged 1 and I was too devastated to even thing about another.

Got my latest bunny, Flopsy, for a few different reasons. I really wanted another rabbit, I missed Starsky soooo much, and my son was having a difficult time going through a childhood form of tourettes so we thought it may give him something to take his mind of his problems and we could together care and look after Flopsy - I really wanted another bun myself.

We got Flopsy - from a pet shop - aged 8 weeks and it really did help my son and he named him Flopsy even though he is an up eared lionhead:lol::lol:

A local carpenter made him a massive hutch and he would come out every day in the garden. Then I found this forum and things changed drastically. Didn't feel safe letting him out into the garden anymore on his own incase of foxes (we live very close to a golf course with lots of goarse bushes and there are loads of foxes) so I then progressed to getting him a rather large run and we attached it to his hutch for him to come and go via his catflap during the day. He still had about 1/2 hours in the big garden supervised when I came home from work.

Then I read that he may be lonely:roll: and my quest began..... not a lot of rescues up here in the north east but I spotted a picture of a rather gorgeous lop by the name of Jem. 2 hours drive away and she was already in the process of being bonded with another so I followed her progress.

Her bonding didn't work out so I rang BARC (Angie/Bunnymadhouse) and arranged to take Flopsy down to Barnsley from Hartlepool:lol: Took me 2 hours to get there to drop Flopsy off for the week and 2 hours home. Then I drove back the following weekend to pick them both up - they bonded superbly - thanks to Angie and Tracey.

Both my buns are now very happy - large hutch with access to a large run from 7am till it gets dark and at least an hour run in the main garden every day.

I couldn't imagine them not being here - they are definately part of my life now and I love them both to pieces.

Sorry for long reply

I went from nought to nearly 30 in 6 months :shock: although only 7 of those were bunnies, to be fair - the rest were guinea pigs

I hadn't had any pets for years, and thought a pair of bunnies would be nice, so I adopted a pair of neutered brothers from a rescue and all was lovely. Then one of the boys died of bloat after just 4 months - I was gutted - soooo upset But someone said to me, there are so many in need of good homes, if you can offer one, then do so...and I thought 'safety in numbers' :?

There had been an appeal for a home for a group of 5 girls, mother and 4 adult daughters, on this forum - and I had admired them but obviously couldn't home them - till I found I only had one bunny and an aching heart! So I cheated and got a ready made group just one week after Pepsi died - it made me smile again to see them enjoying life

I had intended to bond the single boy in with them, but that all went pear-shaped :roll: he's been a happy batchelor for nearly 3yrs now

I already had 3 piggies when I was in a pet shop and saw this lovely little Bunny, I asked questions about him and they were like "Oh yeah he is fully grown" so I was like :shock: he is small!! So I bought him, a bit rash I know but I already had a cage and wanted a houseBun so I went home with Russel.

A couple of months later I thought aww I will get him a friend and so I bought Roxy (now Rocky :roll:) It turned out Russel didnt want to share me and was a little bit aggressive soooo when Roxy became confirmed as Rocky then a bit Rockless we looked for a lady bunny but could not find one... And then Russel passed away :shock: So Billy arrived. Who bonded accidentally with Rocky... I then decided MORE would be great (all the while piggy family had been growing) Lucy then came and recently Jive has joined her!! I would love to have more... I have the love to give just have to convince o/h

We bought two dwarf lops from P@H as I didn't really know any better at that point.
Saw Dusty on gumtree and fell in love, parents were on holiday so I just got him and waited for the explosions when they got home :lol::roll:
the person getting rid of him had a girl bun they said they were keeping, then 4/5 months later she was on gumtree as well, so I begged parents saying Dusty needed a friend and they are now bonded and love each other.
I know it was very risky taking buns from gumtree as I wouldn't have know by looking if they were in perfect health or not, but nearly a year on they are fine

Most of mine have been adopted as partners to bereaved buns...although 1 came because the owners dogs were trying to kill her, 1 came because the owner was selling him on ebay, and 2 came because they belonged to a couple I knew who didn't want them anymore (they'd been breeding them :roll

Amy

my rabbits were bought out of selfishness in 3 years ive only now just got teh money to afford them but 2 years ago i was skint earning £30 a week with 7 rabbits but the fact i had no money didnt stop me buying more and more i got them because i wanted them and had no thought about their health or welfare luckily finding this forum has shown me some light and has kicked some common sense in my head.

my lesson in rabbits are rabbits can be addictive but sometimes we have to stop and think with our heads rather then our hearts

Booked for neuter/spay

I rescued Hunny, then she returned to her owner. So we bought Mustard from the pet shop. LITERALLY, ½ hour after we got home from the pet shop, the owners called and asked if we wanted her back, as they didn't want to buy a new hutch (she'd bitten her way out).

Now, I cant walk past a pet shop without checking the state of the bunnies, starting conversations with the staff about their condition, age etc!

Carmen

Wow! So many different stories with only one thing in common.... your love for your beautiful (if at times mischievous) bunnies! Many thanks everyone. All of your posts, kind words and support have really helped us over the last 10 days. You'll be the first to know if we do decide to start up again