Should I get an elderly lady for my elderly gent?

My elderly (9 yrs) dwarf x (1.3kg), is getting a bit stiff and frail and seems to be getting a bit . . . well not bullied . . . but just under the feet of . . . his two younger companions. It is a trio bond which we did as his earlier 2 companions died one after the other.

Although a fairly happy bond generally they do not seem to groom him and sometimes he sits on his own all night in the hutch, though sometimes they do sit together in a heap.

We feel that perhaps the age gap is affecting the trio increasingly so that he is left out - although one of the companions has EC related blindness and brain damage so is a bit odd anyway!

I wonder whether, in this situation, we should split them and introduce him to an elderly lady hopefully if his own size who might groom him? he is a very easy going bun now (he used to be bossy!), and would bond well.

BUT is it fair to try and re-bond such an elderly gent? AND what if he dies and she is left (or vice versa?) would the heartache be much worse for them? At least living with the two much younger ones (about 2 years) this is much less likely to happen to him.

Should we think of bringing him indoors? (tricky as we have 4 housebuns already).

Anyone any thoughts????? I really would very very much like peoples thoughts. . we are in such a quandry here.

AND (sorry) anyone have any thoughts as to how many years a nethie dwarf might reasonably live?? Are we looking at another 1,2 or 5 years??

I bonded my 9 year old doe (Sh!tty) with a buck of a similar age (Winston).

The bond wasn't terribly easy because she was a stroppy mare, but fortunately Winston was really laid back. The bond took a few weeks of slow introductions, and eventually they became devoted to each other

She died after about 6 months together, and I've since re-bonded Winston with a slightly younger doe (Snowdrop) who is about 8 years old.

Forgot to answer your other questions....

If he was mine, I would bring him indoors and rebond him with an elderly doe.

my old bunny chelsea 10yrs has just been bonded to a nice 9year old she found younger bunnys too playful and just wants someone to lounge around and for company with in her twilight years....still point is you need to do what is best and happiest for your bun the prob we had was finding a needing a good home bun of similar age!!!!

anyone else with 'elderlys'?

hmmmm not sure :?

if he seems happy then im not sure if id disturb things :?

but if you did decide to rebond him with a girl we have a 6 year female who will be here in a couple of weeks

Hmmm, how happy or otherwise do you think he is?

Sally spacegirl has successfully bonded an older bun: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=96231

It does sound as if he is being a bit left out so my instinct would be to maybe try bonding him with an older companion indoors - that way they are easier to keep warm and keep an eye on in their twilight years and when one of the older ones passed away the other would also still have some company as they would be used to being around you more.

Nethies are one of the longer living breeds so if he's got this far without substantial dental problems, he may well still live for a couple of years - bit difficult to say really though.

Thanks to everyone for advice and thoughts on this - we are still in two minds (though we have e-mailed about Thea on Rabbit Rehome :?) - took him to vet yesterday for a check up on his stiffness and she did some accupuncture which seems to have worked miracles and he's racing round like made.
However we also found some little 'nips' where his present companions had nipped him. Nothing serious just nips. But made us think about things. On the other hand they did a bunny bundle today all 3 of them - of WHY is it all so confusing?????? . . . .

You really need a doe that is as near to his age as possible. My 8 y.o. doe is noticably younger and more lively than her 10-12 y.o. fella.

parsnipbun said:

Should we think of bringing him indoors? (tricky as we have 4 housebuns already).


AND (sorry) anyone have any thoughts as to how many years a nethie dwarf might reasonably live?? Are we looking at another 1,2 or 5 years??

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how old are the 4 indoor bun? ARe those 4 bonded together?

The average lifespan for any rabbit is 8 yr., the oldest one is around 16 to 18 yr. We have members here whose bun are 16 to 18 yr. (Do a search under my name, I chat w/ others about this)

So your bun of 9 yr. old could be anywhere in btwn. 9 yr. to 18 yr.