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Rescue bunny homecheck ?

BeatrixPotter

BeatrixPotter

Mama Doe
I have a 2yr old neutered buck, Peter and a 17 week old doe, Mopsy. They are due to be bonded in 4 weeks when he is completely hormone free after his neutering.

I would love to have a 3rd bun and feel strongly that the best thing would be to adopt a rescue. I'm very happy with my hutch/run set up but I want to make sure it will be ok.

I have this hutch.
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/rodents/cages/rabbit_hutches/natura/53359

and this one,
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/rodents/cages/rabbit_hutches/natura/49303

I am planning to join the 2 together to make a bigger inside space and I also have an additional permanently attached run. They have free range garden time every day unless its raining. It is supervised cos we have lots of cats round here but my garden is secure.

I would wait until after my girl bun has been spayed and would look to adopt another girl.


Just wanted to add that Peter is an average sized mix breed and Mopsy is an English lop. I would like another small to medium bunny.
I don't want to get it wrong so any advice would be great. I will be putting the 2 hutches together as soon as Peter and Mopsy are bonded.
 
To be honest the best course of action is to visit the rescue you want to get your bun from and explain your set up possibly taking some photos and ask what their requirements are. The requirements are different from rescue to rescue so with some asking for larger runs than others or allowing smaller runs depending on amount of free ranging time.

Good luck with the bonding :wave:
 
BeatrixPotter said:
I have a 2yr old neutered buck, Peter and a 17 week old doe, Mopsy. They are due to be bonded in 4 weeks when he is completely hormone free after his neutering.

I would love to have a 3rd bun and feel strongly that the best thing would be to adopt a rescue. I'm very happy with my hutch/run set up but I want to make sure it will be ok.

I have this hutch.
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/rodents/cages/rabbit_hutches/natura/53359

and this one,
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/rodents/cages/rabbit_hutches/natura/49303

I am planning to join the 2 together to make a bigger inside space and I also have an additional permanently attached run. They have free range garden time every day unless its raining. It is supervised cos we have lots of cats round here but my garden is secure.

I would wait until after my girl bun has been spayed and would look to adopt another girl.


Just wanted to add that Peter is an average sized mix breed and Mopsy is an English lop. I would like another small to medium bunny.
I don't want to get it wrong so any advice would be great. I will be putting the 2 hutches together as soon as Peter and Mopsy are bonded.
Click to expand...

Sorry if you answered this in your post, but do you mean the third one would be on its own or do you want to bond them into a group of three?
 
Hello.

I agree that it would be best to contact the particular rescue that you would like to adopt from.

Personally, if I were homechecking, I would not pass either of them as a standalone hutch, and the first one would have to be modified to be suitable for a pair of buns as the sleeping area would not be big enough to house three rabbits all wanting to lie down at the same time. In fact most of these that I have seen is not big enough for a single bun to lie down comfortably.

BUT, I don't want to put you off trying to adopt as it may be that dependent on your personal circumstances, that you may be able to adopt if you are able to be flexible and take on board recommendations for your set up. You could for example cover in the sides of the coop style making it totally weather proof and giving 'indoor' space, and then by adding an attached run.

Bunnies need to be able to choose if they want to be indoors or out in all weathers so if you're able to adapt what you have so that they have permanent access to good indoor accommdation, then I don't see why you shouldn't be able to have an rescue bun to join your group.

Alternatively if you would like a threesome, you might be better off selling your existing accommodation and buying a shed, which would be so much more in line with what a rescue would love to see.

Helen
 
Thank you. I was thinking of bonding 3.

My plan for the hutches is to get my very clever Dad to put the two hutches together by taking a section out of the right side of the big one and the left side of the smaller one and joining them making a much bigger inside space. I think I will just stick with 2.

Perhaps getting another bigger hutch and adopting an already bonded pair might be better. Then I could keep 2 bonded pairs separately. If I did this would it ever be ok to let all 4 run round the garden together or would they always need to be separate.

Would this be ok for 2 buns? Just so I can get an idea!
http://www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-6+small+pets/breed-is-
rabbit/category-is-6C+Cages/product-is-22475

Thanks again
 
BeatrixPotter said:
Thank you. I was thinking of bonding 3.

My plan for the hutches is to get my very clever Dad to put the two hutches together by taking a section out of the right side of the big one and the left side of the smaller one and joining them making a much bigger inside space. I think I will just stick with 2.

Perhaps getting another bigger hutch and adopting an already bonded pair might be better. Then I could keep 2 bonded pairs separately. If I did this would it ever be ok to let all 4 run round the garden together or would they always need to be separate.

Would this be ok for 2 buns? Just so I can get an idea!
http://www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-6+small+pets/breed-is-
rabbit/category-is-6C+Cages/product-is-22475

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Hi, nope, if your buns aren't bonded then you can't allow them to share space at the same time or they will just fight (and if they share the same garden but at different times it can also lead to referred aggression but not always.) If they did go out together and didn't fight(it would be a miracle if they bonded themselves on a non-neutral area), then you shouldn't break them up to put them back to bed. Once bonded bunnies should remain together always - even on trips to the vets etc.

Getting your dad to join the accommodation together sounds like a good plan. that would give you an interesting and useful space, but it might not be too easy for you to clean out (I'm all for easy!).

But I do like your idea of adopting another pair. If you can afford both the time and the money to keep them, then that would be fab as there are loads of pairs in rescues (ours in particular) at the moment. Plus you'd get double the fun!

Bonding a trio can be done but it's not always plain sailing so it's something to think about carefully.

Don't know whereabouts you are in Surrey but I am too, and the rescue I foster for is ARC and we have pairs. If you are not too far from me, you'd be welcome to come over and have a look at some of my set ups to get some ideas. ARC would like to see a minimum of a 6x2x2 hutch to comply with the Animal Welfare Act but we are happy to help with ideas for accommodation.

Helen

Oh and by the way, I can't open your link.
 
The Duchess said:
Hi, nope, if your buns aren't bonded then you can't allow them to share space at the same time or they will just fight (and if they share the same garden but at different times it can also lead to referred aggression but not always.) If they did go out together and didn't fight(it would be a miracle if they bonded themselves on a non-neutral area), then you shouldn't break them up to put them back to bed. Once bonded bunnies should remain together always - even on trips to the vets etc.

Getting your dad to join the accommodation together sounds like a good plan. that would give you an interesting and useful space, but it might not be too easy for you to clean out (I'm all for easy!).

But I do like your idea of adopting another pair. If you can afford both the time and the money to keep them, then that would be fab as there are loads of pairs in rescues (ours in particular) at the moment. Plus you'd get double the fun!

Bonding a trio can be done but it's not always plain sailing so it's something to think about carefully.

Don't know whereabouts you are in Surrey but I am too, and the rescue I foster for is ARC and we have pairs. If you are not too far from me, you'd be welcome to come over and have a look at some of my set ups to get some ideas. ARC would like to see a minimum of a 6x2x2 hutch to comply with the Animal Welfare Act but we are happy to help with ideas for accommodation.

Helen

Oh and by the way, I can't open your link.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I have PM'd you.
 
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