do you ever wonder about their history?

rescue buns......what kind of life have they had before they were in rescue and then found a home with you?

sat here watching esme, she's such an adorable, inquisitive little girl, i wonder what her life was like before. i know she's happy and safe now but it really bothers me what some buns may have had to endure

i shouldn't doubt myself but say if she was happier before?

I do wonder as well, even when you are told what their life was like I sometimes imagine thats not the truth :?
I wonder about my kitty as well she has some funny quirks that I wonder if something had happened to her before that has made her like that :?
I am sure Esme is happier now with you x

I always wonder about Rainbows life before. He was dumped on a doorstep He's always so scared of everything, such a wimp and it does make me sad to think that he's mistreated to the point where he's so scared

yes I do wonder about Charlies, (had my other 2 from babies) I always hope im doing enough for him as I think he was very spoilt were he came from..

I have never seen so many toys and accessories for a bun :lol:

Im sure he is happy with me though as he does lots of binkies and Im hopefully getting him a girlfriend

i don't feel so stupid now that i'm not the only one who ponders

angeleyes, i was reading about the 2 rew boys you have earlier and i was in tears thinking about the life (or lack of) they must have had.

i just hope that i am giving esme a life she loves and deserves. its just little things and reactions that make you wonder what on earth has gone on in the past:?

Yeah, think about it a lot.

Rudy is a real scardy too. He was about a year old when given up by his first home but already neutered and had been a house rabbit, I try to convince myself that he's just a wimp by nature. When he stayed at the vets a fortnight ago he buried himself under all the hay to hide away, he's such a flipping softy... but when he's confident of his surroundings he's really confident.

It breaks my heart to think of Tinks' early life, what I know of it. She had a myxi jab and her claws trimmed by FHB during the week and before she got her out of the carrier I asked if she remembered her temperament, to which she said it was imprinted on her mind ... but during conversation about her said that it's us that make them as they are (as in early experiences) She's definitely so hard to handle because of the awful trauma of her early life... I take comfort in knowing how happy she is with Roo and myself, I just wish vets visits and any other issues such as grooming weren't such a trauma to her, she trusts me to a point but doesn't want to be handled at all.

Quite sadly, I know the full history of my 2 rescue buns
My poor Ella, She was orignally going to be snake food, then went to my niegbhours who treated her like ****
She wasnt a very trusting bunny, and would often attack when you went near the other rabbits and wouldnt let you pick her up or go near her to stroke her. She now quite often enjoys some snuggle time, does the biggest binky's youve ever seen, and is happy for me and my mum to go near the other rabbits without her attacking. Shes come a very very long way
Also Fletcher was found as a baby dumped in a garden on a horrible day,but was thankfully rescued, sadly the lady who orignally adopted him, had another 2 rabbits and Fletcher was quite left out and she felt it very unfair on him, so my beutifle man decided here was his forever home and now has the comany of 3 gorgeous girl bunnys and a boy bunny (To even things up ) who dote on him
Im so proud of both my rescue bunnys as theyve both been through alot in there short lives, but it just makes me a very very proud bunny mummy cos i love my fletcher and ella lots

I'm getting the impression that everybody has the same gut feeling I have - I have a big responsibility to make a rescue rabbit happy to make up for anything that went on in the past ... I have to admit it is really rewarding to turn their lives around.

I think sometimes it is best not to know. Some of the previous lives our sanctuary bunnies have had are truly horrific, but to dwell on it would send you over the edge.

Its much better to concentrate on the present and look to the future and make it as happy as possible for them, thats the most important thing

Ruby was a stray and I don't know how she came to be out on her own but sometimes I worry that she just got lost, and has another owner out there worried about her
And then sometimes I wonder whether she used to be a house rabbit, because she always seems so much more comfortable indoors, and I worry that I'm not giving her the life she's used to.

She's not obviously scarred by whatever her life was like before. She's not nervous and is quite friendly, although she's pretty moody most of the time XD She seems used to getting her own way...
I wish I could know for sure, though.

I like to think they don't remember. I think obviously it can effect their behaviour, but for example in the respect that "I don't it when humans come near me, but I'm not quite sure why", which is why then when they learn that humans can be quite nice really, they learn to behave differently.

loosy, i know what you mean ....'i wish i could know for sure' but i can see where liz is coming from - maybe its best not to know as we can't change the past regardless:? (especially seeing some of the horrors posted on here).

just my curiosity i suppose and wondering if she has a better life now. i suppose she wouldn't have been in rescue tho if she didn't need a new home

Look at it this way, even if they had a life of luxury before they came to you, for some reason they lost their original home so it is going to be so much better that they are now with you rather than spend the rest of their life in a rescue or being passed around by people who don't care about them or worse

Hugo's There said:

Look at it this way, even if they had a life of luxury before they came to you, for some reason they lost their original home so it is going to be so much better that they are now with you rather than spend the rest of their life in a rescue or being passed around by people who don't care about them or worse

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thanks
even if she was adored, i don't think anyone could love the monty little moo as much as i do

i do all the time biggles history is the only one i know fully,
i dont think my buns had too much of a terriable life, I think most of mine were just unwanted, all i know from doc was that he was agressive and bit children ( never once bitten me in agression, as is a soppy bun after being neutered )

frosty I wonder as i dont know much at all on her,
carrie i belive is just aggressive sometimes because its just her nature,
linus was kept in a plastic box for a hutch, he was the worse case i had and yet after a month of hiding in the corner you wouldnt of known he was a badly treated bun,
beth was part of an unwanted litter

Hugo's There said:

I think sometimes it is best not to know. Some of the previous lives our sanctuary bunnies have had are truly horrific, but to dwell on it would send you over the edge.

Its much better to concentrate on the present and look to the future and make it as happy as possible for them, thats the most important thing

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i qouite agree in comparison to some bunnies i suppose mine have had "ok" lives before coming to me as i have heard such horrific cases but i am lucky to know the background of all but 1 of my rabbits well the 1 i only know a tiny bit about
lucky:1st ever rabbit (now at bridge) left in cardboard box as "had wrong markings to show" then lady whos doorstep she was sumped on loved her but let her live under the shed in a burrow she had her first "home of her own" with us!

starskey: was kept in a hutch she couldnt turn aroudn in that was falling apart she escaped constantly (i would like to say she also was a houdini at our place in large home!!) and was given up as no longer wanted

chocolate and chelsea(originally thought to be male and female and fought al lthe time and kids bored and told they were unfreindly rabbits) were inseperable at rescue and both female loved being together,

dora and snowy: kept with monkeys fought with monkeys and kids no longer wanted them.

coco:abandoned in a flat by first owner and left for dead then second owner kept him well for a few years but in the end kept in a hutch over a year due to family circumstance(cancer and disabled child) manhandled by older son and fed when they could cleaned out once every week came to us aggressive now a snuggle bunny!

arthur: starved and fed potatoe peelings and bread

kitty : was loved but sadly given up into rescue as owner could no longer keep her we know least about her.

i dont wonder about thier past because Alvin was a baby and pearl was at hopper haven from a very young age too... but on days like today i wonder if they would of been happier if they had gone to someone else.. there is something about the envirorment that gives alvin stasis and perhaps had he ended up somewhere else he wouldnt actually be a stasis bun. and pearl maybe shed of been happier outside in a lovely big shed :?

I get too upset thinking of what has happened to so many animals, for long.

Thumper is a private rescue. Yes, he had some fear hang ups at the start. It was just a matter of gently, & slowly letting him learn that he was safe now & nothing frightening would happen to him here.

Poppymoon, I think that your bunnies are in bunny heaven on earth with you. You can see it by ear postion, body posture, the things they get up to. They are superbly cared for physically, & lead fulfilled lives with their different temperaments. We can't do better than that.

I don't really think about the bunnies too much because I know Pea and Pod went to Caroline at The Rabbit Residence when they were very young. Flora and Parsnip were born at the RSPCA in Norfolk and then had a loving home for 4 years until their owners emigrated. They had a bit of a dodgy home for 6 months or so before finally coming to me and their forever home.

But I DO wonder about the piggies. Both came from situations that were not great. Gubbins is very small for an adult male having been kept in a small and dark hutch and Beryl was almost half the weight of a healthy female because she'd been kept with a rabbit and clearly couldn't compete for the food. Even after they've been bathed and claws clipped here this afternoon :shock:, I'm sure they're still aware that it's like the Ritz here compared to where they've come from.

But (and at the risk of being shouted at) - to quote Cesar Millan - animals live for the moment, not in the past. They worry about the here and now - it's only humans who obsess about the past. So if your animals are living a great life NOW, that's all you need concern yourself with .

I wonder about Reggie, I got him from Kirkby and Celia didn't know much about him, he had only been there a just under a week when I took him. He is so shy and very timid, he likes being stroked but often runs off when you try and stroke him. I have to let him approach me for strokes. He gets scared when you pick him up. He has improved a lot since being bonded with ruby, he is quite inquisitive, but still very scared. He is showing a naughty side though but i think he has picked this up from her. He also snatches food out of ehr mouth the naughty bunny. I do wonder whether he was mistreated, or even left alone and ignored, being so timid. I don't think he had had much excercise before as he didn't seem to know what to do when put in a run. He now runs about but he likes to hide in dark places like under the bed. He also had really long claws which makes me think he hadn't been excercised much with his previous owners. I like to think he is happier now as he is finally binkying....and i have had him since october!