Rabbit died

Not sure which forum as my post covers health and bonding....

Went to the pet shop last week and saw 2 cute female rabbits (6 months old) happy togeather in a pen, fell in love with them.

Bought the cage, food, hay etc, bought the rabbits home, they got along fine, were quite happy huddled up togeather.

1 Rabbit was very greedy, ate the dry food lots, and drank lots of water. The other rabbit (the one that died), very rarely went for the dry food and was eating mostly hay, and barely used the water. But still seemed fine.

After having them less than a week, found one dead this morning stiff as rock.

Not sure what to do now, i do not want the other rabbit to get lonely, but not sure how best to introduce a new friend(s)... Its a large cage (Upstairs and a downstairs with ramp). I would like to have 3 rabbits, and i have read that rabbits like to be in companys of 2 or 3.

Will they bond better now if i get rabbits of the same age with them being young? Am all confused, because with the original 2 rabbits i knew before hand they got along.

Hello there.

I am sorry that you have had a loss - bunnies are so precious and it's such a shame when such a youngster passes away.

Are you a novice at keeping rabbits? If you are, then I'd say try and read up a bit more before you proceed. You will certainly need to find a friend for your remaining rabbit, however, if you don't know why the other bunny died, I would not get another until you've learned a bit more, in case there is an issue with the existing bunny. Had you taken them to the vets for their health exams yet? Even if they were too young to vaccinate, you should ideally register them with your nearest rabbit savvy vet so that they can be checked over.

It may be that as you bought the buns, they had prexisting health issues which you couldn't have known about, but by reading up a lot first about rabbit keeping, if it was an issue of husbandry or something affected by them coming home, you can make sure you have got everything right before taking on another bunny.

I would recommend you contact your nearest rescue and go talk to them about what has happened and get their advice. That way, you can learn a lot and be ready to adopt a friend when they are happy with you as a new home for one of their rabbits.

Helen

Good advice Helen

I have had rabbits and Gunnie pigs when i was i was a child living at home, and it was my partner who really wanted a pet now, with Dogs being out of the question due to us being at work all day long and not wanting cats, we thought rabbits would be a good choice.

I was going to get the vacinations done and newted next pay day (in a weeks time) due to spending over £200 on the rabbits, hutch, etc...

They were from Pets at Home.

Sadly I don't think that we will be surprised at where they came from as many many bunnies are purchased from Pets at Home and I doubt that many have a very good start in life coming from all manner of breeding establishments (this is not a criticism of you buying your rabbits by the way, simply a comment on what as a rescuer, our experiences are). Most of us on here wouldn't buy bunnies. but would prefer to adopt. Many reasons, but one of which (relevent here) is that bunnies in good reputable rescues will have been with the carers for a while and most health issues have a good chance of being identified prior to adoption. You don't have that with buying an unknown bunny from a pet store (or some breeders).

So, I would still suggest checking with rescues in your area. For example anyone in our area is always welcome to come and have a cup of tea and chat about bunnies. We can show people who are thinking of adoption, how we like to see the bunnies living.

In your case, it's going to be unlikely that you will find out why your bunny died - a post mortem is the only way, but needs to be carried out withing a few hours of the animal dying.

I would keep an eye on your remaining rabbit to ensure that there are no signs of ill health.

If you PM me your e-mail address, I can send you a leaflet on how to spot when your bunny is ill. It's not going to give you any answers but will help you to know when you have to get your rabbit to a vet asap.

Helen

quackers said:

I have had rabbits and Gunnie pigs when i was i was a child living at home, and it was my partner who really wanted a pet now, with Dogs being out of the question due to us being at work all day long and not wanting cats, we thought rabbits would be a good choice.

I was going to get the vacinations done and newted next pay day (in a weeks time) due to spending over £200 on the rabbits, hutch, etc...

They were from Pets at Home.

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:wave:

So sorry about your bunny!

Have you informed P@H?? if so what did they say?

Agreed, the most important thing for a new bunny owner to do is learn as much as possible about them. They are alot more complicated to look after than most people realise, and you can be faced with alot of issues you weren't bargaining on! For example, did you know that the muesli type food offen sold as bunny food is actually quite bad for them and that the best thing for them to eat are plain pellets, and in very small portions? Knowledge is power with bunnys!
I'd get your remaining bun checked over by a rabbit savvy vet and maybe even have blood tests done to rule out any infections or viruses that may have been the cause of the deceased buns death. Once you know for sure that she is in perfect health and that you are definatly providing the correct diet etc (am definatly not suggesting that you are doing anything wrong atall, you obv care alot about your buns, just best to be sure ) you can start thinking about getting her a companion (only after shes been spayed of course.) As shes female a neutered male would be ideal for her. Why not rescue one instead of getting him from a petshop? Theres so many buns out there that need a good home and most rescue centres neuter their buns before rehoming so you wouldnt have to think about getting that done yourself, bonus!
You will have to go through a bonding process which can be abit arduous and again is something you should do lots of research on before attempting. Most buns will not like eachother atall at first and you have to gently guide them through the process which can take lots of time and patience!
Good luck and hope your other bun is ok :wave:

Going to get her booked in Vets tommorrow if i can.

Food we were using was the Pellets designed for young rabbits. (Its what the woman at pets at home said to use).

quackers said:

Going to get her booked in Vets tommorrow if i can.

Food we were using was the Pellets designed for young rabbits. (Its what the woman at pets at home said to use).

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Is it what they were feeding them there?

I'm so very sory about your loss, but I think that everyone has given great advice and this is definitely the place to be if you have any questions

That's really awful and must have been distressing for you and the remaining rabbit. I've found everyone on here really helpful with all my many questions. Just to say that my partner keeps marine fish and I think pets @ home give a 7 day guarantee. I bought my rabbit from a local garden centre called 'Dobbies' and I know they offer the same so even though it sounds callous it may be worth asking for a refund, I would personally (after considering posts on this site) opt for a rescue but you could use vouchers to buy food/ hay etc.
Once again, very sorry.

They will refund you if you contact them saying it died under 30 days after.

River said:

I think that everyone has given great advice and this is definitely the place to be if you have any questions

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I agree, I've found people really helpful.

So sorry for your loss

Hope your other bunny is ok and that you'll consider giving a rescue bunny a good home.