• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Rehoming 'older' buns - does it happen?

AnnieElms

Mama Doe
I'm fostering a 7 year old female for my local RSPCA at the moment. She is a beautiful bun, and very friendly with a really lovely little personality. She's being speyed next week, and once recovered she will be ready to be rehomed.

I've got this worry:

I can't help wondering whether she will ever find a home. She is 7 and she is agouti coloured. I'd be really interested to know from rescues/fosterers/people that know, what sort of chance a bun of this age and look will have of finding a new home. I might be too negative, but I would imagine that people looking to rehome (I'm not talking about us RUers, but the general public) might overlook her in favour of a 'prettier' and younger bun.

Do older buns usually turn into the ones that have a forever home at the rescue?
 
i think this probably does happen in general but if you find the right person with maybe an older bun who lost its friend they would take her as a companion..

i know if i am ever in that position in the future i would try to match my guys age wise as well.

good luck with her, she sounds lovely and i love agouti's. :)
 
I adopted the adorable Molly - she was 11 years old and had spent the last 6 years of her life in Rescue :(. She was the sweetest bun and we had a fabulous 15 months together before she succumbed to the masses that riddled her body :(.

Tears are welling up now at the thought of my gentle old girl.
 
I adopted Kenco when he was nearly 6 and he was a dental bunny too.

There are people who are willing to adopt bunnies that other people may overlook. They may be few and far between but don't give up hope because there are those people out there.

ETA: and Fay who is an agouti bunny - lots of people love agoutis. :)
 
Last edited:
I rehomed a black otter bun recently, she is almost 5. When i saw her and had seen that she had been waiting in p@h adoption for 5 months i knew she was unlikely to find a home which is what made me take her. She's the best bun ive ever had and its actually made me decide that any future buns that we get are going to be older rather than younger. So there are people out there that want to offer a loving retirement home to an older bun. I hope she finds a forever home
 
I adopted the adorable Molly - she was 11 years old and had spent the last 6 years of her life in Rescue :(. She was the sweetest bun and we had a fabulous 15 months together before she succumbed to the masses that riddled her body :(.

Tears are welling up now at the thought of my gentle old girl.

Aww bless you. Molly probably enjoyed those 15 months with you a lot, and it's lovely when someone can take on a bun with health issues and give them a great life. :love:

Jojo (the foster bun) isn't really *that* old in the grand scheme of things. I think perhaps I am thinking too negatively, but I would hate for her to go into a centre and not get as much love and attention as she deserves. I just think when there are so many buns in rescue/RSPCA centres that a bun like Jojo is at risk of being a long-termer.

I love this bunny :oops::(
 
I adopted a 7.5 year old and when she passed away 2 years later I adopted a 3.5 year old and a 7 year old for company for my 3.5 year old boy.
 
I get enquiries for older buns more than younger ones and I don't have enough of the olders ones to meet demand. Which rescue are you fostering for in case we can send any enquiries your way?

I think that pairs are harder to rehome as they normally need to go to someone who is looking for a pair for the first time, whereas singles go to people with rabbits looking for another to be it's friend.

I have to admit that agouti bunnies are harder to rehome from photos, but personality can win people over.

I have had a pair of agouti ladies who are now about 7 here for two years and have given up trying to rehome them. They are now permanent residents. Had they been singles, I could have rehomed them over and over again, but being sisters it wasn't to be. We even tried trios but none of them worked out as the girls are so close.

Having said that, they now live with our old 10 1/2 year old lionlop fella Buster and love each other to bits.:D
 
Oddly alot of people who visit my house favour my agouite buns despite the fact that I have lots of different colours including a tan. I think the natural wild look is an appeal in itself.

When I look at RU I always look at the longtermers and old buns first.
 
:(
I get enquiries for older buns more than younger ones and I don't have enough of the olders ones to meet demand. Which rescue are you fostering for in case we can send any enquiries your way?

I think that pairs are harder to rehome as they normally need to go to someone who is looking for a pair for the first time, whereas singles go to people with rabbits looking for another to be it's friend.

I have to admit that agouti bunnies are harder to rehome from photos, but personality can win people over.

I have had a pair of agouti ladies who are now about 7 here for two years and have given up trying to rehome them. They are now permanent residents. Had they been singles, I could have rehomed them over and over again, but being sisters it wasn't to be. We even tried trios but none of them worked out as the girls are so close.

Having said that, they now live with our old 10 1/2 year old lionlop fella Buster and love each other to bits.:D

Thanks, this is good to know. I am fostering for the Guildford branch RSPCA. At the moment things are a bit up in the air regarding the arrangements (long story) so if you do have anyone looking for an older ladybun, it might be best if you could PM me if you are happy to do that. I hope that in the next week or so I might be able to team up with RSPCA Millbrook centre so that rehoming is done via them, as at the moment I'm concerned that I'm expected to do it on my own, but once I can get this sorted, there will be a 'process' and it will be a lot easier.

But, it's excellent that you get enquiries. I hope I can find her a really special home when she's ready, as it upsets me that she is on the older side, and has lived all her life in less than ideal circumstances. :(
 
Next year i'm looking for an older bun about 6/7 and i don't care about colours :wave: i think aguti is pretty anyway :thumb:as long as they could bond with the 2 buns now i'd be delighted to adopt an older bunny. If she still needs a home next year, send me a message ;) i'd happily take her to live with my buns in their large shed! xx
 
:(

Thanks, this is good to know. I am fostering for the Guildford branch RSPCA. At the moment things are a bit up in the air regarding the arrangements (long story) so if you do have anyone looking for an older ladybun, it might be best if you could PM me if you are happy to do that. I hope that in the next week or so I might be able to team up with RSPCA Millbrook centre so that rehoming is done via them, as at the moment I'm concerned that I'm expected to do it on my own, but once I can get this sorted, there will be a 'process' and it will be a lot easier.

But, it's excellent that you get enquiries. I hope I can find her a really special home when she's ready, as it upsets me that she is on the older side, and has lived all her life in less than ideal circumstances. :(

The sad thing about Millbrook though is that they don't (or atleast didn't when I volunteered there) homecheck and they certainly don't bond so to send an older rabbit out to a home and expect someone to bond themselves would be quite risky in my opinion, not to mention very unsettling if it doesn't work and the rabbit has to go back to the rescue. Are you the only person at Guildford branch that does the bunnies then?

Anyway, I will certainly bare this bun in mind if I get asked. Maybe if you e-mail me your contact details (e-mail if you are more comfortable with that) then I can keep in contact that way ( I can't get on with PM's on here as my inbox is always full). I am at therabbitcrossing@yahoo.co.uk

I have rehomed a 10 year old lady and an 8 year old girl within the last year so it does happen :)
 
The sad thing about Millbrook though is that they don't (or atleast didn't when I volunteered there) homecheck and they certainly don't bond so to send an older rabbit out to a home and expect someone to bond themselves would be quite risky in my opinion, not to mention very unsettling if it doesn't work and the rabbit has to go back to the rescue. Are you the only person at Guildford branch that does the bunnies then?

Anyway, I will certainly bare this bun in mind if I get asked. Maybe if you e-mail me your contact details (e-mail if you are more comfortable with that) then I can keep in contact that way ( I can't get on with PM's on here as my inbox is always full). I am at therabbitcrossing@yahoo.co.uk

I have rehomed a 10 year old lady and an 8 year old girl within the last year so it does happen :)

Really? I will check this. I thought they had a rehoming process (certainly the info on their website suggests that they have an accommodation requirement and the bun info is worded in such a way as to suggest they are being rehomed with/to a friend). I really hope they do have a process involving these things, as this is the area I am concerned about in my fostering :?

Anyway, that is completely off topic! So regarding Jojo, and any other oldies I take in, I will keep in touch. I am the person who emailed you last week with tonnes of questions about rehoming/bonding/infection control (sorry) :lol:. I will email you a photo of Jojo, then you have my details anyway. Thank you!!
 
Last edited:
I get enquiries for older buns more than younger ones and I don't have enough of the olders ones to meet demand.

I agree with this. When Santa died last year, I was looking for a 7+ year old to bond with her bereaved partner, and I just wasn't able to find a suitable older bun anywhere in rescue. Which is good news in one way I suppose, but I was both frustrated and surprised to discover that finding an oldie to rescue was harder than I'd expected!
 
Really? I will check this. I thought they had a rehoming process (certainly the info on their website suggests that they have an accommodation requirement and the bun info is worded in such a way as to suggest they are being rehomed with/to a friend). I really hope they do have a process involving these things, as this is the area I am concerned about in my fostering :?

Anyway, that is completely off topic! So regarding Jojo, and any other oldies I take in, I will keep in touch. I am the person who emailed you last week with tonnes of questions about rehoming/bonding/infection control (sorry) :lol:. I will email you a photo of Jojo, then you have my details anyway. Thank you!!

They may do now, but haven't in the past. It would be good if they do.
 
I rehomed two agouti sisters from P@H - they were not older ones (about a year) but had they been older I would have taken them anyway - I love agoutis and do not mind about age.

I have adopted an older single in the past.

HOWEVER it is worth bearing in mind that if the bun is KNOWN and RECORDED OFFICIALLY as over 5 years old at time of adoption one cannot get insurance which for some of us is an essential.

'looks up in air and whistles innocently . . . . . . '
 
I rehomed two agouti sisters from P@H - they were not older ones (about a year) but had they been older I would have taken them anyway - I love agoutis and do not mind about age.

I have adopted an older single in the past.

HOWEVER it is worth bearing in mind that if the bun is KNOWN and RECORDED OFFICIALLY as over 5 years old at time of adoption one cannot get insurance which for some of us is an essential.

'looks up in air and whistles innocently . . . . . . '

This is actually a very good point which I hadn't thought of.
 
Back
Top