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Need help/opinions please.

sun_city_girl

Warren Veteran
Have a dilemma which has been going on for awhile. a bit of back story;
we have 2 buns, boys from the same litter, at about 12 weeks we took them to the vets and were told they were a boy and a girl and had to seperate them, which we did. I then realised about 2 weeks after that girl bun was a boy aswell. It was too late by this time as they had hit puberty and whenever they encountered each other they fought really badly, so we kept them seperated.

Hitley lives in the lounge but is very destructive, chews and eats everything, used to spray everywhere but obv doesnt much anymore. Also he is very sociable, always comes up to you and bounces around and is funny and clever although deosnt really like being petted but will flop out by your feet.
Bun lives in the bedroom and doesnt chew anything and just does the only occasional wee when caught short. He will also come up to be petted and likes cuddles but isnt as funny or actively sociable with us. We had to clear some things out so Hitley went to live at my mums for a week, he lived in a small lobby area at night and in the day went in the hutch/run in the garden, he loved the garden digging and playing football.

Now he is home and has been castrated, the other bun is still waiting to get done. However even though they are seperated they know there is enough rabbit around and it makes them both stressed; Hitley will go mad and freak out and hide if he sees Bun and if Bun can small Hitley he will try and attack you haha.

So boyfs parents have said they will take Hitley (they enjoy watching him and his mum chats to him), his parents are in all day and have a garden, they have said that in the day he will have the garden and an outside hutch to go into but at night they will get him a 4ft hutch to go into inside the house (they dont have room for a bigger hutch).

I dont know what to do, he obv likes being in the garden but here he has run of the lounge. However him and Bun dont get on and its getting a bit stressful having Bun live in the bedroom with us, if they could both go into the same room even seperated it would be okay but when they are near each other they just seem unhappy. If we had a garden there would be no issue but we dont at the moment but still i'm worried about the hutch situation and also Hitley not actually living around them as such like he is with us.

HELP!
 
also i forgot to mention but i feel bad that Bun isnt getting to spend as much time with us as we are in the lounge mostly with Hitley, and when Hitley stayed at my mums Bun really came into his own being more sociable and 'hanging out' with us....
 
Maybe when they have him they will let him roam like you do

The thing that bothers me tho is the ''outside in the day and inside at night'' - this is not good for bunny as the change in temperatures is just too much.
 
get bun snipped and either get them each a wife, or take them to a rescue to be bonded. there will be a charge.

they need companionship and hitley (too much like 'hitler', how did that come about? ;)) needs some stability.

:wave:
 
They wouldnt let him roam, they are pretty houseproud and they have two cats and one is very old and blind and it would stress him out. I'm not sure about the change in temp they just said that in the day he would be able to run about the garden...
 
get bun snipped and either get them each a wife, or take them to a rescue to be bonded. there will be a charge.

they need companionship and hitley (too much like 'hitler', how did that come about? ;)) needs some stability.

:wave:

when we got them the person called Hitley Hitler cos he has a black moustache but my 11 year old sister re-named him Hitley as it was 'nicer' and 'cuter' which we agreed with haha!

I'm not sure we could afford 4 rabbits!
 
some rescues do it, but of course they charge for accommodation and for the service, because they will have expenses to cover. having someone who knows what they're doing is bound to help.

i'm going to try to bond my two pairs at christmas. i'm reading up on it and getting more and more scared every day!
 
If you gave him away to them he would be alone for the rest of his life :( and in subsized accommodation and subjected to severe temperature changes. I think its best if he stays with you.

I would get the other bun neutered, wait around 8 weeks, then get a rescue to bond them for you. If it doesnt work then I would try again with a different bonding method, if it doesnt work again then at least you tried, and you may be able to give one to the rescue in return for adopting a female from them. If you pick the rescue right they will homecheck and not let him to rehomed to live alone, so he will have a better life then if he went to live with the people you mentioned before.
 
I would rather not give Hitley to rescue, also if he goes to boyfs parents then when we are eventually setlled, he could come back to live with us; although i wouldnt like him moving about too much; however i would still consider that more settled than being rescue.

I dont really get the temperature extremes; ive had outside bunnies in the past that have lived outside and played outside but on cold cold nights we have brought them indoors and they have been fine; i dont really see that a bunny should either spend all day in doors or all day outside; if i had a garden i would let them play for a bit outside during the day now; so they got fresh grass and some space to dig. As it happens they do spend all day in doors. I think if Hitley were to go to boyfs parents he would be out except on extreme cold nights.

I also dont want to swap him for a girl rabbit for my other bun either; they are both only 6 months and eventually i will be in a position where i could potentially afford more bunnies but at the moment i cant but dont really want to get rid of them,.
 
You can get bonded boys,just have their "pockets picked", wait for about 6 weeks, then rebond with help from here (if you feel confidant enough to do it yourself) or ask a rescue.
Best of luck.It might not be as bad as you think after all!!
 
Thanks, well my boyf is currently at home all day so he would have plenty of time to attempt it; i;m just not sure if we have any neutral territory apart from my car lol
 
I would rather not give Hitley to rescue, also if he goes to boyfs parents then when we are eventually setlled, he could come back to live with us; although i wouldnt like him moving about too much; however i would still consider that more settled than being rescue.

I dont really get the temperature extremes; ive had outside bunnies in the past that have lived outside and played outside but on cold cold nights we have brought them indoors and they have been fine; i dont really see that a bunny should either spend all day in doors or all day outside; if i had a garden i would let them play for a bit outside during the day now; so they got fresh grass and some space to dig. As it happens they do spend all day in doors. I think if Hitley were to go to boyfs parents he would be out except on extreme cold nights.

I also dont want to swap him for a girl rabbit for my other bun either; they are both only 6 months and eventually i will be in a position where i could potentially afford more bunnies but at the moment i cant but dont really want to get rid of them,.


Sorry I was just going from what you said about you couldnt have more than two bunnies. Better a pair than two singles.

If you keep a rabbit indoors at night, they will not develop a real winter coat, and so wont have protection from the cold when they go outside. It is the same reason why you cant buy an indoor bun in winter and put it outside. Also, the actual change in temperature between outdoors and in is not very good for them when it is cold out, and can contribute to respitory problems. It is not a problem in the summer, as the temperature difference is not great, but in Autumn/Winter if you bring an outdoor bun indoors to a heated room between Sepetember and April then you have to keep them in till at least April.

I take what you're saying that you've done it in the past, but in the past I had a bunny in a 3foot hutch and I fed her a big bowl of museli and in the winter a big bowl of porridge everyday and a few leaves of lettuce (yes iceberg) and gave her hay as a 'snack'. And she seemed fine, actually she was more healthy than one of my buns now, but I wouldnt do it again as I know better now.
 
Oh yes, i havent brought them indoors to a heated room before; only at my parents where there is a kind of porch to keep them sheltered from the wind, ice etc.

Im hoping either i can re-bond them or eventually get them girlfriends in another 6 months or so; when we are more settled in an actual house. My worry was just about our situation now i suppose and my concerned re the bunnies hating each other!
 
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