Need advice about getting a friend for my single bunny

I have a single bunny, male, neutered, Polish (very small) around 4 years old.

Long story short: First time rabbit owner. Got Rain as a baby with his brother, Snow. Both hit puberty and started ripping each other to shreds. Got them both neutered. Let them heal and tried to re-introduce them. More fighting ensued. Had to separate them and have them side-by-side in garden. Tried (unsuccessfully) several times to re-bond them. Even though Rain couldn't live with Snow, he always had him right through the fence to socialise with.

Sadly we lost Snow in June of this year to an enlarged heart. We let Rain see Snow's little body before we buried him, so he could understand that he is gone. We also got rid of Snow's hutch etc. because it was upsetting for us to see it empty.

Rain is eating, drinking, peeing, pooping as normal. But, he no longer marks the perimeter of his hutch with poop. He used to leave a line of it along the side Snow's hutch was at. Is that a sign that he doesn't feel like he has to worry about his territory?

I think he enjoyed having a 'neighbour' while there was a fence separating them. But I don't really want to get another rabbit and have them live separately. I'd much rather get one who could move in to his bachelor pad.

I called the SSPCA about one of their rescue buns. They said they wouldn't even consider re-homing him with me unless I had a 'back-up hutch' in case my bun didn't get along with the new bun. So that's not an option.

I have a friend who takes in unwanted buns, and she's always got a few on the go looking for new homes. At the moment she has an 18month old girl (not sure if spayed or not) and she said I could bring Rain around for a play-date to see how it goes.

Also, there's a lady who lives nearby who breeds Netherland Dwarfs, and she said I could have one of the female kits once they're ready to go. I'm concerned that I'd manage to bond them just now, then she'd hit puberty and I'd have the same problem again until I got her spayed and possibly not be able to re-bond them. I don't want to take any chances with a young kit as she'll be easily hurt, also.

Basically I have 3 options...

1. Keep things the way they are and let my boy enjoy the single life.
2. Try the play-date with the 18month old unwanted bun.
3. Try to bond my old fella with a baby.

I'd appreciate any and all advice given as there are a lot of experienced people here.

Are there no other rescues near you? Most rescues will let you take a bun and if the bond doesnt work swap the bun for another one instead of being stuck with 2 single buns.

If the 18 month female isn't spayed that could cause problems with bonding so unless I knew she was spayed I wouldnt try.

Breeders - personally I just wouldnt go to a breeder, again you have the problem of neutering when bun old enough.

Whichever route you take you will need a second hutch until you have bonded the buns, unless of course the rescue would like to do it for you = you dont ask you dont get

Thanks for your advice.

I don't know of any rescues up here except for the SSPCA. I'd love if there was a rescue willing to bond the buns for me.. it would be so much easier.

I told the breeder I'd let her know, but I've been having doubts about it ever since. Fortunately I haven't committed to taking one of her kits, so I'm under no obligation at the moment.

It might be worth getting a hold of an extra hutch, talking to the SSPCA again and trying to arrange some playtime for my bun and one of the rescue buns.

It's all so tricky isn't it. It's never straight-forward with lil wabbits :lol:

Would your friend neuter the 18 month old for you? Then try in a month or two?

You are better off finding a neutered female with the back up of, if they don't bond you can give her back. With the breeder, you generally don't have that option since it would be 6 months down the line and not all breeders will take them back.

I think it's hard to tell because I bonded my neutered 6 month
Buck with unspayed 3.5 months old. She's now 10 months and hasn't changed in herself. She hasn't been spayed yet as she's been poorly. So can't really say for sure if a doe will change but mine hasn't.

Getting any potential girlfriend spayed first will always be better as doing it later could cause problems. My friend had to rebond hers all over again after the doe was spayed and kept separately to heal for 10 days. At least doing it before bonding will eliminate that scenario.

That's the tricky part. There's no going back if I take the kit from the breeder. So I might be stuck with an unbonded pair, which is not something I want. There seem to be as many success stories as fail stories. :/

I'm going to find out if the doe is spayed, as that might be the way to go if she is. The only problem is.. she's a bit bigger than my boy.. not sure if that would make a difference to the bonding.

WeatherGirl said:

I'm going to find out if the doe is spayed, as that might be the way to go if she is. The only problem is.. she's a bit bigger than my boy.. not sure if that would make a difference to the bonding.

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Doesnt matter what size the buns are I have a group ranging from a lionhead to contis.

Aww...

Well, it's good to know I don't have to get another wee one.

I've just called the lady with the rescue bun. She's actually 10 months old.. and definitely not neutered. By looking at her, she's maybe a cross-breed. Looks like a lop, but she's a bit smaller.

She said I can bring Rain round to her house at the weekend to introduce them. Is this advisable given that she's intact? And, would it be better for me to bring her round here to meet Rain?

Not really sure about this whole thing. On one hand, her personality will be set already since she's past puberty. So I don't have to worry about her suddenly becoming a hormonal mess. On the other hand, I'd prefer her to be spayed.

I can't get her spayed, obviously, since she's not mine.

I wonder if I should just sit this one out and wait for a spayed female to come along.

Is your friends bun vaccinated? Cause if not or your not sure, don't let any rabbits near yours (that's presuming yours is vaccinated).

I wouldn't attempt a bond with an unneutered female as she will get very hormonal when she see's your buck. Hormonal females can be very aggressive, plus its never wise to take the buck to the doe's territory anyway, you usually take the female to the buck as the bucks are less territorial

Great advice here guys. Thanks.

I think I'm going to wait for a spayed doe I know is vaccinated.

I think you may be better off finding a rescue that will take him for a week and do the bond for you, in which case whilst he is away you can completely wash out and neutralise your hutch. I think it's always good practice to have a backup hutch in case you need to separate. It is unusual but possible for bonds to breakdown after a long period of stability or you could potentially need to separate for medical reasons. I have a group of 8 and a single bun, I have one spare indoor hutch and my single boy is in a double 6 foot that could be partitioned off in to two hutches should I need a spare in an emergency/ 'just incase'. An examle of this was when I had a bonded bunny that had to have stitches in his back and needed to be separated because the others where licking his stitches out.

WeatherGirl said:

Aww...

Well, it's good to know I don't have to get another wee one.

I've just called the lady with the rescue bun. She's actually 10 months old.. and definitely not neutered. By looking at her, she's maybe a cross-breed. Looks like a lop, but she's a bit smaller.

She said I can bring Rain round to her house at the weekend to introduce them. Is this advisable given that she's intact? And, would it be better for me to bring her round here to meet Rain?

Not really sure about this whole thing. On one hand, her personality will be set already since she's past puberty. So I don't have to worry about her suddenly becoming a hormonal mess. On the other hand, I'd prefer her to be spayed.

I can't get her spayed, obviously, since she's not mine.

I wonder if I should just sit this one out and wait for a spayed female to come along.

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Always introduce an unspayed female in neutral territory and never in her territory. I have unspayed does that are bonded, it can work, its just more likely not to. I also disagree that you would have to separate them when she gets spayed. I've had numerous bunnies I've kept together when one of them has been neutered, so long as they appropriate restrictions are in place and you keep an eye that the other bun doesn't over groom or start bullying.
If the older doe belongs to a friend she may be happy to let you spay her whilst she's still in their care for a few weeks if it means she gets to rehome the bun. It might be worth asking.

Your friend will be spaying the doe anyway wont she? As if she doesnt there is 85% chance the doe will get cancer by the age of 5. So why not ask when she is due to be done, then you could try her a month or two after her spay?

I think in your position you definately need to get a rabbit from somewhere that will take her back if they dont bond. Could you look at rescues further away and travel to them? Many rehome nationally.

I wouldnt take the risk with an unspayed doe - your boy has already had several bad experiences with bonding, and the more he has the more on edge he will be when bonding to another bun, which will make him harder to bond.

I don't know of any rescues here. I could travel within reason.

I'm in Ayrshire in the South West of Scotland.

Does anyone know the closest rescue to here?


Also, I'm actually not sure if the doe will be spayed before getting rehomed or if that's something the new owner will take care of. My friend doesn't rescue rabbits in any official capacity... she actually rescues cats for Cats Protection but she's big-hearted and won't see any animal go homeless if she has a space for it until it finds it's forever home, so has ended up with some buns and guinea pigs as temporary house guests.

Look on rabbit rehome under search rescues hun

Just had a look through those lists. Cheers for posting them.

Ironically enough, the one closest to me is the SSPCA centre in Ayr, which is the one who wasn't very accommodating because I only have one hutch.

Perhaps I should get another hutch and then contact them again. I'll see if I can get a second-hand one, and fix it up.

I've thought about bringing him back indoors. He was an indoor bun for the first few months. But every time I bring him in, he freaks out and runs straight back outside.

He's a nervous wee lad. :/

WeatherGirl said:

Just had a look through those lists. Cheers for posting them.

Ironically enough, the one closest to me is the SSPCA centre in Ayr, which is the one who wasn't very accommodating because I only have one hutch.

Perhaps I should get another hutch and then contact them again. I'll see if I can get a second-hand one, and fix it up.

I've thought about bringing him back indoors. He was an indoor bun for the first few months. But every time I bring him in, he freaks out and runs straight back outside.

He's a nervous wee lad. :/

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Well you might as well contact others in Scotland too, looks like there are loads! I had to travel 5 and a half hours there and 7 hours back to get my bun, but I'm glad I did as the rescue has always been there for me since with advice and help, so its worth going to somewhere that is better, even if its a bit further away.

Remember if you bring him indoors that you'll either have to put him out again by September so he grows his winter coat in time for the cold, or he'll have to stay in till April when its warm enough for him to go out again.

If you had him indoors before, then couldnt you just keep the other bun indoors if it didnt work out between them, instead of buying a new hutch? I'm sure the SSPCA wouldnt object to a housebun. Although their rule about a spare hutch makes me think that they might not be happy about you taking the bun back and trying another if the first bond failed.

It does seem like SSPCA are dead set on me having the other hutch and possibly wouldn't believe me if I said I'd just keep one indoors.

Also, I'd hate one to be indoors and one to be out.. especially in the bad weather. I'd see so much of one and not so much of the other, and I'd feel like Rain was missing out more than I already do... I hate it in winter.. I end up putting my raincoat and wellies on and sitting out in the pouring rain petting him while he snuggles up in his cosy hutch.. lol. He probably thinks I'm mental!

I know that if I bring him in just now, I need to keep him in until the Spring weather again. I'm thinking ahead, because he doesn't like the wet weather.. and he doesn't come out of his hutch as much.. but he really loves the snow.. and he goes out and digs little bunny igloos.. and makes big piles of snow to sit up on.. lol

He has so much freedom in the garden.. I wonder if that's maybe why he doesn't like being indoors now. It would cut his running space down by a huge amount, and he spends a lot of time running around out there.

But, I know that if I am to make him an indoor guy, it should be before the mild weather breaks.. I just feel that he doesn't want to be indoors, and it would be cruel for me to force that lifestyle on him. :/

I'm going to have a look at the other rescues in Scotland. Maybe I'll find him a perfect match somewhere.. even if I do have to drive for hours too! LoL