Should I bond my rabbit for the 3rd time....

I have a female spayed house bunny called Honey who I've had since February 2012, she was 8 weeks when I got her.

On the vets advice, we got a male rescue rabbit (Teddy) from the RSPCA in May 2012 and successfully bonded them, they were joined at the hip, very sweet to watch them happily playing together.

Unfortunately in September 2012 he got very ill and died on the way to the vets, from bloat. She was quite clearly depressed but luckily came to us for companionship but we know it wasn't the same so bonded her with a new male rabbit (Murphy) in October 2012 and again, they were completely inseparable.

Sadly, he started looking a bit poorly on Sunday afternoon and suddenly went down hill, he died at the vets the next day, again from bloat

So again we have a sad Honey who is, to be honest, really quite destructive round the house when she is on her own. Luckily she is very fond of my partner and I but I know it's not the same as having a bunny friend and we can't give her the constant attention she wants when she is on her own.

The advice I'm after is, would the right thing to do be to bond her with a 3rd rabbit as she is still very young herself? I don't know what would be the best thing to do for her after having two previous besty-bunny-buddies?

Any advice would be much appreciated

personally, I would give her time to grieve then look into finding another friend for her, as she was obviously very happy being with another bun, and I'm sure she will be again.

Hi :wave:

This sounds pretty similar to our story. We had Ellie in Sept 2011, along with her litter mate, Maverick, who went in for an eye removal op 5 months later but had to be pts as they found some kind of mass behind his eye. I left her for a few weeks and then bonded her with another bun, Tufty, who we lost after 6 months to a horrible bout of stasis. She's now on her 3rd fella and not even 2 yet!!

Ellie is so much happier with a mate, she is a house bun and no matter how much she loves my nose-rubs (and I do spend a lot of time with her) but given the choice she'll always ask for attention from her bunny-mate over me!! :roll:

I love seeing 2 bunnies snuggled up together, grooming and running round together Everyone was saying I was crackers for getting a 3rd fella for her but she's just a baby still, and the thought of her never having bunny snuggles again seemed just not right.

I think it depends on your situation though and how much time you have with your rabbits, and how content they are to be by themselves...whatever you decide, Good Luck!! :thumb:

Yes I think you should get another friend for Honey because it is not her fault that her last 2 husbuns have died. I would also want to know why 2 bunnies have died of bloat one after the other, please ensure you have got their diet right (there is lots of good info on here) and you are not giving them any "treats" such as bread, biscuits, too much carrot which is high in sugar, and you are not overfeeding. A lot of fruit is not good either. Hay should be their main food. I hope Honey's third friend is successful. Good luck.