She died, what should I do about the buck?

Hi, my little nethie cross doe died in the night, I found her this morning in the nest box. Gutted is an understatement. I checked her little body over and couldn't find anything obviously wrong. She was over 7 but from a rescue so exact age unknown. I found her partner downstairs in the run, he is eating but looks sad. I took her body away and cleaned the home out, etc. he came upstairs and looked for her afterwards so he knows she is gone now. He's been out and did some binkys, ate the plants etc and seems ok although downcast.

Do you think I should get him another partner, and if so how long should I wait? i don't want to bond him with my other pair as I don't think it will work with 2 bucks and he's quite a dominant character. He's over 3 kilos and est 7.5 years old, I'm not sure how long he will live but I expect it might be a few more years?

A few years ago one of my bucks died and we got his partner a new friend but she was only young and I didn't think it fair for her to live on her own for many more years.

What do people think, what are experiences at this age of rabbit? Thanks.

Unless I was trying to stop having rabbits for some reason, I would always be inclined to get my buns a new friend I think. We're out at work a lot so they would spend a lot of time on their own. I suppose it depends on your circumstances, but unless you're a reason not to, then I'd say go for it. Rescues are full so for that reason alone I'd want to try to give another bunny a home.

I'm sorry you lost your little girl.

esupi said:

Unless I was trying to stop having rabbits for some reason, I would always be inclined to get my buns a new friend I think. We're out at work a lot so they would spend a lot of time on their own. I suppose it depends on your circumstances, but unless you're a reason not to, then I'd say go for it. Rescues are full so for that reason alone I'd want to try to give another bunny a home.

I'm sorry you lost your little girl.

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thank you. I wasn't planning to get more but they have a good life here we can afford them etc. So you are right. I think it's just the loss is so upsetting each time. Do you think waiting a couple of weeks is reasonable, to allow him to grieve and isolate as I'm not sure why she died?

I'm so sorry you lost her

When I lost my doe my boy was so sad that I went and found him a new friend from rescue within a few days.

All bunnies are different but my boy was soooo happy not to be alone.

I would say it depends on how your bunny is doing. IF he's obviously lonely then the sooner the better but you have to be ready too.

I would probably get him checked over by a vet first as you don't know what killed his friend too.

I'm so sorry you lost your wee girl, it must be such an awful shock.
I think you need to be guided by your bun, I took my buck to the rescue centre to find a new pal after 7 days, he seemed ok eating and pooping wise etc but he just seemed sad. He was so happy when he met his potential girl that he just licked her within a minute or two. Which made me so happy.
I think our buns are ready to befriend another bun much earlier than maybe we are.

I'm so sorry you lost your girl

I think your boy would love a new friend, when you're both ready. There are lots of older buns in rescues too if you wanted one of a similar age to your boy xx

Thanks everyone for kind thoughts and advice. I'm going to keep a close eye on him the next few weeks and will write to the rescue to ask to arrange a visit and hopefully attempt at bonding him with a new partner.

Hope all goes ok xx