Okay, so, this is kind of a long story, starting last year and not yet finished. Please do bear with me.
Last September, my Pipkin died. He was the closest I will ever have to a soul mate, and I was very devastated. In October, my brother David, whom works at the Co-op (and is moving to Thailand shortly), came home and told me about his coworker Chelsea and her rabbits.
She had gotten her first ever rabbit, Bailey, from Pets At Home, then, a few weeks later, got another baby rabbit (both does). She didn't know if she could keep this other one (whom, for the sake of simplicity, I shall refer to as Bun), and hadn't started an attempt to bond her with Bailey. From what I could gather, they lived in separate cages (the plastic bottom ones, probably) in her room.
One day before work, Chelsea had Bun out whilst Bailey was in her cage; when Bun passed, Bailey reached out through the bars and bit her ear, grabbing on tight. Chelsea had to literally pick up the cage and shake it until Bailey let go; when she did, half of Bun's ear had been ripped off. She survived after being rushed to the vet's.
Hearing this, although it had only been six weeks since Pipkin had died, my heart went out to Bun, and I, through my mum's Facebook, offered to rehome her. Can't keep them both after that. Chelsea refused. Cue angry ranting about a irresponsible owner, with no real idea or understanding of how to care for rabbits, totally screwing up both their futures (what, was she going to keep them in separate cages for ten years?), comments from my mum about 'interfering', and general disgust and attempt. Knows that this will end badly.
December comes, I feel ready for another rabbit. I find Amy, and discover perhaps the best rabbit in the entire world. She is oh so sweet, oh so gentle and oh so loving. Generally well-behaved and laid back, gives me dozens of kisses each and every day, and loves to be snuggled, petted and fussed over. A real darling. I'm the luckiest bunny mama in the entire world.
Jump to yesterday. David comes home, tells me that Chelsea is struggling with Bailey, calls her 'mad' and now wishes to possibly rehome her. She remembers my offer from before, even jokingly suggesting we give Bailey David's room when he moves away. I feel smug, say 'I told you so' to Dave, and now feel rather sad over Bailey's fate.
Thing is, right now I'm not looking for another rabbit. If I'm honest, I could probably live with a single bun, and when I do get another rabbit, it will be purely for Amy; all she wants to do is love the world, and I do want to do everything in my power to make her happy. I figured in a few months to a couple of years I would go and find her a husbun that she could groom and snuggle and love, once everything was right.
Because right now, the kitchen is being remodelled, David is preparing to move away to another country, and I have yet to get Amy spayed. Mostly because I've been waiting for David to go, because he's a noisy that keeps getting delayed in moving (first it was Indonesia, then it was Singapore, finally now Thailand), and I want her recovery to be as calm and peaceful and easy as possible. And then, because Dave is gone, the three of us (myself, my mother and father) have to operate our B&B, working harder than ever.
And I don't really want another rabbit, not with all this, and not one with problems I don't know how to deal with. I've only had singles so far.
So, where will poor Bailey go? I think I'm going to see if I can meet this 'devil rabbit'; it's possible Chelsea is just misunderstanding her, and she's got spring fever, particularly if they aren't, as I suspect, spayed. If she isn't, I'll impress upon her the importance of doing so (and educate her in other areas), see if that will improve her behaviour. If she is spayed, and is quite badly aggressive, I think I'll suggest she give her to the Scottish SPCA, unless anyone here can think of something better.
Thank you for reading. I'm off to hug my rabbit.
Last September, my Pipkin died. He was the closest I will ever have to a soul mate, and I was very devastated. In October, my brother David, whom works at the Co-op (and is moving to Thailand shortly), came home and told me about his coworker Chelsea and her rabbits.
She had gotten her first ever rabbit, Bailey, from Pets At Home, then, a few weeks later, got another baby rabbit (both does). She didn't know if she could keep this other one (whom, for the sake of simplicity, I shall refer to as Bun), and hadn't started an attempt to bond her with Bailey. From what I could gather, they lived in separate cages (the plastic bottom ones, probably) in her room.
One day before work, Chelsea had Bun out whilst Bailey was in her cage; when Bun passed, Bailey reached out through the bars and bit her ear, grabbing on tight. Chelsea had to literally pick up the cage and shake it until Bailey let go; when she did, half of Bun's ear had been ripped off. She survived after being rushed to the vet's.
Hearing this, although it had only been six weeks since Pipkin had died, my heart went out to Bun, and I, through my mum's Facebook, offered to rehome her. Can't keep them both after that. Chelsea refused. Cue angry ranting about a irresponsible owner, with no real idea or understanding of how to care for rabbits, totally screwing up both their futures (what, was she going to keep them in separate cages for ten years?), comments from my mum about 'interfering', and general disgust and attempt. Knows that this will end badly.
December comes, I feel ready for another rabbit. I find Amy, and discover perhaps the best rabbit in the entire world. She is oh so sweet, oh so gentle and oh so loving. Generally well-behaved and laid back, gives me dozens of kisses each and every day, and loves to be snuggled, petted and fussed over. A real darling. I'm the luckiest bunny mama in the entire world.
Jump to yesterday. David comes home, tells me that Chelsea is struggling with Bailey, calls her 'mad' and now wishes to possibly rehome her. She remembers my offer from before, even jokingly suggesting we give Bailey David's room when he moves away. I feel smug, say 'I told you so' to Dave, and now feel rather sad over Bailey's fate.
Thing is, right now I'm not looking for another rabbit. If I'm honest, I could probably live with a single bun, and when I do get another rabbit, it will be purely for Amy; all she wants to do is love the world, and I do want to do everything in my power to make her happy. I figured in a few months to a couple of years I would go and find her a husbun that she could groom and snuggle and love, once everything was right.
Because right now, the kitchen is being remodelled, David is preparing to move away to another country, and I have yet to get Amy spayed. Mostly because I've been waiting for David to go, because he's a noisy that keeps getting delayed in moving (first it was Indonesia, then it was Singapore, finally now Thailand), and I want her recovery to be as calm and peaceful and easy as possible. And then, because Dave is gone, the three of us (myself, my mother and father) have to operate our B&B, working harder than ever.
And I don't really want another rabbit, not with all this, and not one with problems I don't know how to deal with. I've only had singles so far.
So, where will poor Bailey go? I think I'm going to see if I can meet this 'devil rabbit'; it's possible Chelsea is just misunderstanding her, and she's got spring fever, particularly if they aren't, as I suspect, spayed. If she isn't, I'll impress upon her the importance of doing so (and educate her in other areas), see if that will improve her behaviour. If she is spayed, and is quite badly aggressive, I think I'll suggest she give her to the Scottish SPCA, unless anyone here can think of something better.
Thank you for reading. I'm off to hug my rabbit.