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Considering Rehoming Daphne

DwarfBuns

Warren Scout
I feel awful writing this & the thought of it upsets me. But I'd love some opinions.

For a while, I worked in a pet shop :( I didn't particularly enjoy it, but that's beside the point. While I was there, my boy, Frasier passed away. I was heartbroken and couldn't help but blame myself. I then tried to compensate for this with the pets I worked with. We'd often get sick animals, particularly bunnies. We had one in that was suffering with status, the managers let us take her to the vets, but at the end of the day, we would all leave. Having seen what Frasier went through, I requested to take her home. I was off for 3 days and refused to let her die in pain in an isolation room. For 2 days, I force fed her every couple of hours. Set alarms on my phone throught the night & slept beside her. After 2 days, she still wasn't responding so I took her to my rabbit savvy vet who said there was very little hope for her. She was pts. I was heartbroken again. I failed her :(

We then had a beautiful bunny come in, a little method. She was put on the shop floor to be sold, but then, as she was being sold! It was noticed by a colleague that she had problems with her teeth. She was put into isolation and for a good few weeks, every week, she was taken to a vet to have her teeth trimmed. She would eat plenty of hay, but within a week of them trimming her teeth, they would grow back to the point that they were sticking into her gums. I asked the managers to have her front teeth removed. They did & she's been fine since! Perfect even! One of my colleagues wanted to adopt her, but I knew how he treated his other adopted bun (He's in a small cage & gets outside time occasionally). I didn't want that for her, so I adopted her with the idea that I would bond her with Niles.

I had to wait a while before my rabbit savvy vet would spay her, so she was on her own for a little while. First she was in a rabbit 100cm cage while she settled in. Once we moved her to her own room (where the piggies live, separately), we put a run around the cage and opened it up. She loved it! So much space! Lol. She's a diva tho & started escaping. I was worried she'd hurt herself or would be able to get back and dehydrate so I took away the run. She's been great & loves the space of the whole of the room! Since then, I've updated the room, she shares a C&C cage with the piggies. They have a 5x2, which is raised and she is underneath with a 3x2. She still has full run of the room and has toys, tunnels etc and a hay tray. She loves it!

Since getting her spayed, I tried to introduce her to Niles (just befoore changing the room around) it didn't go well. So now I've got Niles on his own, which he seems fine with. No depression or anything so I'm leaving him as a single bun. But I wonder if she would be happier with a friend. I am feeling a tad overwhelmed by the amount of work I have with the pets, I suffer with reccuring depression, so that doesn't help! I can't help but wonder if she could have a better life with someone else, bonded with a male bun. I can't have another rabbit so bonding her here isn't an option. I don't get to spend enough time with her as I'd like either.

I love her to pieces, I only want the best for her. Am I being selfish keeping her here?
 
Oh bless you for taking her in :love: she sounds a very happy bunny to me :thumb: I wonder if it would be worth seeing if a rescue would have a go at bonding Niles and Daphne for you in return for a donation?
 
Would it help to talk through the bonding with someone? I'm happy to talk to you on the phone just to see if there is anything that could be done differently to see if they might work and you being able to keep both?

Is the photo in your avatar of Frasier your bridge bunny or one of the two you have now? I ask because in my experience REW bunnies and nethies in particular are very often poorly sighted and this can affect their bonding.

And where are you so if a rescue or experienced bonder might be able to step in and take over or atleast come and watch them be bonded at home, it might be useful?

Message me if you would like to chat and I'll give you my phone number.

Helen
 
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Would it help to talk through the bonding with someone? I'm happy to talk to you on the phone just to see if there is anything that could be done differently to see if they might work and you being able to keep both?

Is the photo in your avatar of Frasier you bridge bunny or one of the two you have now? I ask because in my experience REW bunnies and nethies in particular are very often poorly sighted and this can affect their bonding.

And where are you so if a rescue or experienced bonder might be able to step in and take over or atleast come and watch them be bonded at home, it might be useful?

Message me if you would like to chat and I'll give you my phone number.

Helen

That's a fantastic offer :thumb:
 
Would it help to talk through the bonding with someone? I'm happy to talk to you on the phone just to see if there is anything that could be done differently to see if they might work and you being able to keep both?

Is the photo in your avatar of Frasier your bridge bunny or one of the two you have now? I ask because in my experience REW bunnies and nethies in particular are very often poorly sighted and this can affect their bonding.

And where are you so if a rescue or experienced bonder might be able to step in and take over or atleast come and watch them be bonded at home, it might be useful?

Message me if you would like to chat and I'll give you my phone number.

Helen

That would be amazing, thank you Helen!

I have to admit that I am terrified of bonding them. I don't have the nerves for it & I would feel awful if anything happened to them because I forced them to be together :(

Niles is the REW in my avatar. I didn't know that he would need anything different because of his eyesight! He does have some problems with his sight, but it doesn't seem to hinder him too much. He is a different bun to how he was with Frasier though. When I'd get them out to play, they'd just sit in the corner.. now Niles runs about & binkies.

When I put him & Daphne together before, he went for her 3 times. The first time he just lunged, but then he started nipping which is when I separated them. I found out the next day that she had cystitis & was on antibiotics for a bit. I'm not sure if he hated her or if he didn't like that she was unwell. She has some slight problems grooming herself, but thankfully she's all clean down below now! Bless her.

Niles has long term respiratory problems & it's been recommended that he not be vaccinated. Although, since changing him to Fitch, he's not sneezed once! So I will look into that again! It was our rabbit savvy vet who said not to vaccinate him. He didn't respond to any antibiotics so I wonder if it was just the woodshavings!

I have a spare 5ft cage that I could bond them in, but I'm just so scared they'd fight & I don't know where to put them if itdoes work out . I've heard it's better to put the female in with the male, but Daphne would hate that! She loves all over her space!

I have so many concerns about bonding :/ I'm in Leicester, if there's a rescue that could help then that would be amazing. I would be more than happy to give a donation! I'd still fret over them getting sick. Gut stasis is at the front of my mind all the time after Frasier :(
 
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