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Rehoming Daphne.. Rescue Centre or Private?

DwarfBuns

Warren Scout
I'm not sure of the best way to go about rehoming my little feisty bunny, Daphne! I am going to look around a rescue centre tomorrow, but I am worried that they won't be able to fill the criteria I have set out for her new home. They only have small indoor enclosures as well, which is concerning as Daphne prefers a lot of space. Ideally, I'd like her to be bonded with a male, but I think it's going to be tough as she is very territorial. Jesselle & I tried to bond her & Neville last weekend, but it didn't go too well. They were fine initially, but then Daphne started trying to attack poor Nev. Luckily, she can't bite, but we thought that if she could, she'd have drawn blood! Neville was so lovely & just tried to ignore her, he didn't retaliate at all. In the end, we called it a day after 5hrs or so, Neville was looking stressed and Daphne was just launching unprovoked attacks. The opposite happened when I tried her with my male, Niles. He was the one attacking, while she sat there stunned! With Nev, she pretty much claimed 3/4 of the bonding pen! :O

Going on this, I'd say her ideal husbun will need to be one that will stand his ground, but won't attack her! I would love to have her bonded with Niles, but I just don't think it will happen :( We can't afford to have another rabbit & she would never accept a male into her room, she's far too territorial!

The new home she goes to must have her as a house bun, ideally giving her a room to play in! As that is what she has now. She gets bored too easily to be in a cage, even (or especially) overnight! She displays this frustration by jumping around the sides of the cage & throwing her toys & bowls. I would worry that she could hurt herself, or another bun, in that situation. She enjoys being held and is happy with cuddles - depending on her mood! She has tried to bite me a couple of times, usually when she wants her food! She is very food motivated!!

Am I being unreasonable expecting a rescue centre to find a home that fits this for her? Would I be better off trying to rehome her myself? Obviously, the pros to that are that I could get updates on how she's doing, she can come back to me if there are any problems and I can be happy knowing she is going to a home that I would like! The cons being that it is time consuming, I can't drive so rely on OH to take me places, I'm not experienced in bonding so would be worried about trying to find her a husbun by myself!

Would love some thoughts on this really :)
 
If you sign her over to a Rescue it is they who will set the criteria for a new home. She will no longer be your Rabbit

So I would try to Rehome her yourself first. I assume she is spayed and up to date with her vaccinations ?
 
If you sign her over to a Rescue it is they who will set the criteria for a new home. She will no longer be your Rabbit

So I would try to Rehome her yourself first. I assume she is spayed and up to date with her vaccinations ?

Yes to both :) If I sign her over, is there a chance they will just override anything that I say to them with regards to her requirements? That worries me! :(
 
Yes to both :) If I sign her over, is there a chance they will just override anything that I say to them with regards to her requirements? That worries me! :(

They will more than likely do that, if they are taking her then she becomes their Rabbit and will fall under their own rehoming requirements.
 
Yes to both :) If I sign her over, is there a chance they will just override anything that I say to them with regards to her requirements? That worries me! :(

I would expect a reputable Rescue to have high standards of requirements for anyone wanting to adopt from them. But once you sign a Rabbit over you have no rights at all regarding their future. A reputable Rescue will always put Rabbit welfare first and will listen to your comments about what you feel would be the most suitable home. But you cant insist on it. If, for example, after observing Daphne themselves over a few days, they feel she may actually do very well as an outdoor Rabbit (with a bonded companion) then you could not insist that she was only homed to an indoor set-up.

A reputable Rescue will only want to do what is best for the Rabbit.
 
I would expect a reputable Rescue to have high standards of requirements for anyone wanting to adopt from them. But once you sign a Rabbit over you have no rights at all regarding their future. A reputable Rescue will always put Rabbit welfare first and will listen to your comments about what you feel would be the most suitable home. But you cant insist on it. If, for example, after observing Daphne themselves over a few days, they feel she may actually do very well as an outdoor Rabbit (with a bonded companion) then you could not insist that she was only homed to an indoor set-up.

A reputable Rescue will only want to do what is best for the Rabbit.

:thumb:
 
When you said that she can't bite, is that because she has no front teeth? Did you say what age she was?

Yes, sorry, her front teeth have all been removed :( She's roughly a year & a half now x

Raine - I didn't, no. My OH was reluctant to try again & won't unless I can figure out how they can be housed afterwards if we did manage to bond them. Niles wouldn't like Daphne's setup & I now know that she would be territorial of that now anyway! And as Niles is in a 5ft indoor cage, I don't think Daphne would like that, even if she did come out to play like he does :( I'm not sure we could get it to work. It's a massive shame as I would love for them to be bonded!

---

The comments on the rescue do put me off a little from taking her to one of them. I would much rather be in control of the environment she goes to. We have talked about keeping her until we're able to move house & then bonding her with another bun, that way she can go straight into a room with her husbun & it will be neutral territory for both of them. But that's years away. Daphne will have to be on her own until then :( I've tried to PM Helen, but it says she's out of PM space :(
 
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Yes, sorry, her front teeth have all been removed :( She's roughly a year & a half now x

Thank you! All of my bunnies are toothless buns and I happen to think they are wonderful :D
Good luck with the bonding or rehoming, whatever you decide to do .. x
 
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