• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Rescue recommendation in the Buckinghamshire area?

ImoT

Mama Doe
I am starting to research rescues for a companion for Winston. I can't get one until around the end of July as Winston isn't being neutered until the end of May. I have contacted Blackberry Farm RSPCA and also Reading Rabbit Rescue which works with the RSPCA (although the Reading one is around an hour away from me). During my research I have come across one which was advocating those corn on the cob snacks for rabbits so it made me a bit wary of that rescue. Does anyone know of any reputable rescues I can contact in the Aylesbury/Buckinghamshire area….I am happy to travel for the right companion but I wouldn't want to put the new addition through too long of a car journey. I also would really like a rescue which helps with bonding or does most of the bonding process.
 
I don't know where you are in Bucks but The Rabbit Residence is only in Herts and they're overflowing with bunnies looking for homes. Caroline will bond them for you too.
 
I don't know where you are in Bucks but The Rabbit Residence is only in Herts and they're overflowing with bunnies looking for homes. Caroline will bond them for you too.

The Rabbit Residence is an hour and a half away, it's a bit further than I would of liked but I will contact Caroline anyways :)
 
The Rabbit Crossing :)

I used to live near Windlesham! :) It's about an hour away from me now, but I shall email them. I've found The Rabbit Crossing on facebook but they don't seem to have a website? I've already emailed The Rabbit Residence.
 
Hi Imogen

I'm on here too - but you are right no website - I have domain names and one day I'll actually get my website up and running again. I find Facebook is much more useable for the kind of stuff I do.

But I'm glad we've now 'chatted' by e-mail and hope that I might be able to help you if time permits when Winston is ready for a wifelet.

Helen
 
Hi Imogen

I'm on here too - but you are right no website - I have domain names and one day I'll actually get my website up and running again. I find Facebook is much more useable for the kind of stuff I do.

But I'm glad we've now 'chatted' by e-mail and hope that I might be able to help you if time permits when Winston is ready for a wifelet.

Helen

Fingers crossed!
 
Have you thought about Wood Green, not sure which is your nearest branch but lots there needing partners.
 
Hi Imogen

I'm on here too - but you are right no website - I have domain names and one day I'll actually get my website up and running again. I find Facebook is much more useable for the kind of stuff I do.

But I'm glad we've now 'chatted' by e-mail and hope that I might be able to help you if time permits when Winston is ready for a wifelet.

Helen

Hi Helen, just about to reply to your email :) I realised you were on here this morning when I was looking at the thread about rabbit rescues re-introducing themselves.

Reading Rabbit Rescue may be another one!

I have been in contact with Reading Rabbit Rescue. After sending them photos of my set up and asking me lots of questions they have said they would be happy to rehome to me :D They sound really great and their bonding process sounds good, they only bond one pair a week so they can focus on that pair, they do it slowly and don't leave them alone until they are completely sure the buns are happy/safe together. They also said they keep in touch with people they adopt to and offer help and advice about what to do when you get the buns home to help ensure their bond doesn't break and things.

I would have liked to have been able to go to a more local rescue but my local RSPCA doesn't bond (it just give out leaflets about bonding) and I just don't think it would be very responsible of me to attempt to bond myself. I found another rescue nearby but it was advocating those corn on the cob treats and it just made me question whether they were a good rescue :/
 
We have reserved a girl there after our little girl passed on RIP Skye <3 to bond with Neo.

We are booked in for the 9th May to attempt the bond and we will drop off for the week. If it takes longer they will still carry on over the week if they think it looks promising. If it takes less time and you're unable to collect before the week is up, they will keep your bun and theirs until the week is finished.

We were there for 2 hours on Friday morning and we got to chat about everything (she knows her stuff!) And do a little handling.

I'm confident they are a great rescue and all of the buns get outdoor time and overnight are in huge cages inside an outhouse that looks just like a small house and temp diff is barely anything too :)
 
We have reserved a girl there after our little girl passed on RIP Skye <3 to bond with Neo.

We are booked in for the 9th May to attempt the bond and we will drop off for the week. If it takes longer they will still carry on over the week if they think it looks promising. If it takes less time and you're unable to collect before the week is up, they will keep your bun and theirs until the week is finished.

We were there for 2 hours on Friday morning and we got to chat about everything (she knows her stuff!) And do a little handling.

I'm confident they are a great rescue and all of the buns get outdoor time and overnight are in huge cages inside an outhouse that looks just like a small house and temp diff is barely anything too :)

I'm sorry about Skye, but that's exciting about the prospect of a new companion for Neo :) Can I ask what the name of the little girl you are hopefully bonding Neo with is? I enquired about Toffee and they mentioned she is booked in for bonding soon so wondered if it was her! I was going to email them to ask what happens at night time on the first couple of nights of bonding…are the buns left together or separated? Just wondered if you might know the answer as you've been there!

Winston is an indoor bun so it's probably good I would be adopting in the summer so the temp difference between house and outside isn't too much!

Thank you for the reassurance that they are a good rescue :)
 
I'm sorry about Skye, but that's exciting about the prospect of a new companion for Neo :) Can I ask what the name of the little girl you are hopefully bonding Neo with is? I enquired about Toffee and they mentioned she is booked in for bonding soon so wondered if it was her! I was going to email them to ask what happens at night time on the first couple of nights of bonding…are the buns left together or separated? Just wondered if you might know the answer as you've been there!

Winston is an indoor bun so it's probably good I would be adopting in the summer so the temp difference between house and outside isn't too much!

Thank you for the reassurance that they are a good rescue :)

We have gone for Beauty as she's the spit of Neo, just in reverse! Seemed very friendly :)

Toffee was lovely, she's had a lot of interest though but you never know, it might not work! They have some waiting to come in I think, they just need the room first :)

So what happens is they have them in separate runs next to each other (so if grass isn't a normal ingredient of diet I'd suggest adding it in slowly) for a few hours. They then have a date for 2 hours or so in a run together.

They try again for a longer period of time and aim to be fully bonded by day 2/3 I believe! They bring them inside overnight do believe if they are indoor rabbits to keep an eye on them but I'm unsure if it's 100% the same each time!

If you can, I'd advise giving a second choice so that if it was definitely not going to work with one, you have another chance with a second. For us this wasn't an option but we did meet Toffee just felt she wasn't right for us.

You could always ask to be told when they get any females in of X age and then you will know before the website is updated :)
 
We have gone for Beauty as she's the spit of Neo, just in reverse! Seemed very friendly :)

Toffee was lovely, she's had a lot of interest though but you never know, it might not work! They have some waiting to come in I think, they just need the room first :)

So what happens is they have them in separate runs next to each other (so if grass isn't a normal ingredient of diet I'd suggest adding it in slowly) for a few hours. They then have a date for 2 hours or so in a run together.

They try again for a longer period of time and aim to be fully bonded by day 2/3 I believe! They bring them inside overnight do believe if they are indoor rabbits to keep an eye on them but I'm unsure if it's 100% the same each time!

If you can, I'd advise giving a second choice so that if it was definitely not going to work with one, you have another chance with a second. For us this wasn't an option but we did meet Toffee just felt she wasn't right for us.

You could always ask to be told when they get any females in of X age and then you will know before the website is updated :)

Aww Beauty looks lovely (looked her up on their website!)! Good luck with the bonding, I shall keep my fingers crossed for you :)

Thank you for the advice, Winston does have readigrass weekly and when my OH strims the front lawn (with the strimmer not the mower) I got out and collect some grass for Winston to have, so he is sort of used to it but not used to it daily.

My only concern with it being on grass is how do they make sure the run is totally neutralised before trying to bond new buns in it?!

I am still in email contact with them so will ask them to let me know if any potential companions arrive after Winston has been neutered, and I am still in contact with other rescues such as Helen's The Rabbit Crossing so hopefully I shall be able to find him a companion by the summer :)
 
Aww Beauty looks lovely (looked her up on their website!)! Good luck with the bonding, I shall keep my fingers crossed for you :)

Thank you for the advice, Winston does have readigrass weekly and when my OH strims the front lawn (with the strimmer not the mower) I got out and collect some grass for Winston to have, so he is sort of used to it but not used to it daily.

My only concern with it being on grass is how do they make sure the run is totally neutralised before trying to bond new buns in it?!

I am still in email contact with them so will ask them to let me know if any potential companions arrive after Winston has been neutered, and I am still in contact with other rescues such as Helen's The Rabbit Crossing so hopefully I shall be able to find him a companion by the summer :)

Neo was never a daily rabbit either but we have slowly increased over the last week and he's now having a large handful every morning which has improved his appetite hugely and his poos are looking much better too!

I'm not 100% sure, each run is moveable and has a heavy lid on top weighing it down. The rabbits aren't left out in them alone for more than a few minutes a day as they are both either in the garden or in the kitchen looking our at them, but I don't know if they are meshed underneath I'm sure if its something you're worried about you could ask. To be honest, I think they've been going for a good few years now and never had issues so I'm sure what they do works.

As the space isn't necessarily neutral, it still hasn't had either one of them in it before they go in together. I'm sure there's residual smell from other rabbits but not sure if this will really make much difference as the run is out in the elements, getting wet and sun dried which would most likely remove quite a lot of the smell!

Obviously you could always ask, and report back!
 
Neo was never a daily rabbit either but we have slowly increased over the last week and he's now having a large handful every morning which has improved his appetite hugely and his poos are looking much better too!

I'm not 100% sure, each run is moveable and has a heavy lid on top weighing it down. The rabbits aren't left out in them alone for more than a few minutes a day as they are both either in the garden or in the kitchen looking our at them, but I don't know if they are meshed underneath I'm sure if its something you're worried about you could ask. To be honest, I think they've been going for a good few years now and never had issues so I'm sure what they do works.

As the space isn't necessarily neutral, it still hasn't had either one of them in it before they go in together. I'm sure there's residual smell from other rabbits but not sure if this will really make much difference as the run is out in the elements, getting wet and sun dried which would most likely remove quite a lot of the smell!

Obviously you could always ask, and report back!

They do seem very experienced, so i'm sure they know what they are doing. I have emailed asking them about whether they always bond bunnies outside and if there is anything I would need to do to prepare Winston for being outside and things. Depending on their reply I may ask further questions…it's a good point about runs being meshed underneath, I hadn't even thought of that! I would assume whatever they have must be predator proof?!!
 
They do seem very experienced, so i'm sure they know what they are doing. I have emailed asking them about whether they always bond bunnies outside and if there is anything I would need to do to prepare Winston for being outside and things. Depending on their reply I may ask further questions…it's a good point about runs being meshed underneath, I hadn't even thought of that! I would assume whatever they have must be predator proof?!!

I know that in some cases they bond inside but when we do Neo's the weather should be better. If it isn't then I'd ask them to bond inside, it shouldn't be much more difficult for them to do if you request it :)

Not necessarily, its meshed and heavy wood. They get moved every day/every other and either her or hubby are in the garden at all times.

They've never had any issues so would assume that either the wooden tops are really heavy, or they don't have issues with predators! Either way I guess if there were issues they would've changed stuff?

I'm a little apprehensive to have Neo outside as he's always been indoors, I think if the temp isn't up a little more than now then I'd ask for him to be inside. Aside from being odd for him, it could be cold and really it's a little cruel to give him a small taste of the outside to then be back inside for 99% of the time!
 
I know that in some cases they bond inside but when we do Neo's the weather should be better. If it isn't then I'd ask them to bond inside, it shouldn't be much more difficult for them to do if you request it :)

Not necessarily, its meshed and heavy wood. They get moved every day/every other and either her or hubby are in the garden at all times.

They've never had any issues so would assume that either the wooden tops are really heavy, or they don't have issues with predators! Either way I guess if there were issues they would've changed stuff?

I'm a little apprehensive to have Neo outside as he's always been indoors, I think if the temp isn't up a little more than now then I'd ask for him to be inside. Aside from being odd for him, it could be cold and really it's a little cruel to give him a small taste of the outside to then be back inside for 99% of the time!

Ah yes, sorry I forgot you said they come in at night so I guess there will always be someone watching them when they are in the run hence there wouldn't be much need to mesh underneath. That's good they can bond inside though :)
 
Back
Top