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Not sure what to do! Single timid(but seems happy) bunny after losing partner

Anmagdan

Young Bun
We have a 4 yr old male mini lop who lives in our living room. We recently lost his sister to bloat which was traumatic for us but after a few weeks he seems to have bounced back.

We know that bunnies should live with bunny company so we took him to a rescue centre to see if we could find him a suitable lady. It didn't go very well!

Let me stress that I don't think it was the rescue places fault - he was already in a pretty bad mood from the hour car ride and he used to rely heavily on his sister for confidence in exploring new things. After two attempts with different ladies we had to pick him up on day 2 as he was cowering in the corner, refusing to eat or drink. It took us another 2 days at home to convince him to start eating again. It was a scary experience for all involved and one which we aren't looking to repeat.

All the re-homing places near us are about 45-60 minutes away minimum. We have no experience bonding bunnies as we had these two as babies from the same litter. I feel we're asking too much to get a rescue centre to drive a bunny to us, and also probably wouldn't be much fun for the female bunny, especially if it didn't work out. We would make an extra donation for it - I just want to do whats right for him and any ladies we get involved.

What do you recommend we do? Has anyone been in a similar situation?
 
Firstly, I'm very sorry for your loss.

I've had rabbits single through loss and/or unexpectedly rescued alone several times now.

I've always done the bonding myself. And almost every time it's been fine. Bonding is nerve-racking, especially the first time. To be honest, the rabbits have to do the hard work - all the human is there for is to keep an eye on things, especially if the behaviour of the rabbits leads to fighting. I've found that any successful bond I've had has always sorted itself within a week (and that includes trios/quads I've bonded too.)

My 2 most recent singles needing companions are Persephone and Arce. Persephone I rescued when she was being kept in a hamster cage. :( Arce lost her sister after a prolonged illness. Both times I adopted from Honeybunnies (around 3 hours from me). Both times, I chose a buck and picked him up - alone - when he was ready. Both the boys travelled fine on their own. Morpheus bonded to Persephone in about 4 days. Yuki bonded to Arce within an hour. I always start in a restricted neutral space then expand as the bond deems necessary. I also neutralise the space they are going into as best I can.

In your situation, I would definitely adopt a new doe companion for him, especially as you've indicated that he was heavily reliant on his sister. And I would bond at home to reduce the stress of travel for him. I looked up bonding techniques prior to my first serious attempt at bonding, and after that just looked positively towards the bond and what was going on with the rabbits involved.

Whatever you choose to do, good luck to you both. :)
 
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