Hi all
I have an 8+ yr old female dutch, Willow, who lost her brother/lifelong partner suddenly two years ago. She clearly grieved for him, and subsequently bonded to me much more strongly. Within about 6 weeks of his death, I tried bonding her with my male/female pair who had been happily paired for about 4 years. It was a difficult bond, with Willow being very nervous and nippy towards the others, and Megan, the other female, is quite physically overpowering and demanding a lot of grooming and attention. I persisted, and eventually they seemed to bond happily for about 6 weeks. Then I came home from work to fur everywhere! I had to separate them and they haven't been able to tolerate even the smell of each other since. I left Willow alone, and where I live there are no bunny rescues so it wasn't an easy option for me to find another bunny to attempt a bond (Wales is the WORST place ever for finding rescue bunnies). About 10 months after this, I took her with me back up to "home" where my parents live and where there is an excellent rabbit rescue. As I was going to be there for over a week, I thought I'd try her with some of the rescue bunnies there, will a possibility of bonding her, and leaving her with my parents until they'd settled and returning them home to me together. She seemed apathetic about the experience of some young male bunnies with raging hormones trying to mount her and eventually seemed to get bored of it and irritable, got nippy and was thumping a lot, looking at me with a "Really mum, do we have to do this?" expression. So, I left it again. Thinking that perhaps she was telling me she was happy enough alone. But I still had my doubts.
Move on another year, and the past few months I've been getting really concerned again for her and really want to try again for a partner. She needs me to pluck her loose fur from her back end and I try to give her as much attention as I can but my boyfriend and I work full time and as she lives upstairs, we only really spend time with her during late evening as we're going to bed. I feel really awful; she must be so bored by herself. I thought she'd follow Storm over the rainbow bridge fairly quickly, which is why I left it before, but she's still going strong and I think it's unfair to leave her for potentially another 3-5 years of her life being husbun-less :-(
So, I've just commenced a hunt for a bunny to bond. Any recommendations? Do I look for a middle aged male, or a very young male? Any suggestions on how to best go about this bond? I've bonded many bunnies in the past so bonding itself isn't new to me, but as she hasn't been overly willing previously, perhaps I've missed something with her because most of my previous bondees were less than 5 years old. She is very docile, and appears to have that old woman persona of just wanting peace and quiet to sleep. But maybe a young male would inject a bit of life into her. The males I tried her with in the past were just too excitable and demanding for attention. I feel she needs a husbun who will just be company, and not too demanding. Any comments welcomed.
Thanks in advance
Clare
I have an 8+ yr old female dutch, Willow, who lost her brother/lifelong partner suddenly two years ago. She clearly grieved for him, and subsequently bonded to me much more strongly. Within about 6 weeks of his death, I tried bonding her with my male/female pair who had been happily paired for about 4 years. It was a difficult bond, with Willow being very nervous and nippy towards the others, and Megan, the other female, is quite physically overpowering and demanding a lot of grooming and attention. I persisted, and eventually they seemed to bond happily for about 6 weeks. Then I came home from work to fur everywhere! I had to separate them and they haven't been able to tolerate even the smell of each other since. I left Willow alone, and where I live there are no bunny rescues so it wasn't an easy option for me to find another bunny to attempt a bond (Wales is the WORST place ever for finding rescue bunnies). About 10 months after this, I took her with me back up to "home" where my parents live and where there is an excellent rabbit rescue. As I was going to be there for over a week, I thought I'd try her with some of the rescue bunnies there, will a possibility of bonding her, and leaving her with my parents until they'd settled and returning them home to me together. She seemed apathetic about the experience of some young male bunnies with raging hormones trying to mount her and eventually seemed to get bored of it and irritable, got nippy and was thumping a lot, looking at me with a "Really mum, do we have to do this?" expression. So, I left it again. Thinking that perhaps she was telling me she was happy enough alone. But I still had my doubts.
Move on another year, and the past few months I've been getting really concerned again for her and really want to try again for a partner. She needs me to pluck her loose fur from her back end and I try to give her as much attention as I can but my boyfriend and I work full time and as she lives upstairs, we only really spend time with her during late evening as we're going to bed. I feel really awful; she must be so bored by herself. I thought she'd follow Storm over the rainbow bridge fairly quickly, which is why I left it before, but she's still going strong and I think it's unfair to leave her for potentially another 3-5 years of her life being husbun-less :-(
So, I've just commenced a hunt for a bunny to bond. Any recommendations? Do I look for a middle aged male, or a very young male? Any suggestions on how to best go about this bond? I've bonded many bunnies in the past so bonding itself isn't new to me, but as she hasn't been overly willing previously, perhaps I've missed something with her because most of my previous bondees were less than 5 years old. She is very docile, and appears to have that old woman persona of just wanting peace and quiet to sleep. But maybe a young male would inject a bit of life into her. The males I tried her with in the past were just too excitable and demanding for attention. I feel she needs a husbun who will just be company, and not too demanding. Any comments welcomed.
Thanks in advance
Clare
It's just a case of finding the right bunny, which is obviously more tough when there is limited availability. Maybe look for a rescue as near as possible that offers 'bonding holidays' so she could stay for a few days. Then pick a time when they've got some good potential matches in.
