Should I continue socializing when our rabbit doesnt want to and rehoming question.

[silver jedi]

Hi I have a small crossbreed rabbit who I rescued from a pet shop ( did not pay for ) as he had been living on his own in a small cage for three months and needed neutering and socializing etc, I ordered and built a hutch and run and he has been living a combination of indoor living with quality exercise and outdoor in his hutch all day until an hour in the kitchen socializing in the evening, the problem his he was neutered five weeks ago but seems to be becoming aggressive by nipping and now he has just spent two nights outside he does not want to come inside the house at all and because of the stupid style of hutch that I ordered it is not easy at all to retrieve him from his hutch which just adds im sure to the problem. I am very wary of him even though its only nipping and desperate for him to be re homed with a female somewhere but until there is a rescue space or someone that will take him on what do i do with him, should I continue attempting to bring him in for socializing or leave where he is apparently happy ( I dont mean at the times when he is in good mood and actively seeking attention which he does and enjoys being stroked and groomed) It upsets me to think that he is alone but we cant keep as I have a young child who keeps getting the odd nip and need a friendly rabbit. We do have one other rabbit that is incredibly sweet natured and 12 weeks old that is terrified of the rescue rabbit as he lept from my arms into his cage when i was putting back in his cage and was bitten quite badly so any hopes of bonding the two are gone, so i now have two rabbits living alone and beginning to regret starting this but want to continue as the benefits for my child and myself are great and i know that we can give a pair of rabbits a great life.It is my hope that I can rehome him and then after baby rabbit is neutered go to a rescue centre and get them to bond to another for us as im really not happy keeping two separate rabbits. I feel that i cant really do any more with him and run the risk of making matters worse if he stays with us as , any advice really welomed . Thankyou.

 

[Elena]

I wouldn't rule out them bonding in the future. A chance encounter in one rabbit's territory when one is neutered but the other is not is not a good indication of how they will react in a nuetral space when both are neutered. It sounds like he is becoming possessive of his hutch which is a bit odd if he's neutered but I found with one of my rabbits that it took a few months for hormones to calm down so you may have to be patient. Also if he can smell another uneutered rabbit he maybe trying to defend his space from this perceived threat to his territory.

Are you picking him up out of the hutch? If so, is there any way he can come out of his own accord? It's not great for rabbits to be swapping from inside to out all the time, especially if it's for long periods of time as the temp change can affect their breathing. Most rabbits dislike being picked up. To them it's like a predator swooping down and plucking them from their environment, so they like to have four feet on the ground whenever possible. Maybe instead of bringing him in you could attach a large run that he can come and go of his own accord and sit in there with him. The best way to get rabbits to trust you is to sit with them but not interferring with them. I spend a lot of time around my rabbits but not actually doing anything with them, almost ignoring them and doing something else.

As for rehoming, you may find it very difficult. Rehoming rabbits is very slow sadly and to do it properly you need to homecheck the home he's going to to be sure that he won't end up back in another rescue.

 

[silver jedi]

Should I

hi, thanks for your reply, I have some time to try work things out as the younger rabbit is not neutered yet but after the damage the the rabbit did to the young one i couldnt afford the vets bills if even in time something went wrong with bonding, i think someone who knows what they are doing and has better facilities needs to do it. This morning he was not too adverse to being brought in and now he is flying around the house, jumping and exploring, I thought id bring him in to get some exercise before it gets too hot , his hutch and run is an apex one and it is not large enough yet being around 5 by nearly 3 in the run part ( the advert said it met the wraf standards so i bought it) and he has a runaround pipe as well. what i noticed yesterday after not bringing him in for exercise was that he was a lot more active in the hutch and run whereas before he has seemingly done nothing all day so im sure that on days where he is in a grump he can stay in the hutch and run. Im not keen on keeping lone rabbits outside all the time but I will play it by ear when it comes to socializing him, thankyou again.

 

[cara]

I think the behaviour of the new rabbit is perfectly understandable as he seems to be here, there and everywhere. I know you want to socialise and enable exercise, but I think the way you are doing it is very unsettling for him. I am sure that he is not inherently unfriendly but prob quite afraid of being taken away from his familiar surroundings. However for bonding they would need neutral space. And yes, bonding is not the best part of having rabbits.

The combination you currently have is just as likely to work as any other 2 rabbits you take on (well .. Generally speaking). Your problem is the process of bonding. What you need is someone to mix them for you and a suitable set-up for 2 rabbits. What about asking a rescue to bond them for you?

I am sure your new rabbit is a sweetie and worth investing in!

 

[Sky-O]

I would say try to lose the idea of socialising him, and look at it as working to win his trust.

It might be worth having a read of these articles.

http://flashsplace.webs.com/bondingwithyourbunny.htm

http://flashsplace.webs.com/handling.htm

 

[silver jedi]

Thank you for all your replies and the links , good stuff, im going to see how things go over the next couple of weeks.