To bond or not to bond? Single bunny advice.

[Wintermoon]

Hi everyone, I have recently joined this forum to get some bonding advice. I'll try to keep this post from being too long!

I have two bonded house bunnies, Myloe (neutered male, approx 1.5 years old) and Marmalade (spayed female, 6 years old) who have lived together for almost a year. I adopted Myloe from a local rescue shelter and they were bonded after Marmalade's previous life partner passed away. They currently share a double bedroom and free roam safe upstairs areas.

Several months ago I took in Roo (neutered male, 10 months old). This was unplanned, he came to me through a friend of a friend who had purchased him on a whim as a gift for her toddler - shocking no one, they quickly got fed up with him and were planning to release him if they couldn't get rid of him. To avoid seeing this happen I took him in despite having no plans for a third bunny. He is kept downstairs and is totally separated from Myloe and Marmalade.

For the most part, Roo is a dream bunny, however, he does have some behavioral issues. He's very dominant, will bite (without breaking the skin) if he doesn't want you to touch his things and will get very cross if I vacuum a room he's in which has led to me having to ensure he's not in the room if I don't want to have my feet attacked! This behaviour gets ten times worse with other rabbits. I attempted to bond him with a spayed female and it was a disaster no matter how slowly we took it. He just seems to hate other rabbits and his default behaviour is to attack, even on neutral territory and with the proper slow introductions, swapping of possessions, etc. He gets very agitated and seems quite defensive.

I'm at a loss of what to do. He doesn't seem unhappy, he loves cuddles, he'll jump up on my lap and sit there whilst I am working, at night he's usually sprawled out on the sofa watching TV and he loves puzzle games so I set one up for him every day with a few leafy greens to help keep him entertained. I just worry that he doesn't have a friend and that he may get lonely. On the flip side, I hate seeing him so unhappy when he has another rabbit near him and I don't want to have to keep returning partners he refused to bond with.

Do I accept he likes the single bunny life or do I keep pushing to find him the right partner? Any advice would be really helpful!

 

[a reader of books]

It was really kind of you to take in Roo. He sounds like he has quite a strong personality! I wonder if there's a reason for his behaviour or if it's just his personality. If there's a cause, like bad experiences he's had in the past, for example, maybe in his previous home, then it might be possible to work on that, and he might be able to accept a friend one day. Has he only met that spayed female you were trying to bond him with, or other rabbits, too? I'm just thinking that if it's only her, he might be different with a different rabbit, but if he's like that with every rabbit he's met it doesn't sound like he's in a good place for a bunny friend right now. What a tricky situation. I'd normally always say every bunny needs a friend, but...

 

[Wintermoon]

Thank you for your reply! I'm not sure about bad experiences in the past, to my knowledge they got him from a breeder and he hasn't lived with any other bunnies other than his mother/siblings. Again, I can't be 100% sure of this as I have limited knowledge about what has or hasn't happened in his previous home.

Occasionally he will hear Myloe and Marmalade running around upstairs although, as I mentioned I keep them separated and they can't see each other as I don't want to risk upsetting the bond Myloe and Marmalade have. When he does hear them he'll usually stomp his feet but I'm not sure if that's because he's specifically hearing other rabbits or he just doesn't like the noise. The female I had hoped he would become friends with was a very docile bunny and didn't retaliate to him either (poor thing was a bit terrified of him!) so it wasn't a case of two dominant bunnies trying to work out who was in charge.

 

[Scrappy's Little Helper]

I have read about some bunnies who are extremely fussy about their partners. I wonder if Roo is one of them? I think if I were in your position I would see if any rescue would be able to arrange some speed dating for him. I.e introduce him to a few single females and see if there any positive signs with any of them which could lead to a successful bond.

 

[joey&boo]

Roo lovely you saved him & what a brilliant name. If he has only tried one bunny friend I'd consider trying other rabbits, maybe he'd prefer a boy bun. Most of my initial adoptions started off with bunny speed dating ...it was amazing how differently my bun would react to different buns they were tried out with. It could be wishful thinking but I like to think there is a bun out there for everybun. I have rabbits upstairs & downstairs - I'm sure they know each other exist, even just based on their amazing sense of smell

 

[joey&boo]

I'm a slow typer & didn't see Scrappys speed dating suggestion til after my got sent.

 

[Scrappy's Little Helper]

Great minds think alike!

 

[Wintermoon]

Roo lovely you saved him & what a brilliant name. If he has only tried one bunny friend I'd consider trying other rabbits, maybe he'd prefer a boy bun. Most of my initial adoptions started off with bunny speed dating ...it was amazing how differently my bun would react to different buns they were tried out with. It could be wishful thinking but I like to think there is a bun out there for everybun. I have rabbits upstairs & downstairs - I'm sure they know each other exist, even just based on their amazing sense of smell

He was called Rex when I got him (he is a mini Rex) but I felt like that name didn't fit him. He reminds me so much of the Winnie the Pooh character with how cute and adventurous he is that he ended up being Roo! :lol:


Thank you both for your speed dating suggestion. I didn't know that was a thing! I'll contact the rescue shelter again after Christmas and see if this is something we could potentially arrange. I really hope there is a bunny out there for him. Although he doesn't seem unhappy I do feel like he might be missing out on all the snuggles, grooming, and general mischief causing that bunnies get up to together!

Thanks again for everyone's help, I'll hopefully post an update in the future with how we get on.

Have a lovely Christmas!

 

[joey&boo]

Yes please do update - even better stick round & join in on rabbit stories & photos

 

[a reader of books]

Thank you for your reply! I'm not sure about bad experiences in the past, to my knowledge they got him from a breeder and he hasn't lived with any other bunnies other than his mother/siblings. Again, I can't be 100% sure of this as I have limited knowledge about what has or hasn't happened in his previous home.

Occasionally he will hear Myloe and Marmalade running around upstairs although, as I mentioned I keep them separated and they can't see each other as I don't want to risk upsetting the bond Myloe and Marmalade have. When he does hear them he'll usually stomp his feet but I'm not sure if that's because he's specifically hearing other rabbits or he just doesn't like the noise. The female I had hoped he would become friends with was a very docile bunny and didn't retaliate to him either (poor thing was a bit terrified of him!) so it wasn't a case of two dominant bunnies trying to work out who was in charge.

Oh, I see, so the doe is the only bunny you've tried to bond him with. Your mentioning that his behaviour gets worse with other rabbits made me wonder if you'd tried more than one bunny. In that case, I think SLH and j&b's idea of speed dating is a great one! Maybe if he gets to choose his own friend he'll find one he'll like.

And, yes, it must be difficult to know if he's had bad experiences in the past, of course... Please do keep us updated on cute Roo and his quest to find a bunny friend!