Older neutered, lonely male and very young, small unspayed female?? Bond or not?

[Anniebirdy]

Recently Marble came into the care of S.T.A.R, his sad story is told in the videos section. I have also a small, young bun waiting to be speyed asap (Finances have held me back on this, but she is only just about 3 months old yet anyway)
However, definately I will get her 'done' in the next 4 - 6 weeks at the most.
In the meantime though, I'm wondering if it would be advisable or inadvisable to start bonding these two buns? I would wait and see if an older, ready speyed bunny came into STAR, but to be honest, unless it was a total emergency, I dont really have room or the financial recources available for another bun.
I know Marble is desperately sad and lonely though, what do you think?

[GrahamL]

I dont think i'd personally go for a bond right now, as its possible if her hormones do suddenly kick in, it could all go horribly wrong.

Could you have him accomodated where he can see/smell/get close to another bunny, even if its just within a few inches?

I've seen many sad rabbits be happy to just be closer to other rabbits without necessarily needing bonding - just while sick or another circumstance did not allow it. Is that a possiblility?

[catherine09]

Please don't take this as a criticism - it's just a question - but I wondered why you would bond up single rabbits that are in rescue when pairs are so much harder to re-home?

I notice a lot of rescues doing it and wonder what the reasons for it are? Personally when I was looking for a single female to pair with my male, I found so many rescues (including RSPCA) had paired all their rabbits up to save on space, but that seemed a bit ironic when it meant that I couldn't adopt from them and the pairs they had stayed in rescue so much longer than they would if kept as singles (for people to bond to existing bunnies).

[Anniebirdy]

I dont think i'd personally go for a bond right now, as its possible if her hormones do suddenly kick in, it could all go horribly wrong.

Could you have him accomodated where he can see/smell/get close to another bunny, even if its just within a few inches?

I've seen many sad rabbits be happy to just be closer to other rabbits without necessarily needing bonding - just while sick or another circumstance did not allow it. Is that a possiblility?

Thankyou graham, and yes, I could do some hucth and pen shuffling and arrange that! The idea had actually crossed my mind, but I was concerned incase it made things more stressful, as in, accentuated the loneliness. BUT, as the suggestion has now been put forward by yourself, I'd feel more confisdent doing that! Thankyou!

Please don't take this as a criticism - it's just a question - but I wondered why you would bond up single rabbits that are in rescue when pairs are so much harder to re-home?

I notice a lot of rescues doing it and wonder what the reasons for it are? Personally when I was looking for a single female to pair with my male, I found so many rescues (including RSPCA) had paired all their rabbits up to save on space, but that seemed a bit ironic when it meant that I couldn't adopt from them and the pairs they had stayed in rescue so much longer than they would if kept as singles (for people to bond to existing bunnies).

Hi Charlotte, great question, and no, I havent taken it as a criticism at all
The reason I like to bond them in pairs, is so that if they go to a new home where the new ownders are working, and the bun may well spend a fair bit of time alone, it will always have companionship. You are right though, I believe it could make them harder to find homes for, but I hate the thought of a lonely bun when they are such sociable creatures.
Hope this helps, or at least, hope my view on this subject helps xx

[catherine09]

Hi Charlotte, great question, and no, I havent taken it as a criticism at all
The reason I like to bond them in pairs, is so that if they go to a new home where the new ownders are working, and the bun may well spend a fair bit of time alone, it will always have companionship. You are right though, I believe it could make them harder to find homes for, but I hate the thought of a lonely bun when they are such sociable creatures.
Hope this helps, or at least, hope my view on this subject helps xx[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I meant single buns to rehome as a companion to an existing bun I didn't explain very well! From my experience of all the bunnies re-homed by the rescue I got Hettie from, they are constantly re-homing bunnies that are on their own - they pair them up with the owners existing bunny (like they did with Sweep - he lost his wife-bun so we took him there to find a new one) - whereas the pair they have there have been there for a long time now