helgalush
Wise Old Thumper
Buttercup, Kenco's wifey bun, is now on her own after we lost him a couple of days ago. She is outside in their big kennel. She seems ok in herself and is eating, she is lively when she comes for her food, although she does look around the run for Kenco at first I think she is coping very well in the circumstances. Kenco is the only husbun she has ever had, they were bonded at the end of April.
She is warm enough because although the kennel is big, there is a snuggly house full of straw for her and we are giving her a snugglesafe heatpad at nighttime as she doesnt have Kenco to snuggle to. We also have wooden flaps that cover all the windows to the kennel and a tarpaulin that goes over the top. I am not worried about her eating or keeping warm (for the moment as it is mild) so much as I am about her loneliness, confusion and boredom out in the dark long nights.
In time I think we will try to see if she will bond with Zebedee, the little stray bunny we found at the railway station in November, who is living in our kitchen. However he can't go outside until spring when the weather is warmer, so this will be a few months away at the earliest.
Do you think while she is coping ok she will be alright outside on her own for the next few months? Obviously we are checking on her very regularly but we will not be able to spend quite as much time with them all soon as our human baby is due within the next 3 weeks. We were telling ourselves all would be ok because they are all in pairs (except Zeb but he's in the busiest room of the house), but obviously this is now not the case.
Should we risk stressing her out by bringing her in the house once baby is born (we can't do it before for various reasons)? At least then we can interact with her more and keep an eye on her more easily, plus she will have time to forget the kennel, so that if a bond with Zebedee does work out, when they both go out again it will seem 'new' to them both. (It will be deep cleaned, repainted, stuff moved around etc). But then what if the change of environment and temperature, plus a crying baby in the house stresses her out more than staying outside on her own?
What would you do?
She is warm enough because although the kennel is big, there is a snuggly house full of straw for her and we are giving her a snugglesafe heatpad at nighttime as she doesnt have Kenco to snuggle to. We also have wooden flaps that cover all the windows to the kennel and a tarpaulin that goes over the top. I am not worried about her eating or keeping warm (for the moment as it is mild) so much as I am about her loneliness, confusion and boredom out in the dark long nights.
In time I think we will try to see if she will bond with Zebedee, the little stray bunny we found at the railway station in November, who is living in our kitchen. However he can't go outside until spring when the weather is warmer, so this will be a few months away at the earliest.
Do you think while she is coping ok she will be alright outside on her own for the next few months? Obviously we are checking on her very regularly but we will not be able to spend quite as much time with them all soon as our human baby is due within the next 3 weeks. We were telling ourselves all would be ok because they are all in pairs (except Zeb but he's in the busiest room of the house), but obviously this is now not the case.
Should we risk stressing her out by bringing her in the house once baby is born (we can't do it before for various reasons)? At least then we can interact with her more and keep an eye on her more easily, plus she will have time to forget the kennel, so that if a bond with Zebedee does work out, when they both go out again it will seem 'new' to them both. (It will be deep cleaned, repainted, stuff moved around etc). But then what if the change of environment and temperature, plus a crying baby in the house stresses her out more than staying outside on her own?
What would you do?