Bonded rabbit died Saturday night..what now?

Hi,

We have had a Neatherland bonded with a Mini Lop since they were both 8 weeks old.

They were exactly the same age (born on same day, chances of that?)

Our Lop got ill suddenly last night, took her to emergency vets and they kept her in as she appeared to have statis, unfortunately they called a couple of hours later to tell us she had passed away.

They both lived in our garage attached to the house, with the double 7ft hutch doors opened all day for them to go out and about, then the back garage door left open so they go in and out as they please.

The Lop was clearly the boss, who did chase the smaller one around when food was concerned but they got on fine, the remaining one being the one who did most of the grooming.

We put the body of the Lop in with her today, she thumped around a bit probably due to vet smells and then started trying to wake her up. She then covered the body with the bit of sheet the vet wrapped her in to bury, each time we unwrapped so she could see her friend, she did the same and covered her back up.

I hope this means she has accepted the death and is ready to move on.

Our Netherland is only 2 years 2 months old, so I would like her to have company again.

A rabbit has appeared available today, she is the same age and spayed, as were our two. She is a Netherland so the same breed and as she's already spayed, this seems like the perfect solution to a heartbreaking problem.

Is this too soon to get her a friend? Bonding the original two was quite easy.

With our remaining one not being the dominant rabbit, I presume it will make it easier?

Worst case is the new rabbit is dominant and back to how it was?

Or they both just aren't in charge and get on fine?

Best to just have one rabbit after death?

It will be roughly 48 hours since the Lop left for the vets and 36 hours or so since she was put in the cage lifeless.

They didn't spend all day together, as the Netherland liked to sit behind the hutch on the carpet and the lop just chilled in front of it or in it.

The lop also didn't like the Netherland eating grass outside sometimes..and would chase her in but I expect just because she was greedy.

I need to decide on this one in the next day, seems like a great opportunity to me though.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hello and I am very sorrry you have lost one of your rabbits. Do you know why she died or have any ideas? If it wasn't anything contagious it might be a good idea to get another friend for your remaining rabbit. You would have to introduce them in an area where your rabbit has not been before as she may not accept another rabbit into her territory. Good luck with your decision.

tonibun said:

Hello and I am very sorrry you have lost one of your rabbits. Do you know why she died or have any ideas? If it wasn't anything contagious it might be a good idea to get another friend for your remaining rabbit. You would have to introduce them in an area where your rabbit has not been before as she may not accept another rabbit into her territory. Good luck with your decision.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply

The vet says it was gi stasis, she had a bloated stomach but was fine in the morning, I knew it could kill them fast but didn't think it would happen so quickly.

A big loss as she was so much more friendly than the one we have left, as lops generally are more care free I suppose. By this I mean they don't scare easily, run away from you and just want a cuddle and food.

As much as we don't just want another rabbit, it must be better for the remaining one to have another friend. Space etc isn't an issue just a bit nervous that it's too soon.

As the one I've found is cheap, I guess we can try her and then if needs must, sell her or give her away and perhaps try a male or leave ours alone.

I know male and female bonds are easier but we've always had females together without issue so just stick with it.

I hope it all works well. Let us know please!

Sorry you lost your little one. My advice would be to contact a local rescue. They will be able to match you with a suitable rabbit and many do the bonding for you if required. You wouldn't have to bother with neutering of the new rabbit as they will do this beforehand and you won't end up with 2 singles if it didn't work out.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Thanks for your helpful and kind replies.

Collected another girl today, they pretty much ignored each other during first introduction.

Tried them in the hutch, 8ftx3ft so plenty of room but the one we already had didn't like another rabbit there.

Was to be expected but worth a go, they are now separate but can still smell each other etc, will put them together again out of the hutch tomorrow and leave them free to go in and out of it with the door open.

No rush to have them living in the same bit, will just try and bond as normal, the new one was putting her head down to ours but no response.

As the one which died was very dominant, I am hoping that the new one might be the same and it will go back to how it was before, just with a different rabbit.

It probably doesn't work like that and perhaps our one wants to be boss this time. We will find out in the next week or so.

Perhaps she now wants to be alone and would enjoy having all the food to herself but again, we will find out.

Not really wanting to have our hutch split up top / bottom for two rabbits living separately, as it's set up so they can just go out and in when they choose, having to physically put one outside would spoil our hard work.

I have a few loving homes as back up, in case this bonding doesn't work out but hopefully they will learn to love sooner or later.

Do you guys think that once they have bonded properly outside of the hutch, the original rabbit wont mind the new one in "her" hutch?

When we bonded her last time, they were both 8 weeks and the easiest solution was to buy a new hutch for them both to use.

I bought a 4ft double extra deep one and they did what these two do now, chase in the hutch but not out and as I wanted a bigger hutch (after owning the 4ft one for literally a week) I just bought a larger one which was new to both rabbits and they bonded faster.

This really isn't an option now and I'm not aware of a larger hutch available anyway, have cleaned out with vinegar etc and noticed the original one rubbing her chin on the bottle etc.

They are still separate at the moment, best option is to just keep separate for a couple of weeks while letting them be together out of the hutch and then pray that they don't chase once together and more bonded?

Is there a solution to this or is it purely down to them not being bonded yet?

A good cleaning and with some new toys they should be okay.
Well our girly was, I rearranged as much as possible, cleaned with vinegar several times, brought a new litter tray and new toys.

Horace the Bold said:

A good cleaning and with some new toys they should be okay.
Well our girly was, I rearranged as much as possible, cleaned with vinegar several times, brought a new litter tray and new toys.

Click to expand...

ok thanks, will go along the usual bonding route and fully clean the hutch again before putting them together

There is a hide bit in the top layer which seemed to cause problems, it's just a piece of wood dividing off a section from front to back so might remove that for a while too

thanks for the advice

It would be better to bond them in a neutral area as females are very territorial and usually won't allow any other rabbit to share.