Natalie
Warren Scout
We adopted Caramel about six months ago. She's elderly, don't know the exact age, but about 9 years, and we have discovered that she has a heart problem, for which she is on the diuretic Frusol, 3 x daily and has to be kept as calm and stress free as possible. We hadn't intended to adopt a bunny, especially as we have rescue dogs, but it was a situation that presented itself when we moved house recently and being totally passionate about animals, I just couldn't leave her where she was.
I'm a total newbie with all things bunny - learning as fast as I can :shock: - never had bunnies as part of our family before.
She had been an outdoor bun, so initially we set up a lovely big run and hutch arrangement for her outside, but I couldn't bear the thought of her coping with the nasty cold winter outside by herself, especially at her age. So the just completed and newly decorated loft conversion (done by the previous house owners), became 'The Bunny Suite' - with signage - obviously :lol:
It's a super big space, 6 meters x 4 meters, and full of all things bunny, tunnels, hideaways, chew toys, hay toys, litter tray, more hay stuff etc etc :lol: and I have to say Caramel took to indoor living really well considering she'd never lived indoors before.
Anyhoo, now that she's settled and we've got her heart problem as under control as it will ever be and she's all up to date with her vaccinations and I've got a bit of a better idea of what I'm doing! I'm hoping to be able to bond her with a nice, gentle, elderly, single, neutered male bun. I have been in touch with a rescue and have passed my home check. We are now waiting for a suitable bunny to come into the rescue as all their adoptable bunnies at the moment are either already bonded, or too young.
So whilst we're waiting I'm trying to find out everything I can about bunny bonding, I will be talking to the rescue about it as well. If it hadn't been for Caramel's heart condition and needing to be as stress free as possible, I would have let her go to the rescue for bonding, but our vet has strongly recommended that we opt for a slow bonding process.
What I would like to know is ...
Is it possible to use the room next to Caramel's for the new bun to be initially, for the 'living next to each other, but not with each other' phase? We would put up a gate between the two rooms so that they could see each other, and get used to each other, without being able to make physical contact. There is also a door between the two rooms, so that could be closed if necessary. The little side room, next to Caramel's room, is about 4 meters x 1.5 meters, so plenty big enough for our new bun's temporary accommodation.
The plan would then be to set up a neutral area in the spare bedroom, away from both Caramel's room and the new bun's room, where we would do brief introductions in a small space, slowly increasing time spent together and size of space, over several weeks?
Does that sound at all possible, or does the initial 'living next to each other but not with each other' phase also have to be completely neutral?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks - Natalie and Caramel
I'm a total newbie with all things bunny - learning as fast as I can :shock: - never had bunnies as part of our family before.
She had been an outdoor bun, so initially we set up a lovely big run and hutch arrangement for her outside, but I couldn't bear the thought of her coping with the nasty cold winter outside by herself, especially at her age. So the just completed and newly decorated loft conversion (done by the previous house owners), became 'The Bunny Suite' - with signage - obviously :lol:
It's a super big space, 6 meters x 4 meters, and full of all things bunny, tunnels, hideaways, chew toys, hay toys, litter tray, more hay stuff etc etc :lol: and I have to say Caramel took to indoor living really well considering she'd never lived indoors before.
Anyhoo, now that she's settled and we've got her heart problem as under control as it will ever be and she's all up to date with her vaccinations and I've got a bit of a better idea of what I'm doing! I'm hoping to be able to bond her with a nice, gentle, elderly, single, neutered male bun. I have been in touch with a rescue and have passed my home check. We are now waiting for a suitable bunny to come into the rescue as all their adoptable bunnies at the moment are either already bonded, or too young.
So whilst we're waiting I'm trying to find out everything I can about bunny bonding, I will be talking to the rescue about it as well. If it hadn't been for Caramel's heart condition and needing to be as stress free as possible, I would have let her go to the rescue for bonding, but our vet has strongly recommended that we opt for a slow bonding process.
What I would like to know is ...
Is it possible to use the room next to Caramel's for the new bun to be initially, for the 'living next to each other, but not with each other' phase? We would put up a gate between the two rooms so that they could see each other, and get used to each other, without being able to make physical contact. There is also a door between the two rooms, so that could be closed if necessary. The little side room, next to Caramel's room, is about 4 meters x 1.5 meters, so plenty big enough for our new bun's temporary accommodation.
The plan would then be to set up a neutral area in the spare bedroom, away from both Caramel's room and the new bun's room, where we would do brief introductions in a small space, slowly increasing time spent together and size of space, over several weeks?
Does that sound at all possible, or does the initial 'living next to each other but not with each other' phase also have to be completely neutral?
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks - Natalie and Caramel