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To bond or not to bond, that is the question.

Trufflesmum

Young Bun
Hi, A bond or not to bond question. We now have five rabbits. Two bonded pairs that live outside (I was previously considering having a trio outside but Truffles one of my girls took an instant dislike to Willow (another girl) so instead I got Willow a nice young husband from the RSPCA.
We also have Nala, a female rabbit who lives in my adult daughter’s bedroom. Nala’s approximately 18 months old. She was an unwanted bun advertised on Preloved because she was ‘too big’. She had a lot of health problems last year, going into stasis numerous times which delayed her spay on several occasions. When she did have the op last November, she was found to have a diseased uterus. We were worried in case it was cancer and it had metastasised but touch wood since then she has been in good health and not one bout of stasis. Her teeth are fine, so we are assuming the stasis was linked to her underlying health problem. She has a good diet and eats loads of hay.
I am now in a dilemma about getting her a husbun. She has the whole bedroom to herself (apart from daughter!) and am worried that she might not like another rabbit coming into her territory. She’s also 99.9% housetrained. In terms of spending time on her own, my daughter is at uni but living at home so is often here part days. I work four days a week, but am allowed to work from home one day, so she’s never really left alone that much, although in a couple of years, daughter will look for full time work. I’m also worried whether she will cope with the stress of bonding and could that send her into stasis again. We’ve seen a nice old bun up for adoption at the RSPCA and I’m ok about bonding them myself, but I get really attached really quickly, so am thinking – what if it doesn’t work? The thought of giving him back to the rescue makes me feel really bad. I also know how much my other pairs love each other, so really torn about what to do. It would be great if I could get some thoughts from other bunny loving people. Thank you.
 
I had a single bunny Rex who has always been very territorial and a bit aggressive, I was going to bond him with a female but before we even got to the introducing stage we had a mishap... long story short he attacked her and she had to be PTS due to her injuries, she was only 12 weeks old and we had only had her a week when it happened. He was then destined to be on his own as I thought him too aggressive to be bonded. I then had a female lionhead dumped at my work so I took her home. She too was space aggressive and territorial, after 6 months I decided to try a bond and I took it slowly, 2 weeks side by side in a run, swopping runs, litter trays etc then I let them meet face to face in the bath. We did 3 20 minute sessions then I put them in a run together, they moved in together that night and there has been a positive behaviour change in both rabbits
 
I would be tempted to find a rescue that would do the bonding for you and let her choose her rabbit friend. If that isnt an option then re arranging her (and daughters)! room and neutralisng it prior to putting her and rspca rabbit in would be sensible.

I know what you mean about getting attached and not wanting to return a rabbit ... I really hope you find a solution.
 
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