Help with big decision ...

Hi everyone!

I introduced myself around Christmas as we had put deposits down on our mini lop kits, Ash and Willow. Both bucks.
They were 6 weeks last week and we were looking forward to arranging collecting them in a few weeks time.
However, this afternoon we were contacted to be told that Ash has passed away [emoji22]. He was the runt of the litter and despite every effort, he hasn’t made it.
We don’t know what to do now.
We’ve been offered a refund of our deposit. Or we can have a doe from a new litter (3 days). Or we could wait and take 2 from a new litter.

We are going on holiday for 2 weeks in April and I’m worried that the little one will only have been with us for 2 weeks when we go. Will they bond ok? Is it fair to leave them so soon?

My daughter is devastated and I don’t really know what to do for the best!

I could go on and on with questions but this is already quite long.

Rachel



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Hello, I'm sorry to hear about Ash, it's very sad.
Personally I would consider having rabbits from a rescue instead (and I wish I'd been advised this when I got my first rabbit and didn't know any better).
I've adopted from the RSPCA and they were brilliant. The rabbits (2) were already bonded, vaccinated and neutered which means no vet bills or the trauma of going through bonding and surgery (for the neuter). They gave me plenty of advice and are available at any time if I have any questions.
Rabbits of all ages are available, including young buns that are sometimes born when a doe has been rescued.
Good luck with whatever you choose

Just to add, a quick search for rabbits in Yorkshire came back with 150 in need of adoption https://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet?p...ehomingPortlets_action=search#onSubmitSetHere

rachel77 said:

Hi everyone!

I introduced myself around Christmas as we had put deposits down on our mini lop kits, Ash and Willow. Both bucks.
They were 6 weeks last week and we were looking forward to arranging collecting them in a few weeks time.
However, this afternoon we were contacted to be told that Ash has passed away [emoji22]. He was the runt of the litter and despite every effort, he hasn’t made it.
We don’t know what to do now.
We’ve been offered a refund of our deposit. Or we can have a doe from a new litter (3 days). Or we could wait and take 2 from a new litter.

We are going on holiday for 2 weeks in April and I’m worried that the little one will only have been with us for 2 weeks when we go. Will they bond ok? Is it fair to leave them so soon?

My daughter is devastated and I don’t really know what to do for the best!

I could go on and on with questions but this is already quite long.

Rachel

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I'm so sorry to hear about Ash, that's very sad.

I agree with Sarahbun.

Whilst everyone is welcome here, and no-one (hopefully!) should judge your choices, the Forum leans towards rescuing rabbits so we do talk about it quite a bit

If it were me, I would go with rescue rabbits that have been fully vaccinated (that would be 10 weeks of age to have both vaccinations) and there are always babies in rescues

Sorry if that doesn't help your dilemma, but it's good to see you back here rachel

Sarahbun said:

Hello, I'm sorry to hear about Ash, it's very sad.
Personally I would consider having rabbits from a rescue instead (and I wish I'd been advised this when I got my first rabbit and didn't know any better).
I've adopted from the RSPCA and they were brilliant. The rabbits (2) were already bonded, vaccinated and neutered which means no vet bills or the trauma of going through bonding and surgery (for the neuter). They gave me plenty of advice and are available at any time if I have any questions.
Rabbits of all ages are available, including young buns that are sometimes born when a doe has been rescued.
Good luck with whatever you choose

Click to expand...

I agree with Sarahbun’s advice :thumb: I’m so sorry about Ash personally I will only ever adopt from a rescue from now on, there are so many rabbits in rescue, who have been neutered, vaccinated and health checked, and ready bonded if you need that, so it’s a much safer option. I can wholeheartedly recommend BARC (Barnsley animal rescue) they always have lots of lovely rabbits waiting for homes, and I believe they still have young ones available. I’ve recently adopted Fern from there, Angie (Bunnymadhouse on here) is very good at matching up rabbits with homes

I'm very sorry about loosing Ash

How about adopting a female friend for Willow once he's been neutered? I'm sure with the attention you'd give him he'd be fine on his own until he's neutered and ready for a new companion? Otherwise if you chose another baby doe you'd still have to keep them separate until he's neutered at least or even longer until she's old enough to be spayed. Whereas the rescue will already be spayed and fully vacc'd, and the rescue may even be able to help/do the bonding for you or help Willow chose his own friend. If you chose another male you'd be at risk of them be harder to bond and more likely to fight unless neutered early enough. I hand reared four kits that were abandoned and rehomed two boys together, they were neutered early and are very close still but with them being from different litters now it may be harder to keep two boys together. I hope you come to a decision, it's not easy!

I am sorry to hear about Ash. What you could do, seeing as how you have put a deposit down and your Daughter is very upset, is have Willow as a single bunny, have him vaccinated and neutered when he is ready. then look for a female friend. Doing it this way will avoid any fall-outs or unwanted babies due to mis-sexing. Will he be indoors?

Zoobec said:

I agree with Sarahbun’s advice :thumb: I’m so sorry about Ash personally I will only ever adopt from a rescue from now on, there are so many rabbits in rescue, who have been neutered, vaccinated and health checked, and ready bonded if you need that, so it’s a much safer option. I can wholeheartedly recommend BARC (Barnsley animal rescue) they always have lots of lovely rabbits waiting for homes, and I believe they still have young ones available. I’ve recently adopted Fern from there, Angie (Bunnymadhouse on here) is very good at matching up rabbits with homes

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I am sorry about Ash, what an awful shock for you and your daughter, but to reiterate BARC is wonderful and so helpful. We adopted Vimto from Angie and she was so helpful. I also recently visited Halifax RSPCA due to needing a pal for Dillon and they had lots of bunnies in.

Thanks for your replies. We’ll take a look at rescues though I may have my work cut out convincing my daughter. She’s very upset about Ash so I’ll work on her over the next few days when she’s come round a bit!!
I can certainly see the benefits of not having to sort out surgeries and post op care as well as giving a forever home to some needy bunnies.

Rachel


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rachel77 said:

Thanks for your replies. We’ll take a look at rescues though I may have my work cut out convincing my daughter. She’s very upset about Ash so I’ll work on her over the next few days when she’s come round a bit!!
I can certainly see the benefits of not having to sort out surgeries and post op care as well as giving a forever home to some needy bunnies.

Rachel


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Aaww I am so glad you see the benefit in taking a rescue rabbit or two

The last count showed that 67,000 rabbits were abandoned or dumped in Rescues in a one year period. That doesn't include all those in the Free Ads or those left to roam as strays.

I've had Rescue rabbits for 25+ years, and they are so lovely they totally break my heart when they pass over.