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Available Individual: Elderly pair need better home - Sissinghurst, Kent

honeywebb

Young Bun
Ok firstly can i say i feel really really guilty putting this post on here but after much deliberation & soul-searching i thought i would put the feelers out on behalf of my two beautiful buns.
Let me give you the background to this decision...I got Skittle, a grey & white dutch/lionhead cross from a friend when she was 13 weeks old. A gift for my new step-son as he was desparate for a pet. After a while, although she seemed a happy bun, i decided she would be even happier with a husband & so i got Mojo, a lionhead aged 9 months, from my local RSPCA. Bonding was undertaken & after a few initial squabbles they settled down to married life. And it was blissful.
My long-suffering husband expanded their living quarters until they had a wonderful set-up with a double hutch, secure & snug in the shed, accessed via a tube to a treble hutch outside in the garden, accessed via another tube to a large run on the grass & on days i was home & able to keep an eye, the run was open & they also had the free run of our large unruly garden. They had choices. They were living the life of riley. As they should.
But as is the way of most kids my step-son soon lost interest so now they were my sole responsibilty to care for & give the best life possible, and so life toddles along.
Both buns luckily have always had good health & good teeth & apart from their yearly vaccinations, health checks & nail clipping they’ve stayed remarkably fit & well (apart from an ear mite occasion). So now my bunnies are at the grand old ages of 11 & 9 and we have recently moved home.
Their luxury residence had to be dismantled & set-up in the new house & thats where the problem starts.
Problem 1: we have no shed & no room for a shed so they will have no good winter shelter & in my eyes that is not suitable.
Problem 2: the new garden has just been landscaped, and (i know, i know it sounds mean) but my LS husband has put his foot down after spending thousands & has dictated no more bunny freedom to his precious lawn & flowers & in my eyes that is not suitable.
Problem 3: to protect them from garden landscaping/builders/noise/stress they have been living in the garage in their hutches so have reduced freedom &, even though i have given them free run of the garage & tried to make the area interesting & enticing, they dont like it & wont come out on to the garage floor so their world has shrunk & in my eyes thats not suitable
Problem 4: the hutches will have to stay in the garage from now on & their little lives are just not as fun & full of freedom as they once were. They had choices in the old house, they could choose to stay in their shed hutches in the dry & the dark if they wished, or they could move to their outside hutch for fresh air & light, if they chose, or they could access grass, even if it was snowing or raining, it was their choice - but I feel I have limited their choices now and that makes me sad & guilty.
Recently I find myself wondering if there is any bunny-crazy person out there who would be willing to take on my beautiful bonded pair & make their last few years blissful again in a wonderful care-free home with good access to the outdoors & freedom to stretch their fluffy legs again.
Skittle is my lady, feisty & bossy, she is totally in charge. Mojo is a handsome fluff-ball, dopey & lollopy & trailing adoringly in Skittle’s wake. Both are neutered & both are in good health. They should have had their boosters in April but of course, due to Covid, vets are not performing this routine service so they are over-due. They are not suitable as pets for young children, they are not used to much handling, although they can be caught fairly easily, depending on their mood & will sit happily on laps for a stroke. My wish for them is to find someone who just loves bunnies for bunnies sake & would like 2 additions knowing they are making a difference, where they will live out their days in an environment that is the best it can be for them, which i dont feel they are living at the moment. And thats just not fair on them. And that ****** my conscience on a daily basis and makes me feel so guilty. I am also aware that Skittle, as the older of the two, will probably pass first & I can’t bear the thought of poor Mojo stuck in a dark garage, lonely & mourning.
I am happy to send photos, answer questions and ultimately bring them to you if you are the right person & can offer them the right home. Thanks for reading this novel. ❤️
Location, Sissinghurst, Kent.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok firstly can i say i feel really really guilty putting this post on here but after much deliberation & soul-searching i thought i would put the feelers out on behalf of my two beautiful buns.
Let me give you the background to this decision...I got Skittle, a grey & white dutch/lionhead cross from a friend when she was 13 weeks old. A gift for my new step-son as he was desparate for a pet. After a while, although she seemed a happy bun, i decided she would be even happier with a husband & so i got Mojo, a lionhead aged 9 months, from my local RSPCA. Bonding was undertaken & after a few initial squabbles they settled down to married life. And it was blissful.
My long-suffering husband expanded their living quarters until they had a wonderful set-up with a double hutch, secure & snug in the shed, accessed via a tube to a treble hutch outside in the garden, accessed via another tube to a large run on the grass & on days i was home & able to keep an eye, the run was open & they also had the free run of our large unruly garden. They had choices. They were living the life of riley. As they should.
But as is the way of most kids my step-son soon lost interest so now they were my sole responsibilty to care for & give the best life possible, and so life toddles along.
Both buns luckily have always had good health & good teeth & apart from their yearly vaccinations, health checks & nail clipping they’ve stayed remarkably fit & well (apart from an ear mite occasion). So now my bunnies are at the grand old ages of 11 & 9 and we have recently moved home.
Their luxury residence had to be dismantled & set-up in the new house & thats where the problem starts.
Problem 1: we have no shed & no room for a shed so they will have no good winter shelter & in my eyes that is not suitable.
Problem 2: the new garden has just been landscaped, and (i know, i know it sounds mean) but my LS husband has put his foot down after spending thousands & has dictated no more bunny freedom to his precious lawn & flowers & in my eyes that is not suitable.
Problem 3: to protect them from garden landscaping/builders/noise/stress they have been living in the garage in their hutches so have reduced freedom &, even though i have given them free run of the garage & tried to make the area interesting & enticing, they dont like it & wont come out on to the garage floor so their world has shrunk & in my eyes thats not suitable
Problem 4: the hutches will have to stay in the garage from now on & their little lives are just not as fun & full of freedom as they once were. They had choices in the old house, they could choose to stay in their shed hutches in the dry & the dark if they wished, or they could move to their outside hutch for fresh air & light, if they chose, or they could access grass, even if it was snowing or raining, it was their choice - but I feel I have limited their choices now and that makes me sad & guilty.
Recently I find myself wondering if there is any bunny-crazy person out there who would be willing to take on my beautiful bonded pair & make their last few years blissful again in a wonderful care-free home with good access to the outdoors & freedom to stretch their fluffy legs again.
Skittle is my lady, feisty & bossy, she is totally in charge. Mojo is a handsome fluff-ball, dopey & lollopy & trailing adoringly in Skittle’s wake. Both are neutered & both are in good health. They should have had their boosters in April but of course, due to Covid, vets are not performing this routine service so they are over-due. They are not suitable as pets for young children, they are not used to much handling, although they can be caught fairly easily, depending on their mood & will sit happily on laps for a stroke. My wish for them is to find someone who just loves bunnies for bunnies sake & would like 2 additions knowing they are making a difference, where they will live out their days in an environment that is the best it can be for them, which i dont feel they are living at the moment. And thats just not fair on them. And that ****** my conscience on a daily basis and makes me feel so guilty. I am also aware that Skittle, as the older of the two, will probably pass first & I can’t bear the thought of poor Mojo stuck in a dark garage, lonely & mourning.
I am happy to send photos, answer questions and ultimately bring them to you if you are the right person & can offer them the right home. Thanks for reading this novel. ❤️
Location, Sissinghurst, Kent.

If you could add some pictures to the thread that would be great. Do you know when your vets are doing vacs again? :wave:
 
I hope you find a lovely new home for your Bunnies. I have an 11 yr old Rabbit, she was born here and I think if she ever had to go to a new home, the shock would kill her.
 
Just a thought but if you were looking to keep them perphaps you could show us a pic of your setup and we could suggest how to make it more appealing to the bunnies? My dad cut a hole in my garage wall so I could attach a runaround to it and give them access to a run outside. They have the best of both worlds as plenty of safe dry space in winter but access outside to fresh air if they want.
 
Hi Amy - thanks for your suggestion. We had an excellent indoor/outdoor set-up in our old house. Shed & garden, accessed via tubes so they could come and go as they pleased, indoor or out. For various reasons we cannot recreate the set-up in our new house, despite lots of thought, hence the reason I am considering rehoming them somewhere better x
 
Hi Amy - thanks for your suggestion. We had an excellent indoor/outdoor set-up in our old house. Shed & garden, accessed via tubes so they could come and go as they pleased, indoor or out. For various reasons we cannot recreate the set-up in our new house, despite lots of thought, hence the reason I am considering rehoming them somewhere better x

Could they become free ranging house bunnies with a run on the grass?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If you could add some pictures to the thread that would be great. Do you know when your vets are doing vacs again? :wave:

/Volumes/DANI BU/Misc 6/April 2018 (7).JPG
/Volumes/DANI BU/Misc 6/April 2018 (6).JPG/Volumes/DANI BU/Misc/Volumes/DANI BU/Misc 6/April 2018 (2).jpg 6//Volumes/DANI BU/Misc 6/April 2018 (9).jpgApril 2018 (3).jpg

Hopefully the photos have uploaded OK, not done it before on this site. I have loads of others if these aren't enough. As for the vacs the Nobivac Myxo-RHD was due May 2020, the Filavac is due this month. My vets are not doing routine jabs yet. Both bunnies have been vaccinated every year since I've had them.
 
5CqWAHx.jpg
 
apologies for my attempts to upload photos, they clearly have not worked too well so I won't put any more on for now - I have no idea why they are so huge. Grey girl is Skittle. Beige boy is Mojo.
 
Hi Amy - thanks for your suggestion. We had an excellent indoor/outdoor set-up in our old house. Shed & garden, accessed via tubes so they could come and go as they pleased, indoor or out. For various reasons we cannot recreate the set-up in our new house, despite lots of thought, hence the reason I am considering rehoming them somewhere better x

But would it be better from their point of view? You have had them so long and if you were able to ask them I bet they would choose to stay with the humans they are used to and love. Even if their accommodation is compromised.
 
But would it be better from their point of view? You have had them so long and if you were able to ask them I bet they would choose to stay with the humans they are used to and love. Even if their accommodation is compromised.

It is such a sad situation and I am inclined to agree with tonibun. Is there no way you can exert some influence over your husband to build them a smaller set up in the garden (even a wendy house with an attached run). Perhaps it is just me, but I regard my animals as part of my family in as much as I do my utmost to give them what they need, take them into consideration in any decision-making and 'fight their corner'. This isn't meant as a criticism but I know I remain broken-hearted about a kitten I had to re-home and, later, my elderly rabbits who had been with me for over 10 years, when I was very ill.
 
It is such a sad situation and I am inclined to agree with tonibun. Is there no way you can exert some influence over your husband to build them a smaller set up in the garden (even a wendy house with an attached run). Perhaps it is just me, but I regard my animals as part of my family in as much as I do my utmost to give them what they need, take them into consideration in any decision-making and 'fight their corner'. This isn't meant as a criticism but I know I remain broken-hearted about a kitten I had to re-home and, later, my elderly rabbits who had been with me for over 10 years, when I was very ill.

And it is entirely for this reason that i am reluctantly making this decision because i am “taking them into consideration” and i am “fighting their corner” - dont think i dont feel guilty or sad, because i do, its taken a while for me to pluck up the courage, but i want the best for them and am not convinced they have the best anymore. As i said in my original post I am only putting feelers out and if i cant find anywhere or anyone who can offer them a better home than they have at the mo then they will stay put.
 
But would it be better from their point of view? You have had them so long and if you were able to ask them I bet they would choose to stay with the humans they are used to and love. Even if their accommodation is compromised.

Being the owner of several old bunnies, this is what mine would choose - hands down :love: I hope you find a solution, OP x
 
I really hope you find a good solution. they look to be adorable buns & you have obviously loved and cared for them extremely well over the years xxx
 
I really hope you find a good solution. they look to be adorable buns & you have obviously loved and cared for them extremely well over the years xxx

Thank you. I have, hence their ripe old age. And i just want the best for them now ❤️
 
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