Pet Forum / Mammals / Rabbits / September 2008

i have never lost my special bond with my special ones when they got a
freind. they have more love to give then you will ever know. i see it
everyday..
i think you should let him decide. go to a rescue.. let him pick.. that
works so very well.

Its really difficult to know what will work. Rabbits preferences in
partners maybe even more mysterious than humans. Our big lop Huey has been
alone since he stopped getting along with Gilbert (they were found
together running loose in our neighborhood) We took him to HRS to try
bonding with a female and finally after several "dates" settled on a big
new Zealand white named Elsie. Elsie and Huey got along ok in the bonding
sessions but all hell broke loose when we brought her home. Luckily she
gets along with Gilbert (who already has company in another neutered male)
so we kept her. So we gave up on finding Huey a partner for a while,
thinking he would just have to be a loner. A few months after we got Elsie
we saw a young Californian female at the animal shelter, and brought her
home. We cautiously introduced her to Huey, and they bonded instantly,
never even a minor tiff!

So to make a long story short, you just never know...

Peter Wallace

On Sep 19, 5:46 pm, "Elsewhere" <eavdveenpleasenos...@planet.nl>
wrote:

I give my one bun all of my attention.. I'm one of them.. LOL...

Marylee

Hi Els,
If Hendrik spends time with you, I'm sure he's satisfied. Cocoa HATED
anybunny else but me. No way he was going to share me with another
bun. I was all his! LOL From what you've said, Hendrik is fine.
Sometimes at that age and when they are used to being king of the
castle, bonding is just a HUGE pain.

You can try it, but my opinion is that he is fine as is. You are his
bunny.

Els - all 4 of my buns live separately.  They can all see each other
from their cages,and run by and sniff each other when one is out. They
all seem happy with the way things are.  Boo Boo & Louise seem to
crave human attention anyhow.  If hendrick seems happy, I wouldn't
mess with it.  Anytime I got another bun with the intention to bond,
its never worked out - hence 4 buns, 4 cages in a small living room.
If your happy and he's happy, that's all that counts. JMO.

Lisa, Hershey, Boo Boo, Louise & Sharkey (Thelma, Wendy & Cartman FTB)

There's an in-between, too, perhaps?  My three are out together and do
very well.  The condos space doesn't work out right to have a condo
that gives them enough personal space so I still have a condo for Kuni
and Raul and a condo immediately next door for Noodles.  [It would be
a long skinny condo otherwise, like living in a hallway; Raul would
get crowded and he gets territorial when that happens.  I do feel for
Noodles, who loves attention, although she seems to settle for
attention from me as a aubstitute at bedtime.  Of note, as the three
of them have spent their out time together and lived side by side,
she's become more rabbitized and independent and prefers to set her
own pace with me.

Could they sleep next to one another but with a screen?  They would be
able to acclimatize well to one another's ongoing presence and smell
without having to bump into one another all the time.  You could try
them out when you are there to supervised.  It's not quite "bonding",
but it is socialization  [and heck even I had my own room and my
brothers shared - although they do still resent me at times for that
;-) ].

Cheers, Diva
Happy day after "Talk Like a Pirate Day"
Raul [Hey ho ye pirates! Captain Raul says extra rations of carrot
grog on the poop deck!], Kuni [First Mate Kuni's tellin' ya
landlubbers that any scallawags that be mistakin' the poop deck for a
litterbox will be keelhauled and then you'll be walkin' the plank] and
Noodles [I spy hoomins at starboard from here in the crow's nest,
Cap'n!]

thanks for all your input; some day my mind will be made up and I will let
you know,
Els

I'm not going to read everyone else's replies yet so as not to be
influenced by them. So there!

So this is just my take, I think some buns can be perfectly happy
without another bun around.  It sounds as if Hendrik enjoys *your*
company, and you his.  So why mess with a good thing?

He might just be jealous of the attention you will inevitably give to
the new girl bun (you said you would try for a girl--but we all know how
that sometimes goes!)

Nona

My take?
Never separate bonded buns.
Bond unfamiliars with great caution -- take delight in the results when it
works, but be prepared for it not to.
Single buns with caring humans generally are fine without other rabbity
company

Bear in mind that domesticated bunnies are really a different breed
(figuratively speaking) than wild rabbits, and while there is much that
applies to both sorts of situations, there is also much that does not.
Bunnies may be sociable creatures, but they can socialize with humans, too!

Michele and her single, independent Christopher Rabbit
plus Todd-the-Dog (who is equivalent to 3 dogs)