Kiwi's depression...

[Mariah]

Hi all,

I've posted about this before and it's still going on. Kiwi lost her Citrus back in April. They were a bonded pair for about a year. Kiwi is just over 1 year now. Citrus was four and a half or so.

I'm sure Kiwi knew Citrus was sick. Citrus passed on at my vet with me holding him. When I came home that day without him, kiwi looked everywhere for him.

I got Papaya about a month later. He is 3.5 months now. Their cages are side by side but I can't put them together because Papaya starts humping Kiwi and then Kiwi starts fighting with him. I'm hoping once he's neutered his hormones will die down and they can become friends. I know she likes him because she will put her head down for him to groom her but instead he jumps on and starts humping...

We moved to a new house- a basement apt so they actualy have their very own bunny room, which I sectioned off so they also have runs to play in that's attached to their cages so they can go in and out. When I'm not home, I leave them in their cages with the doors shut because Kiwis a jumper... And I'm pretty sure she if she really wanted too, could jump over the barrier. The barrier is 2 NIC cubes high. The problem with the basement apt, is that in their room, there is no window. I flip the light on in the morning and turn it off for their bedtime.

Kiwi does run and play, she's eating, drinking, pooping and peeing, but she still seems depressed/ lonley- missing her citrus. She sometimes just sulks in a corner. I give her lots of attention. She dosent like to be held (so I don't) but I will go and sit with her in her run and pet her and just spend time with her.

My questions are:

How long will she grieve for?

What more can I do for her?

Since they don't have natural sunlight, could that be affecting her mood as well?

Thanks in advance.

 

[LakeCondo]

It might be a good idea to get some full-spectrum light bulbs. In a table lamp or something. You could also get a timer & have it come on at dawn & through midnight maybe.

When is your vet willing to do his neutering?

 

[Mariah]

When you say, full spectrum light bulbs- what are those? I have two big long flourosent lightbulbs. When I'm working, the light goes on at 6:20 am and during the night, it goes off at 830-9pm. When I'm not working, the light goes on 10am and off at 10-11pm. Is this not good?

Since bunnies are not good under anesthesia, she likes to wait until at least 6 months.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

They need some UV light, not just light. We need a certain amount of sun or our bodies don't produce the necessary vitamins.

 

[Mariah]

Ok, are there different kinds of uv lights? What should I be looking for?

 

[LakeCondo]

Go to amazon.com, homedepot.com or whatever & search for full-spectrum bulbs, or maybe without the hyphen. There are different brands, but I've assumed that full-spectrum means they give the full range of light from ultraviolet to ultra-red. You might also want to look in wikipedia at full-spectrum lights to see why this is used, as a substitute & supplement for natural light.

 

[Mariah]

I talked to my vet and she says I don't need one... I think I will still look into it. If my pellets and hay are good, they should be getting everything they need?

Kiwi has been sulking a lot these past days. I don't know what more I can do for her? If I could bring back my little citrus chicken man, I would.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Erren]

I've had a rabbit grieve before - it's heart breaking to see. Curry lost Steve and looked for him for months, she'd sit outside his old cage with her ears strained and I'd get all choked up, but she had their 2 kids to keep her company, so I guess that's different.
I suppose there's nothing you can do. Even after neutering it will take your male bunny months before his hormones settle completely, so he may still annoy her. If she still feels bonded to Citrus she might reject him for ages. Just don't leave them unsupervised until your sure. My Charlie and my Fudge seemed to be getting on really quite well when I got them from a shelter (seperately) and I could have them out together for hours, but occassionally they'd nip at each other and then it would all kick off into a big fight with fur flying until I did some serious shouting, They got better and better for months, then my ex left Charlie's cage door open when Fudge was out and 10 minutes later Fudge ran in the house, bleeding like crazy and collapsed from a stomach wound fighting with Charlie. She nearly bled out, I had to compress the wound and get her to an emergency surgery. Charlie got his ears smacked and I got a bill for £1200. usually it was her who started the fights though. But after that she woundn't tolerate him near her. She'd growl and grunt and charge him. Don't blame her really. But as soon as we got Lex, she accepted him, and apart from an occassional posturing nip or grunt to show him who's boss, she puts up with him trying to hump her head, he pees on her, he's a nightmare, but apparently he's more her type than poor old lonely Charlie who never used to provoke her at all apart from jamming his face under her nose to be groomed. Poor Charlie. Poor, murderous Charlie. All he wants is to have his face loved.

 

[LakeCondo]

Full-spectrum light helps humans with seasonal-affective-disorder, which is due to lack of natural sunlight. It's probably something a vet wouldn't know about, unless he or a family member has been diagnosed with s.a.d.

There's some thought that even sunlight through a window pane doesn't give the full light experience that's necessary for people & animals. I don't know if that's true or not, but I use the bulbs in lamps that don't have shades between me & the light, such as a goose-necked desk lamp. I'd rather be safe than sorry & it can't hurt to use the bulbs, except a little in the wallet.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have a lamp for s.a.d. and use it year round. My cat also likes to bask in the light even though it is not warm like sunlight. Turtles have to have uv light or they end up with metabolic bone disorder. For them I know that light going through any kind of glass basically makes it void of uv, so their special bulb is directly in their tank. The rabbits, and humans for that matter, shouldn't get too much uv or they can get skin cancer, particularly on lightly furred areas (ears, nose, lips). I have to put sunscreen on my white cat's ears and nose in the summer when the windows are open because he has burned in the past. The s.a.d. lights are full spectrum without the uv so they are safe to use without sunscreen (no, you will not get a tan, sorry). They work on increasing the seratonin in your brain.

Honestly I don't think she probably will fully recover until she is bonded again. When Houdini lost Cinderella he was so depressed I was afraid he was going to die too. He wouldn't eat or groom himself. He just laid in the burrow door way with his chin on the ground, totally not like him. As soon as he met Sophie he perked up! He has been fine ever since he got his new bunwife. However, he was with Cinderella when she passed. I think it helps the grieving process because then they don't keep looking for their mate.

Good luck getting her through this tough time until her husbunny is ready to mind his manners. Extra love from you is really all you can do. She should hold her own until he's ready as long as she is eating and drinking well.

 

[Mariah]

I'm going to look into getting a uv light for sure. Anything that could possibly help Kiwi, I'm willing to do.

She has her good and bad days. They do lay side by side the bunny barrier (NIC cubes), so at least they both have some bunny companionship. I know it's not the same as grooming, but it's all I can do right now. I would love to do bunny speed dating with kiwi but I'm not in the situation to get another bunny, even though I would love too!