more on me getting a second rabbit

[manda]

a freind brought over a puppy! and Ryo liked it!and i got her a stuffed toy and she is grooming it and loving on it. isthis perhaps more evidance that she would like playmate? i wishicould introduce her to a rabbit BEFORE i make a commitment.if i get one from a breeder dont you think they would let my rabbitchose? you know... let me bring her along to see what she thinks

 

[BACI]

Some people have posted on here in the past thatyou can take your rabbit to the humane society or do trials - I thinklike a foster type situation to see if they get a long. I think one ofthe humane society volenteers on here said something about having arabbit over for a weekend or something like that. Hopefully she willrespond soon to this post.

 

[peapoo_bunny]

well, at a humane society here they have afenced in area outside where you can get to know the animal before youadopt it..play with it etc...im pretty sure they let you bring your petto meet the new animal to... i think thats what im going to do when wego look at new bunnies this summer

 

[HoneyPot]

Just be aware though when you are doing thebunny meetings - that you should be conscious of contagious diseasessuch as pasturella.

I am not saying Humane Society bunnies all have pasturella, but when Ibrought Misty home, I kept her quarantined from Cookie for 2weeks. In those 2 weeks, she developed a runny nose - whichturned out to be allergies, but something to be aware of when you arehaving you rbunny meet a lot of other bunnies.

 

[peapoo_bunny]

HoneyPot wrote:

Just be aware though when you are doing the bunny meetings -that you should be conscious of contagious diseases such aspasturella.

I am not saying Humane Society bunnies all have pasturella, but when Ibrought Misty home, I kept her quarantined from Cookie for 2weeks. In those 2 weeks, she developed a runny nose - whichturned out to be allergies, but something to be aware of when you arehaving you rbunny meet a lot of other bunnies.

yeah, thats one thing im worried about.... i dont know if itwould be better to just pick one myself, keep it away from her forawhile, and then hope they get along..or let her pick one..:?

 

[naturestee]

What you can do is visit the rabbit first, makesure they're healthy and vet checked, and then organize a bunnydate. "Dating" is commonly recommended by rabbit rescuegroups and many shelters will also help you with this. Youintroduce the rabbits in a neutral space, usually at their facilities,to see how they get along. Also, some rabbit rescues willbond rabbits for you. They take them for a few weeks andboard them with an experienced foster mom who goes through all the hardbonding steps in a house they've never been in before.Personally, I wouldn't do it because even with the best foster mom I'dworry about my buns. But you do sometimes have that optionavailable.

I did the bunny date thing with Mocha and Loki. Mocha wasscared of the dogs barking at the shelter, but I was at least able totell that they weren't going to kill each other, and that Loki wascurious about Mocha.

Bunny dating won't help a whole lot if you want a baby from a breeder,because baby rabbits' personalities often change when they hitpuberty. It's usually best to bond two adult spayed/neuteredrabbits.

 

[peapoo_bunny]

naturestee wrote:

. They take them for a few weeks and board themwith an experienced foster mom who goes through all the hard bondingsteps in a house they've never been in before. Personally, Iwouldn't do it because even with the best foster mom I'd worry about mybuns. But you do sometimes have that option available.

oh no...i wouldnt do that

 

[manda]

hey i was just thinking.

ryo is older and is on timothy hay and timothy pellets. a baby wouldhave unliimited alfalfa pellets and alfalfa hay. and ryo cant eat that!how do i work that out?

and no human soiceity here keeps rabbits. i have looks serval times in the past. basically its just petstores

 

[naturestee]

manda wrote:

hey i was just thinking.

ryo is older and is on timothy hay and timothy pellets. a baby wouldhave unliimited alfalfa pellets and alfalfa hay. and ryo cant eat that!how do i work that out?

and no human soiceity here keeps rabbits. i have looks serval times in the past. basically its just petstores

You wouldn't be able to keep them together, unless you switched Ryoback to alfalfa. I wouldn't suggest that. Itwouldn't be a good idea to house them together anyway, because the babymight get aggressive with Ryo when he/she hits puberty. It'snot unusual.

Would you be able to drive? Petfinder lists a rabbit inPortland, TN, which Yahoo Map says is an hour drive fromScottsville. Or there's a rabbit rescue called, creatively,"Bunny Rescue" in Brentwood that has a bunch. They might beable to work out transportation too. Those are the twoclosest places that Petfinder listed. I would drive a longway to get this little guy:
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=5646039 :bunnyheart

Another option, if you don't want to get a baby and wait, is to buy an adult from a breeder and then get it spayed/neutered.

 

[manda]

the rabbits i was planing on getting are nueterdmales. do i still have to worry about agression between him and Ryo?after they were bonded i was going to house the together. and i alsothought of a billiant idea to keep ryo out of the babies food! get someply wood, cut it to fit to block off a corner of the cage, and cut ahole the size of the baby to get in. and there would be her litter box,(hay in it) and her pellets. and ryo cant get in . there would be adoor onto where i can reach out and get him if needed



i dont see why the rabbits would need to be sperate if bonded and both spayed and neuterd?

 

[naturestee]

The babies at the pet store wereneutered? Are these "Peter's Rabbits?" Ask whatcompany supplies them, and if it's Peter's/Marshall's I would recommendstaying away. They are the same company, and are millbreeders. They've been doing the very young spay/neuter thingwith ferrets for some time now and have apparently expanded it into therabbits they sell. Spay/neuter at the age they must be doingit (8 week old spayed/neutered rabbits!:shock is dangerous, andnobody knows yet what effects this has on their long termhealth. Most vets won't spay/neuter a rabbit who's sexualorgans are not fully developed. There's been talk lately onEtherbun about Peter's early spay/neuter practice, and several people Ireally respect are highly suspicious. Personally, I wonderwhat the mortality rate is.:?

Anyway, I really don't mean to come down on you, but if you do want oneof these buns then you might want to ask a lot of questions.Ask for vet records, how old were they when they were weaned, neutered,etc. If it doesn't give you a good feeling, then getting arabbit from a good local breeder would be a better way to go.You can see their facilities, meet the parents of your rabbit, and geta really good idea of how the baby was raised.

They wouldn't need to be kept separate once they are bonded (as long asyou can keep Ryo out of the baby's food), but I would take the bondingslow. Let the rabbit get used to your home for a few weeksbefore you start bonding. It's best to keep his stress levellow. I think spayed/neutered rabbits can still go through a"teenage" stage too, so you'll still want to watch out for anyaggression.

 

[manda]

no, the rabbits from petco (neutered) are notmarshals. unless marshal does mixed rabbits? these rabbits are lionhead mixes. can petco give me those records?

yes i am going to take bonding very slowly. and i really do think myidea on keeping ryo out of the babies food will work. can rabbits slipin small places like a cat? knowing my luck Ryo will find a way to fitin the "baby hole"

more question are

how long does bonding usually take?

how do i know they are compleatly bonded?

how long should i quarinteen (sp) and how important is it ( i've hadpet rats all my life and i know with them its EXTREAMLY important)

when they are bonded toghether do i need to add a second litter box? food bowl? water crock?

does it matter (with fighting, and domanic) if i get a big breed orsmall breed (like those lion head mixes i have been eyeing for 5mounths at petco!!!!!!

 

[naturestee]

I'm not sure what breeds Marshall's/Peter'sdoes, but mill breeders tend not to pay much attention to the geneticsof the animals they are breeding. The store *should* be ableto get answers to your questions. This kind of stuff isimportant to us, but I don't know if it's important to them.

I would quarantine for at least two weeks. Depending on theage of the rabbit, you might want to delay bonding for anothertwo.

Bonding can take anywhere from a few days (rare) to... well... someoneon a different site just celebrated getting her rabbits bonded afterworking hard at it for a year and a half. I think that, givenlots of time, patience, and space, most rabbits can learn to live witheach other. Most, not all. I'm pretty sure I'llnever get Mocha to like Fey and Sprite, and I'm not going to try againbecause of how badly she hurt Fey.

Size doesn't really matter. I have a 2 lb rabbit bonded witha 5 lb rabbit. I've seen small rabbits withflemish. What matters is their personalities.

Have you read through some of the bonding info in Bunny 101?
Bonding Bunnies

This is one of my favorite bonding sites:
http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

 

[manda]

yeah i've checked those out already. thanks forthe link anyway. when getting a bunny for personallity what do i lookfor? one with the same personallity as Ryo? or the nicest? perhaps theone thats snuggling with the others? petco always just has two rabbits.its possible i may get one thats not nueterd yet, but in that case iwouldnttry to bondthem until after thenueter (couldnt i let them play together tho?)