Tracey - she is BEAUTIFUL! I love blue eyed bunnies and am honestly quite "jealous" of a friend who has a black and white blue eyed lionhead.
I know when a person is frustrated it's easy to make decisions, or possibly even see 'similarities' in others actions... that perhaps others don't see as easily as you do. I haven't read a lot about Kirby so I can't comment on that and will leave it to others who know the situation more.
Sometimes whats in your heart hurts, but try not to let things be seen as an attack, or as if we're all wrong and you're right completely.
Yes, on this board I'm a moderator but I found the thread on my own and want to throw out some ideas because though I'm not in your situation I have a very, very similar one.
I have 5 rabbits - two bonded pairs.
My Hotot Ansel has been a trial since the day I brought her home. She was born on 5/6/05 but I just got her last year. Before I got her she lived in a breeders shed that was full or rabbits. Many breeders are great but this person really neglected several situations. It wasn't until they had a fire that they had to get rid of many of their rabbits because of a severe lack of space.
If I remember correctly, I took in 5 or 6 bunnies that day and all but the *mean* one found homes with friends.
In the beginning - some days, oh how I wished someone else would have chosen to take Ansel (as I named her) so I could have had a nicer,calmer bunny.
Ansel's toenails were my top priority. They were so long and twisted I was in shock and attributed some of her behavior to discomfort and probably a lack of handeling because who in their right mind would let the nails get so bad if they truely cared for the rabbit and saw the length on a daily basis?
Once she had her nails done she went in for a vet exam and an appointment was made for her spay.
I really thought that in time she would stop growling, thumping and lunging at me but some of that was s.l.o.w. in coming and some has never been resolved.
Now, I also have a female dutch that has been spayed. She's a bit older than Ansel, and I call her Ibimi. Ibimi was severely obese when I brought her home last year as well.
Because of Ibimi's obesity she had severe joint problems, breathing difficulties and almost a complete inability to groom herself. She was one for the vet to see often in the beginning and due to Ansel's spay and Ibimi's co-inciding vet trips the rabbits got to see each other be handled and rode in tha car together a lot.
Ibimi continued her vet trips of evaluations and Ansel has several trips to work on her teeth, an abscess on her jaw... Heck, before long it dawned on me that Ansel was under constant care and Ibimi was also under watchfulness -maybe I should put them together.
OOPS! In the beginning fur FLEW!
So I backed up, housed them in the same room - worked on intros. Since Ibimi was on a diet and strict excersize "program" - and since Ansel was a pain in the butt but needed human interaction - I started scheduling thir feeding at the same time, letting them out of their cages at the same time....
(both always has hay at all times, and water, but pellets and veggies were scheduled feedings)
Ansel, over time, calmed SOME and stopped attacking my hands, feet and arms. Not completely, but the severity lessened. Ibimi in the meantime was intrigued by Ansel and was motivated to be more active by leaving her cage (surrounded bya dog x-pen) to go to Ansel's area and check her out.
I made a point to schedule vet appointements for them together. When Ibimi went in for a weight check, Ansel went in for additional nail care and to have her broken toe looked at.
Over time they became buddies and as more time passed they did bond.
The "happy story" still isn't complete yet.
The two seemed to balance each other out. Ansel became more calm, Ibimi more apt to explore. The drawback is that for a while Ibimi picked up some of Ansel's nastiness, but because she is more calm by nature some of it went away.
When Ibimi got down to a better weight she was spayed and all hell broke loose between the two once I put them back together. I'm not sure what it was...
(now keep in mind, I had been housing two does, one fixed - together - perhaps not totally recommended. From what I've read, if I recall correctly, that could lead to fights that could be serious with injuries involved but that was BEFORE the trouble began)
I had to COMPLETELY rework their bond. Much time, much effort, much bleeding (on my part - Thanks Ansel!!).
For the life of me I couldn't correct it. Ansel "owned" the huge cage they shared - Ibimi (once spayed) was an intruder. It hadn't been that way before.
Now here's what may help you if you haven't fallen asleep in this monster post yet.
I was absolutely at the end of my rope but I was NOT going to let two (or even one) bunnies get the best of me.
I worked on caged designs.
When housed as singles Ansel has a medium dog taxi with a dog excersize pen around it. Ibimi had her standard pet store cage (purple bottom with white wire) with a dog excersize pen around it.
As a bonded pair before they "broke" I put two smaller pet taxi's side by side with an excersize pen around them both. The purple cage of Ibimi's was on top of them both with pet steps to the side so they had access to it, and a wooden ramp to the floor at the back of it so they could go up/down at will, both at the same time.
They often slept together on the floor or in the purple cage but if they wanted their own space they had the pet taxis and ironically enough, they chose who "owned" what (mainly after Ibimi ran Ansel out of the one she preferred!).
As two "broken" bunnies I worked and worked on designs (keeping in mind I didnt want to spend an arm and a leg on stuff) and of course, worked with them both individually back in their old setups - just as they were in the beginning.
I found that instead of having a wide round setup for them (as I had when they were together) what works well now is a more narrow setup, but one with more levels. (I SUCK at making NIC's.) I have a dog crate design - stacked - 2 lab sized blue pet taxi's on the bottom, two smaller on top. Not side-by-side but spaced out with wood between making "shelves" they can climb on, rest on, groom on etc... The front is once again surrounded by a dog excersize pen that can be modified in size and shape.
I think once they found a design that allowed them both the space (and height, perhaps?) that allowed them room to be alone or together as they wished they became more comfortable with each other and more tolerant. More tolerant, more calm - more apt (on Ansel's part) to allow me to mess with her (though surely not to love on her too much?).
Ansel will always be her own little critter but it amazes me how Ibimi helps balance her out, and how the two love each other - and how a "simple" cage design worked to alleviate fighting that came between them.
...
No, I'll not trust Ansel around children.
I have none but I babysit my cousins two boys (one is Autistic and the other is also disabled) and my niece will be here as well as time allows when she is older (she's just past 12 weeks old now) but in those instances, the bedroom door is shut that they reside in and a childs safety latch firmly in place keeps prying eyes/fingers away.
So, my polite suggestion would be to maybe try different cage designs - see what works.. give it time and perhaps do a vet check to make sure everything is on the up and up healthwise with the bunnies...
I've worked my butt off with these two rabbits (and the sad part is Ibimi has developed liver troubles due to the obesity so she's so touch and go at times) but it's been worth it and I don't regret it. The main reason is because I know I have the time and patience to work with them.
A more startling thought though is - your little one could be rehomed on looks alone (I'd snatch her up in a heartbeat and others have swooned over her looks no offence guys) but if not you, who else would work positively towards correcting behaviors? Honestly, there could be far worse fates "out there" for her just waiting for an opportunity to snatch her up.
I'll edit this in a couple minutes with a link to a thread I made showing just that, but I want to leave you with best wishes in whatever you decide, and if you want to try housing designs feel free to let me know or ask on the forum about them. You'd be amazed at the wide variety people here use!
