Should I

[Yield]

I've been thinking about getting another bun lately, even though Solara is a pretty recent addition to the household (and the only bunny).

I've been looking throughout petfinder, longing for another one as well. (Or course I am going to always long to save all the buns up for adoption, but I know two would be my limit.)

I absolutely adore Solara, but I feel like she would be happier if she bonded with another bun as well as me, due to the fact that for seven hours of the day, I am at school.

I feel like she's bored, and she refuses to play with her toys.

What are your outlooks on this?

Solara is a real friendly bun, she loves to lick me, and loves to be stroked, but I really am unsure if she would be grateful for another bun's company or not.

I have a lot of time to think about this, due to the fact I want to wait until after she gets spayed, which will be around March 8th.

I also have concerns that Solara will become less bonded to be if I get another rabbit. I know she won't love me less and all, but I fear she won't.. pay as much attention to me. Attention as in licking, probing my hand for more strokes, and such. What if she stops craving my attention?

Anyways, I'd appreciate the help thanks!

 

[jamesedwardwaller]

mirrors,work good for single buns,,they are happier with a mate./.we are even supposed to live longer too.!!..is solara a rex..??--try to get another rex,,might be your best bet,,but caution on introducing them,,visits at first,,supervised--they can rack havoc quickly on each other if that were the case...sincerely james waller

 

[Yield]

yeah that's what i've been hearing
solara is a purely mixed breed, i'm not sure what breeds.
she looks a lot like a silver breed to me.
but a lot of people say she has a rex body shape.

and i know thank you

 

[juliew19673]

Solara is a real friendly bun, she loves to lick me, and loves to be stroked, but I really am unsure if she would be grateful for another bun's company or not.

I also have concerns that Solara will become less bonded to be if I get another rabbit. I know she won't love me less and all, but I fear she won't.. pay as much attention to me. Attention as in licking, probing my hand for more strokes, and such. What if she stops craving my attention?

I've always wondered the same thing!What if I get my bun aGF/BF and then they don't need me? Would hurt my heart but.. would live through it.

My bun has grown up with my cat that was 20 at the time whenhe came to me- they never "bonded" but the cat put up with his appearance on the scene ; then was "given" (had too take in apoor feral thing)kitten a couple of months ago (bun now 2.5 years old) and they get "along" play together but "not" in away that I think he wouldn't be happier with another bun..

Does your bun not have other animals to interact with (their VERY social)? If not, then getting another bunny sounds like a fantastic idea, but keep in mind - bonding buns is not just an overnight process and may take weeks or months (hope other more bun knowleadgable moderators post - sure there is info on this site for this process).

But yes agree, if you have no other pets look to a Rabbit rescue group- they can meet with you and your bun, check out "its" disposition" and then see what bun they have that might make a great match as well as work with you on "bonding" them (takes sometime - again, don't just put them together - saw it today at the rabbit shelter I've volunteered at and 2 buns were brought in together in sperate cages but we didn't know if they were bonded, so put them in the same Xpen to see what the relationship was, and lets just say, we ended up wanting to call one of them "Chester The Molester" as he immediately went after the other bun in a way that can only be shown on Pay per view - felt horrible, the other bun recovered after along time of nose rubs and I'm So Sorries..)

Post back what you decided to do - curious to follow your story. Good luck!

 

[elrohwen]

I always tell people to get another bunny for you, not for your existing bun. If you're really ready, and ready to take on bonding (and housing if they don't bond), then get another. If you don't feel like you are ready, then just spend more time with your current bun and don't worry about it. I have a single bun and he's perfectly happy - he gets tons of attention.

I would also suggest having your original bun for at least 6 months. It takes a long time to bond with a rabbit and if you just get a friend for it after a few weeks, I think you're going to miss out on a huge opportunity to get to know her and gain her trust. It might seem that she's bored now, but I assure you she'll open up as she gets more comfortable. It may take months, but it'll happen. When I do get a second bun, I plan to own that bun for at least a few months so I can develop a relationship before bonding her to my existing boy. Buns that are bonded with each other and haven't bonded with their people tend to just ignore people, which isn't what you want.

I'd also make sure you've had her for 6 months so you really know what it's like having a bunny. You can get into a routine, learn to read body language, etc. This will all be important when you get another one, especially reading body language during bonding.

So I would say don't rush into getting a second one. Give it 6 months or so and re-evaluate. To truly bond with your current bunny will take more than a few weeks - even if it seems like you're bonded with her now, trust me - the relationship will grow and get better the longer you've had her.

 

[Yield]

Thank you, both of you
And I understand what you're saying, elrohwen
I do want another bun, so it's not just for Solara.

I love buns, and my dreams have been filled with them constantly. (That's not the only reason, trust me! I want to rescue another bun, give that bun the love he/she deserves. When I do adopt, I plan on adopting an older one (not too old, because he/she may grow annoyed with Solara, due to her being so young and playful.) because they tend to be the ones that get adopted less.)

Thank you for your outlook, I'm going to wait like you said I don't want Solara to ignore people!

 

[slavetoabunny]

Check out Midwest Rabbit Rescue. They will gladly do a bunny date for Solara. Midwest is an awesome organization.

http://www.rabbitrr.org/

 

[Yield]

Thank you so much

 

[kirbyultra]

JadeIcing (Ali) gave me some really good advice when I was considering getting a third bun (my two existing buns refuse to bond even today). I wanted to get my Kirby a friend and he ended up getting a foe lol....

I gotta dig up her reply because there is lots to consider, both on your end and for Solara. Questions to mull over... Will find it when I get home on my pc.

 

[Yield]

kirbyultra wrote:

JadeIcing (Ali) gave me some really good advice when I was considering getting a third bun (my two existing buns refuse to bond even today). I wanted to get my Kirby a friend and he ended up getting a foe lol....

I gotta dig up her reply because there is lots to consider, both on your end and for Solara. Questions to mull over... Will find it when I get home on my pc.

oh wow O:
thank you

 

[kirbyultra]

I know you said you were looking to get a bun partly because you wanted the bun, not because Solara wanted a bun mate. But you do have to consider... if they don't bond you effectively have 2 single buns and two singles are seriously 2 x the work. There are very few efficiencies you can share with 2 singles. A bonded pair is somewhat easier to manage.

I find that the hardest thing with 2 unbonded boys because when I had to work, I only had a few hours at night every day to let them out. And they'd have to share that time so each bun only got a couple of hours of playtime. If you don't have time to devote for each unbonded bun, your nights quickly become about ushering the poor bun back in order to allow the other bun out. Sometimes the buns'll give you grief and show their disapproval of such ushering!

JadeIcing wrote:

1) Can you handle 3 solo till they bond?
2) If the bond broke could you handle 3 solo?
3) Can you handle bonding?

Bonding, unless you have a love at first sight thing happen which is rare, is stressful. I'm STILL doing it. It's STILL nerveracking. It can take weeks or months.

I just talked to a woman who did go through the whole bunny dating thing. She settled on one boy for her existing girl. It seemed ok, but it took her NINE MONTHS to bond her pair. So sometimes even bunny dating at the shelter isn't a surefire sign that they will be an easy bond. And during that time, you have to treat them as 2 singles!

Certainly, in the time that my boys haven't bonded they have more or less bonded to me. They are BOTH my alpha. I'm their lowly slave bun. I'm sure our humna-bun relationship is not helping their bun-to-bun relationship as there can only be one alpha... They both ironically, don't really care for my husband. They boss him around as a 3rd wheel.