Hello and Help!

Hello,
I wish I had found your forum a few days ago as I think I have got into a bit of a pickle.
Two and a half weeks ago my beloved Rufus passed away, leaving his mate Rosie a very sad widow. She has been moping about the garden and won't even sleep in their sleeping compartment, as though she is haunted by the memory of him lying there.
I always knew this time would come as Rufus was three years older than Rosie. We used to keep guinea pigs and didn't particularly want to keep rabbits after bad experiences as a child (I'd taken in a rescued rabbit who was emotionally damaged and rather violent, never friendly). Rufus had come as a 'pair' with a male guinea pig and they seemed so close I didn't have the heart to separate them - until the following spring and sexual maturity! We had Rufus neutered but it didn't help and they both ended up living alone. It didn't seem to bother Charlie (g'pig) but Rufus became more and more depressed, human company just wasn't enough for him (and he more than made up for my earlier experiences by being very loving and calm). He put on weight because he wasn't running around and even had dental problems because he wasn't eating grass or hay (these were always available). Eventually we decided to get him a bunny friend and along came Rosie. We bought her in September so she lived indoors with us until the following spring but on warm autumn days she would go out in the run while Rufus had the freedom of our good sized, secure garden. It brought Rufus back to life, they would nose each other through the wire and she would go mad and wee at him. We asked the vet about spaying Rosie but were told it wasn't necessary as Rufus was 'done'. That following spring and summer, through supervised visits, they bonded and we bought them a two story palace with free access to the garden on all but the most inclement of days. The only cloud was Rosie's constant longing for babies and badgering Rufus into mating with her, but he seemed happy to oblige, as he'd been neutered late he knew what to do. I can't help wondering if she wore him out!

So we come up to date. I have been searching websites and articles for advice on what to do about Rosie and decided that the best thing to do would be to get a couple of young female buns, possibly sisters, and introduce them gently until hopefully they would all get on fine and live together happily ever after (the idea of getting two close in age being that I wouldn't end up with one lonely bun in a few years). I looked online at buns for sale/adoption but they seemed to be mostly lion heads available so yesterday I popped into my local Pets at Home, where Rosie had come from.... They had one 12 week old dwarf lop left on her own, black and white markings, absolutely adorable, I fell in love! I brought Daisy home! Holding them both we let Rosie sniff Daisy and she licked her nose, a good start we though! It was such a lovely warm sunny day we got out the old run, dusted it down and put Daisy in it on the lawn, she took to it straigh away and was soon happily grazing. Rosie has the run of the garden these days and when she saw there was an interloper she flew at the wire like the rabbit in Monty Python and The Holy Grail! Daisy didn't seem too bothered but Rosie spent a lot of the afternoon trying to chew her way into the run.
Oh dear what have I done!!! I now have two lonely buns!
Daisy is living with us in the house at the moment, while she gets used to us, but I wish I could have found better advice before I got her.
So can anyone help me with the following questions...
Should I get yet another young bun to go with Daisy before she gets too settled and used to owning our kitchen, or is she likely to attack it? And would two new buns be harder for Rosie to accept?
Should I get Rosie spayed even though she is now nearly 4? (and get the new doe/s spayed as well)
Would it have been better if I'd just got another neutered buck? - Hindsight is wonderful!
Are there any really good rabbit savvy vets in the South Hampshire area? There is a new practice opening in our village next month so I have my fingers crossed! The last two vets I have been to had a rather poor attitude to rabbits. I don't want to take them on long car jouneys.
I'm hoping someone can help as there seems little advice available on the subject of widowed buns.

Rufus lives on in my heart.

Welcome to |HH I'm sorry you lost Rufus. so sad.

You can't undo what has been done, and I'm sure you'll get some helpful advice. It is a shame that you didn't find us first, but hey - you're here now

Firstly, your vet was wrong to tell you that Rosie shouldn't be speyed. Doe's have an 80% chance of getting uterine cancer if left entire, and Rosie is now at the the age when it could happen, so it would be worth booking her in asap.

Female - female bonds are the least likely to work I'm afraid, but it's not impossible. With both Doe's entire, it pretty much is impossible, unless they were siblings who've grown up together, and even then, it's not always plain sailing. The most successful bondings are M-F, both neutered, however some same sex couples live happily together.

At 12 weeks old, (if that's true information from p@h) it's also possible that Daisy is a boy - Pet stores are notorious for mis-sexing rabbits, so I would keep an eye out on Daisy's potential plum droppings - as if she is a he, then it will most likely be happening very soon.

Rosie being unspeyed is acting on hormones and protecting her territory, so her actions are not unusual. You need to keep Daisy safe from her, if she is being aggressive, as Daisy is young and smaller.

If Daisy is a girl, she can be speyed at around 6 months, if a boy, then he can be neutered soon after his plums drop.

It's unlikley Rosie will get along with another 2 female buns at the mo. I hope someone else can help you with that, cos I have no experience of Does.

My vet in Southampton is very good, if that's nearby, then let me know and I'll send you the details. They have a couple of very good bunny vets there.

Don't be too hard on yourself, we've all made mistakes, but there's things you need to do now to make Daisy safe help Rosie enjoy her life without her partner, so please keep asking

Welcome to the forum love to you and little Rosie. I am so sorry to hear about Rufus.

Hugs

Jo xx

Hello and welcome to Happy Hoppers, sorry to hear of the sad loss of Rufus. Very good advce from Jay, as always. I hope there is a happy outcome to all of this and that both Rosie and Daisy find suitable partners, but they both need to be neutered first.
x

Hi hun,

Welcome to HH!

Sorry to hear about Rufus bless him.

Jay's is very good advice, and it is def a good idea to have rosie spayed.

Hopefully someone who knows more about bonding will be along soon.

Cant wait to hear more about your gorgeous babies. Please feel free to post any questions you have - we are always happy to help!

Kate x

Hi there and welcome to HH

I have a same sex pairing, but both are neutered (two males) and it did take a lot of careful planning.

I think you need to keep them apart until you can establish Daisy's gender conclusively. Jay's advice is spot on.

Hello all,
Thankyou for your replies and kind words. I have spent the day getting to know Daisy and she is really adorable. She's still a little shy but I sense a great deal of confidence in her. She has been using her litter tray with no problems and when I cuddle her she relaxes quite happily. She has the most amazing back feet, bigger and fluffier than Rosie's!
Rosie went out in the garden on her own today as it was cooler than yesterday, but her favourite human (my eldest son) made a fuss of her. When the new vet's opens next month I will enquire about getting both rabbits speyed.

I think Daisy has calmed me down, I know I will just have to take this slowly. From my experience with Rosie and Rufus I knew it would be a while before I could trust them together anyway.

From looking around this forum I see some people have several rabbits, do they all live together happily? How did you bond them? Is is easier to keep several rabbits together rather than just bonded pairs? I have so many questions!
I welcome all answers/advice, I just want my buns to be happy.

Hi and Welcome to the Forum
There is nothing really I can add after Jay's very good advice.

Sometimes rabbit rescues will bond your rabbits for you and will usually ask for a donation for this, if you have problems you could always ring round your local rabbit rescues and see if any will do it for you, you may have to leave them there for a few days. Or maybe there is a member on here that lives near you that could eventually help you bond them

Jays advice is perfect! I have a twosome but they are male/female. Luna my female was very aggressive towards Thistle when I first got him even though they were separate and she was neutered...it took a long time for her hormones to settle down. You are in the right place for good advice! Tonnes of experienced people on here and you can learn sooo much. I love it!
Good luck with your buns

Hi

Firstly you need to get them neutered and let hormones calm down. Bonding should be done in neutral territory as Rosie sees your garden as 'her territory' and the new bun an intruder. I generally start with runs next to each other so they can see each other but not get to each other till they both look happy and will lie down next to each other before I would get them together (on neutral territory). Of course each bond is different, some can be also instantaneous and some may take months.

Welcome to HH! Jay have covered everything really but feel free to ask! x