How does everyone feel about lone buns?

As you know, Pippin is our only bunny. He will be neautered in a few weeks when he is a little bigger and then we will pair him with a female which I cannot wait to do

I was talking to the vet the other day and she said that rabbits really should be with other rabbits. They need the companionship and other bunnies in their lives which makes sense. I've read quite a lot about this and it seems the consensus is that rabbits should be bonded rather than living alone. I do worry about Pippin as he looks lonely sometimes and although I try to be a rabbit companion I am obviously no match for a bunny! Anyway this vet said that they always encourage their bunnies to go together as a pair. One male and one female. I mean 'their' bunnies because the vets is attached to a pets at home store. She said that they always try to sell two together with the promise from the new guardians that they would bring the male back in a set number of weeks to get castrated before any mating can happen. When I got Pippin they said they couldn't sell 2 together. And it was the same for Mr. Magoo when we got him from the same place over a year ago. They said they would mate and they couldn't let 2 go together which I understood. I now feel cheated because Mr. Magoo might have had a happier life if he had a partner and although we are going to get a partner for Pippin (hopefully from rescue this time) it would have been nice for him to start the bond early as a baby rather than have a new bunny come into his life later on. I would have thought anyway. I just feel things could have been very different if I had been given the right advice. I know theres no point in worrying now but I guess I just want a bit of a moan.

But the real reason for the post was just to see how other people feel about having lone bunnies and can you make up for being a singular bunny in other ways? I think I read something a while back written by Jay about lone bunnies but I can't find it now.

Daisy is a lone bunny - and i feel terribly guilty about it. There are a few reasons why we havent got him a friend but mainly cos Hubby has his foot firmly down!

I think daisy is happy though. He spends lots of time with us and is always busy and Up to stuff.

Also Im not sure how daisy would take it. He is sooo territorial over his "things" if we move his toys or re-arrange his bed he gets all stroppy - he will only be cuddled when he decides to be etc, everything has to be on his terms. .

Also I worry that with Daisy being prone to Stasis and with his illness I worry that I wouldnt be able to keep tabs on him so easily if there were two buns. i wouldnt know who's poos were who's or be able to monitor the amount he is eating.

Felix is a lone bun at the moment because Wolfie is just too territorial to share just now. I have flirted with bonding them but have decided that I will try again this year but once I have lots of time off.

I do think that Felix would benefit from a companion, but really don't want to take on another rabbit. I didn't really plan to have Felix, he just arrived.

All of my buns have been introduced to their partners when they have been adults and the bonds have been good strong bonds. I am sure that there are some buns who don't mind being alone as there are people like that and I don't think that Daisy realises that he IS a rabbit at all!

I did wonder about lone rabbits not realising they are bunnies. Mr. Magoo used be so close to our cat that it was hard to tell which one of them was the cat and which was the rabbit

Noisette was a lone bun for the 18 months of her life. She was scared wittless of Oscar when she first met him and didn't have a single clue what to do because she had never socialised with another rabbit before. I honestly think she thought she was a human It took a while for her to become tolerable of Oscar, and my gosh it was tough when I bonded them, but she is now inseparable from him. It really helped that Oscar was SO willing to bond mind you... he had lost his Hermione 3 months before hand and was very lonely.

However, I know that in all real life situations people can't always have two bunnies Where is Jay when you need him?! He's got Bertie who's lonesome, and he does amazingly well from what I have read!

This is the thread you were looking for Emma

Your vets are giving general advice and it's good to see that they are doing that, if somewhat hypocritical, as we know that the pet store in question have no problem selling single buns, despite their advice.

I've already said my piece about this on the other thread, but will add this... there are many buns who, like some of us, do not want to be around other buns. There are many buns who do not want a partner of the opposite sex, there's a few gay couples on HH.

I think a lot of folk buying a bun don't nec. know about the importance of partnership when buying their bun (hands up - guilty of that one) and may or may not learn this afterwards. Once bunny is home, and has made your home their own (overtaken might be a better way of saying that ) what do you do? As much as our relationship with Bertie is very interactive and he gets lots of time and attention from us, I would much prefer that he had a bunny friend. We learnt after a few months that Paul is allergic to Bertie, so getting him a partner would most likely have resulted in both of them leaving here. I believe this would be more cruel and damaging to him than keeping him here alone. Now after 3 1/2 years, I wouldn't bring another rabbit into the flat anyway, this is his home and if that went wrong, we couldn't have 2 seperate buns here. If there were no reason why we couldn't have another, we would have done it a few months after he got here.

I think each owner has to weigh up the pros and cons, and look at the quality of interactive time and life that their bun has, and make decision on that. Because I don't work regular hours, I'm at home a lot more around the day than Paul, and he is home each day from 4.30, when I'm out working evenings, so the most time Berts is alone is about 4 hours in the afternoon, when he's asleep anyway.

I've stopped beating myself up about the second bun question, and like all our single buns carers on HH, have taken a lot more time and effort ensuring that he has a happy busy and interactive life with us here, and he's happy, so I'm happy.

I think it's great that our members do care a lot about their singletons, and go to a lot of trouble to give them time and make their lives as good as they can be, and we all learn from each other

I raised this question with Anne McB a couple of weeks ago, and she said that provided that the single bun lives indoors, has lots of social time, is included in the family, is happy, its care & welfare is a good standard etc etc. that is good enough, and she wouldn't consider keeping a bun alone, in these circumstances, cruel.
I know of one RSPCA inspector round here who would happily prosecute me n Paul for having a single bunny in a flat. They have said that people in flats aren't fit to own rabbits, and no rabbit should be kept alone. Since saying that, they have seen Bertie's YT channel, and had to admit that he seems very happy and well adjusted, and we wouldn't be prosecuted ... it's a bit nuts when you see some of the conditions our Rescues retrieve buns from really

I dont know if I coud ever accuse daisy of being "well adjusted"

"well spoiled" , "well Naughty" & "well cheeky" definately.



You do an amazing job with Bertie Jay.

Juno is a lone bunny, but it is through her choice and not mine. She has been suitably unimpressed by every buck I have presented to her as a possible mate and let them know about it.

For her, I think being reared by a human from a young age meant she never developed the proper social skills and grasp of body language to communicate effectively with another rabbit and her reaction to this is that attack is the bes form of defence !

She also is pretty happy to be left to her own devices by me, if I watch her through the window she is always pottering about, but her interaction with me is always on her terms.....she lets me know when I am permitted to touch her.

Josephine was a lone bun for 18 months before I adopted Bruce. The time period was due to a toxic boyfriend which is another story....

I think that lone bunnies are fine, and it really depends on their personality. Some bunnies prefer humans to other rabbits.

However I felt a stronger obligation to spend time with josephine and be her "husbun" since she was alone. Now that she has bruce i am ok going away for the weekend or working long hours because I know she has company. In my mind a lone bunny is so much more dependent on you for grooming and entertainment. But that's josephine's personality - some buns might be fine with being alone.

Having said that, I'll never regret adopting Bruce. He's such an angel. If pippin likes another bunny, and you can afford it, i'd say you should adopt him/her.

I should probably add for those newer members who are unaware of this fact, Juno is a wild rabbit, though she has been with me since about 5 weeks old. Thus, she grasped some aspects of wild rabbit behaviour and not others (at 5 weeks wildies are weaned, have learned fear but are still developing interaction skills and social etiquette).

This is why she prefers to be left alone by both people and rabbits, with hindsight I can see where I went wrong, but not how to correct it at this late stage. Therefore I am left to keep her happy in the way she sees fit.

Thanks for all the replies. It's been very interesting. I agree with Jay that it is an individual thing. I, for example, have lots of home commitments with the 4 kids and hubby! This means that my free time is mainly in the evenings. I spend a lot of time talking to him and give nose rubs when I go passed his enclosed home but the full one to one interaction with him is in the evenings. This will change in a few months when the twins start nursery and I will have half a day every week day completely child-free

I definitely want to adopt a wifebun for him once he has been neautered.

All this goes to show just how different every bunny is from one another.

Oh wow Jay.. I can't believe and RSPCA inspector would prosecute a lone bunny... Id say there are much bigger fish to fry out there than get tangled up a well looked after single bun... Thats extreme!

And, all my bunnies are single, though haven't always been, and hopefully won't be for long. Im working on pairing them back up after thier neuterings etc but it isn't as easy as I thought.. Theyve been happy together before but just.. Meh.. It doesn't help that I don't have a whole load of free time 'till the Summer holidays, mind you.. Hopefully by Summer Ill have 3 pairs and not 6 bunnies..

Although I have a pair now, Rosie was a single housebun. We once brought another bun home from a rescue, but he was snuffly and had (on our vet's advice) to go back We then arranged for her to go to a rescue for bonding but she went into stasis the day before and we had to cancel. She then lost her sight not long afterwards and we didn't feel it was fair on her to put her through the stress of bonding after that. I often wonder if she was trying to tell us something! I was at home all day with her and it seemed to suit us fine - she was quite bonded to me and it worked really well.

So I do agree though that each bun is different and it's not as simple as saying that they must be bonded to another bun. All the single buns that I know of are incredibly well cared for with humans who are very clued up on what their needs are.

Jay wrote:I know of one RSPCA inspector round here who would happily prosecute me n Paul for having a single bunny in a flat. They have said that people in flats aren't fit to own rabbits, and no rabbit should be kept alone. Since saying that, they have seen Bertie's YT channel, and had to admit that he seems very happy and well adjusted, and we wouldn't be prosecuted ... it's a bit nuts when you see some of the conditions our Rescues retrieve buns from really

I have to say I'm so shocked by that. Honestly, I can't believe he said that to you with no knowledge of how Bertie is cared for. Did they not know that you're the mad man in the park who picks grass for his bun?! At least they have seen his YT clips and changed their minds - but really, making a generalisation like that is ridiculous. As you say, if they would only concentrate on some of the appalling situations that they are aware of ...

It is shocking, it wasn't said directly to me, but to Anne, who was really not happy at the attitude. I think I was more shocked by the notion that people who live in flats have somehow inferior animal caring skills.. That was just blatent flatnophobia - is that word...it is now..

Anne asked me send the photos of the balcony set up here, then she sent him the YT channel vids, which is when they had a change of mind

Flatnophobia? Definitely a word. There's a flatnophobia society to help flatnophobics. They have a website too, www.flatnophobiaanonomous.com

How many of you clicked on that?

Magoo wrote:How many of you clicked on that?

I just did.

I just looked at your link and thought "Well I never, flatnophobia IS a word"

I just did..... ha ha

When there are so many bunnies who are locked in small cages and never looked after or interacted with, you wonder why they would bother with flats. Flats are much more roomy than a small hutch in the back yard!

I didn't, you tease