We have 4 pets now--two bunnies and two cats. The cats we enjoy. One of the bunnies is in love with the cats, and runs loose with them, eats when they eat (but not, of course, what they eat), likes them to snuggle her, and generally depends on them for socialization. She's skittish, but does want affection from people, and fits well in the family. All three of them came from shelters. All three are spayed, btw.
The fourth bunny...is another story. He is as cute as a button, and we adopted him as a baby (from a pet store...I know...but I felt so sorry for him). He is neutered, a small holland lop. But he never really bonded with us. He's a 'rabbit's rabbit'. He is not into humans, neither for cuddling, or pets, or anything beyond food. I have had 5 bunnies and he is the least "into" people of them all. He just doesn't like to be handled. He WORSHIPS female rabbits, and the love of his life died this summer--a female to whom we bonded for several years. I literally mean he LIVED for this bunny. He was obsessed with her, spent every second with her, constantly grooming, humping, and snuggling as close as possible to her.
Now, he would love to bond with our remaining female bunny. He pines for her terribly too. He gets as near he can to wherever she is in the room (he is in an ex pen, she is loose, as he is somewhat scared of the cats). He eats when she eats, sleeps when she sleeps, and constantly throws himself against his pen to push it closer to wherever she is laying.
Two things that are not options:
1) bonding these two--He was willing, but this female is very anti social with rabbits. She attacked him constantly every time we tried to bond them. At the rescue we were told she was somewhat stand offish with bunnies. We tried bonding again this fall--again he is willing, but she is deeply threatened by anything he does. She does NOT want to bond with him, and she is MUCH bigger, willing to draw blood, and can really hurt him, even with me standing right there. She is VERY unpredictable. She will seem fine, then boom, attack him. We have asked experts for help, and tried what they said, and it is clear that they are never going to be 'in love' and at BEST, might tolerate each other for a few minutes of supervised contact.
2) Getting a third bunny, a female companion for him, is not an option. We could not responsibly take on another pet. Financially, there is no way. There is also no way dh or ds would agree to it, as we are all responsible for their care. Ds is starting high school next fall (homeschooled until now) and he does a lot of the rabbit care. He will be in school, then college...this is not the time to take on yet another animal.
I have never given away a pet but I am seriously wondering whether that is best for this bunny. He is SO LONELY. I can't begin to stress how lonely he is. He JUST wants a bunny to cuddle. That is his idea of 'living'. He is housetrained, gentle with people, and quite adorable. I have thought about looking for a house rabbit person with a spayed female, who might want a good, gentle, companion for her. He seems willing to bond with any female--he is not picky.
But then I think we should just keep him. He is about 4 and a half. He might live another 4 years. He has a good home with us--clean, well fed, looked after. But he will never be totally happy. He is more 'chore' than a part of the family, since he has to be kept away from the other bunny, doesn't particularly like the cats, and doesn't really seem to get much from time with us. I could try spending even more time with him--make a real effort to win him over? But that almost seems self centered--he isn't going to like us as much as another bunny. He's not that type.
What should I do?
The fourth bunny...is another story. He is as cute as a button, and we adopted him as a baby (from a pet store...I know...but I felt so sorry for him). He is neutered, a small holland lop. But he never really bonded with us. He's a 'rabbit's rabbit'. He is not into humans, neither for cuddling, or pets, or anything beyond food. I have had 5 bunnies and he is the least "into" people of them all. He just doesn't like to be handled. He WORSHIPS female rabbits, and the love of his life died this summer--a female to whom we bonded for several years. I literally mean he LIVED for this bunny. He was obsessed with her, spent every second with her, constantly grooming, humping, and snuggling as close as possible to her.
Now, he would love to bond with our remaining female bunny. He pines for her terribly too. He gets as near he can to wherever she is in the room (he is in an ex pen, she is loose, as he is somewhat scared of the cats). He eats when she eats, sleeps when she sleeps, and constantly throws himself against his pen to push it closer to wherever she is laying.
Two things that are not options:
1) bonding these two--He was willing, but this female is very anti social with rabbits. She attacked him constantly every time we tried to bond them. At the rescue we were told she was somewhat stand offish with bunnies. We tried bonding again this fall--again he is willing, but she is deeply threatened by anything he does. She does NOT want to bond with him, and she is MUCH bigger, willing to draw blood, and can really hurt him, even with me standing right there. She is VERY unpredictable. She will seem fine, then boom, attack him. We have asked experts for help, and tried what they said, and it is clear that they are never going to be 'in love' and at BEST, might tolerate each other for a few minutes of supervised contact.
2) Getting a third bunny, a female companion for him, is not an option. We could not responsibly take on another pet. Financially, there is no way. There is also no way dh or ds would agree to it, as we are all responsible for their care. Ds is starting high school next fall (homeschooled until now) and he does a lot of the rabbit care. He will be in school, then college...this is not the time to take on yet another animal.
I have never given away a pet but I am seriously wondering whether that is best for this bunny. He is SO LONELY. I can't begin to stress how lonely he is. He JUST wants a bunny to cuddle. That is his idea of 'living'. He is housetrained, gentle with people, and quite adorable. I have thought about looking for a house rabbit person with a spayed female, who might want a good, gentle, companion for her. He seems willing to bond with any female--he is not picky.
But then I think we should just keep him. He is about 4 and a half. He might live another 4 years. He has a good home with us--clean, well fed, looked after. But he will never be totally happy. He is more 'chore' than a part of the family, since he has to be kept away from the other bunny, doesn't particularly like the cats, and doesn't really seem to get much from time with us. I could try spending even more time with him--make a real effort to win him over? But that almost seems self centered--he isn't going to like us as much as another bunny. He's not that type.
What should I do?
I don't know too much about rabbits, but I have guinea pigs, and I know that if a bonded pair are seperated they can become depressed to the point that they'll die.
