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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Letting Gabby pick her own mate?

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    • brittbritt
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        One day I would love to bring home Gabby a husbun to share her life with. There is a rescue about an hour away that has several male bunnies. Several are white with red eyes. I know a lot of people don’t like that in bunnies but I would love to have one that color if Gabby hit it off with one.

        My question is if I took Gabby to meet several boy bunnies how does that work? Will the other bunnies be territorial to a strange bunny being around or will their true personality shine through with Gabby being around? Do bunnies who meet up like this end up getting along after the bonding process?

        I just thought if anyone has done this with their buns if they could offer advice or share their experience with this process. I’ve never spoke with this rescue as of yet but just wanted some input and do a little info search before contacting them.


      • Monkeybun
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          Usually the bunny meets are done in a neutral area of the shelter, so it isn’t their territory. Each bun is introduced, they are allowed to interact, see how they do. Then introduce a different bunny, rinse repeat til all bunnies have been met. Individually of course. Sometimes it helps to do a second meet after that with the ones that were more interested.

          Monkey originally chose Moose for her mate. Bonding was going decent, until Moose one day decided he hated the little black humpy thing. So it can kind of go either way. Now Monkey is bonded to Smudge, a bun she hadn’t been introduced to before adoption

          The thing to remember is that if they do NOT bond, you would have to house them separately, which to some people isn’t an option. So it may be better to to do intros if you can’t have them living in different spaces long term.


        • brittbritt
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            My goal is to have Gabby free range in the living room as well as the dining room, kitchen and laundry room she is already used to. I would want the mate she did best with to be able to free range with her. It will be a little while before I take the next step to bring another bun home.

            Gabby has become used to my dogs, cat and 7 year old child. I can see her confidence grow every day in our busy and loud household. She goes up to my cat Abby with the look of admiration and wants to interact so much with her. Abby just looks at her like she’s crazy and walks off. Abby is now 13 and at her age I think she is just not going to bond with the bun which I didn’t think she would in the first place. It makes me sad that Gabby looks to Abby for that attention and then doesn’t get it from her.

            Thanks for your advice and story of how your bunnies did.


          • BaileyBun
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              Posted By Monkeybun on 06/03/2011 11:38 PM
              Usually the bunny meets are done in a neutral area of the shelter, so it isn’t their territory. Each bun is introduced, they are allowed to interact, see how they do. Then introduce a different bunny, rinse repeat til all bunnies have been met. Individually of course. Sometimes it helps to do a second meet after that with the ones that were more interested.

              ^Yep, this is how it went when Bailey went on bunny dates.  We met all the eligible bachelors at the rescue (I believe it was about 6, maybe 7).  We put Bailey in a small x-pen, and brought the boys to meet her.  I had an “expert” there to tell me which bunnies Bailey seemed to get along with best.  Then we brought back the two boys that Bailey had “liked” the most.  Lucky for me, Bailey and I picked the same bun, and after another date a week later, we brought him home.  

              In my adoption contract, it said something about being able to “return” him if he wasn’t getting along with Bailey.  I didn’t have the room to house two bunnies separately forever, so this would’ve been a godsend IF they hadn’t been able to bond.  Thankfully, they fell in love within a week and are living happily ever after

               


            • brittbritt
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                Thanks for the info BaileyBun. I hope when the time comes I can find her a really good match to live with us. She’s so special to me and I want her to be as happy as possible.


              • BinkyBunny
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                  Bunny dating doesn’t gaurantee that they will bond back at home, but it does help increase the chances if they do get along during dating.  Jack and VIvian still had to go through a few months of bonding issues (but Jack also had some other health issues — bladder stone, that could have created some of the challenges).   My first bunny dating I did was with Forrest and Rucy (both have passed on now), and they bonded within a week after their date.  

                  I took Video of Jack’s last dating sessions at SaveABunny a couple of years ago. He met a couple of bunnies that  were happy to meet him, but he was such a  humpy bunny, he wore out his welcome quickly with the ladies.  Besides one who didn’t like him from the get go, most of the bunnies really liked him at first, but he quickly annoyed them with his humping — it either terrified them or made them angry in a short amount of time.  HE even got sprayed by one very spunky gal.  Vivian ended up being the best candidate to deal with his rude humping behavior.  (and thank goodness, because even though he chose HER as  I really had no choice in the end decision…because she is a wonderful bunny who I love very much!  I am so glad now he chose her!)

                  So my the best advice I can give is go there with an open heart and be open to loving a bunny that your bunny may choose. 

                  I also was given the option to try another bunny to bunny date with if Jack and Viv could not get along.  But most rescues want you to give it a good try and have patience as it can take time. I was very worried in the beginning that Jack and Vivian were not going to ever bond, but with persistence and guidance from SAB,  I gave it more time and of course, Jack and Vivian developed into a sweet caring funny pair. 

                  I think bunny dating at a shelter/rescue is a great idea too because you will have other rabbit savvy people who know bunny body language and can pick up on subtle things that show they will get along as well as they can help protect them when dealing with immediate aggression.  I learned so much about body language just from two different speed dating sessions over the years (one at HRS and one at SAB). 

                   


                • Dee
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                    I defintely think that bunny dating is a great idea- nothing can gaurantee a happy bunny marriage, but it worked well for my bunnies. When BunBun had been neutered for about 2 weeks and had been with us for about 2 months, I took him to a rabbit foster home to find him a wife. I should’ve waited longer after the neuter because he was still very hormonal, but he still met several ladies. Finally it ws a tie between 2 fuzzy lop sisters, Pekachue and Penny. BunBun reached past Pekachue and touched noses with Penny and we decided that he had made his choice- Penny was his bride. So we took them home in the same carrier (we were advised to do this since they were pretty peaceful and the scary car trip would help bond them). Penny’s name changed to Nelli and we got the two bunnies together for playtime every day. Once BunBun got over his humping problem, it was smooth sailing. In 2 weeks, they were fully bonded and together 24/7. They have never fought, even over food, although they do pull greens/hay from each others mouths and engage in tug-of-wars. I think they were an exceptionally easy pair to bond and we’re very lucky. But I do feel that allowing Bun to pick his wife may have helped.
                    I’ve heard that it may be easier to bring a female bunny into a male bunny’s house too- girls are more territorial. But even if it takes a while for 2 bunnies to bond completely, I think it’s worth it. They bring each other so much joy and comfort- it’s really wonderful to watch them cuddle and groom and run around together. My husband worried that BunBun would be less affectionate with us if he had a wife, but that wasn’t the case. He loves us just as much, but now his life is more complete. And Nelli is all about BunBun- she is “his” bunny and makes it quite clear that she could really do without us annoying humans, thank-you-very-much.


                  • brittbritt
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                      Thank you BB for your experience advice. When ever it does happen I’m going to go into it very open hearted and let Gabby pick whomever she likes best. They have several of the REW type males and I would love to have her pick one of them but as long as she’s happy that’s good.

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                  Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Letting Gabby pick her own mate?