experiences with adopting a second rabbit?

[bunnyfriend]

 Hi (: Okay so this is for anyone who started out with one rabbit and then decided to adopt another:

Did your original bunny still want attention from you?

Did the new bunny change your original’s behavior (either good or bad)?

How much did your weekly/monthly rabbit expenses raise?

 

I really am getting serious about adopting another rabbit to bond with Wilbur if it will make her happy. I have no idea if there is any way to tell if she actually wants a friend or if she would be happier alone. I have to go to school during the day and I hate leaving her alone. She isn’t spayed yet and I would be adopting an adult that has already been altered from the humane society or the House Rabbit Society and let her pick her new friend out. 

[LBJ10]

Leopold was first and he has always been a little turd. I mean that in a loving way, of course. He doesn’t care too much for attention, unless I am running my fingernails down his nose and giving him “naners”. Otherwise, I can pretty much expect to talk to the butt. When Wooly came, I didn’t notice much of a change in behavior. I mean, there was the normal stuff like Leopold needing to get all that humping out of his system and the poop wars that followed. But once things calmed down, Leopold was pretty much the same as he always was.
I haven’t ever calculated out the increase in money spent each week, but I’m sure there was an increase. I don’t think it doubled though.

[TaraMichele]

 before getting sophie I felt like I needed to spend lots and lots of time with Cady, he was never an overly loving bunny but he shows it in his own way.  The only thing he would do prior to being bonded with sophie was jump on my chest in the morning for pets…since being bonded I just get attacked by the both of them if I havent fed them in time.  He seems very happy and in “Bunny Love,”  so ommy love isnt quite as important but I still get  my mommy love .  It especially cracks me up if Im petting one the other becomes jealous and starts attacking my sweat pants.  I havent noticed any extreme change in cost, but definitely have to make more trips for veggies!

[peppypoo]

When I first started considering adopting a friend for Peppy for the same reasons as you, I was really worried that she wouldn’t be as affectionate toward me anymore. She’s always been a sucker for attention, and would hang out with me and bother me for pets while I did my homework on my bed, or snuggle with me under the covers. However, I don’t really think there’s been a substantial change in her behavior toward me…she actually got less obnoxious in the mornings about waking me up for breakfast. As for cost, I feel like it was less than a 2x increase.

[Elrohwen]

Otto was my first. He’s never been very friendly – he’ll run right up to me, but the second I reach out my hand to pet him he’s off. For a little while, right before we got Hannah, he actually started to enjoy pets sometimes. After bonding to Hannah he went right back to not liking pets – he’s always been a bit antisocial, so it wasn’t really a change in his basic personality, but it was disappointing that he stopped liking pets again.

Hannah was our second and she has always been interested in people (she was a single bun for 3 years). For the first few months of their bond she was attached to Otto at the hip, so happy to have a bunny friend, but as their bond solidified she became much more interested in us again. Now she’s very affectionate and often looks to us for attention, so her innate social personality didn’t change after being bonded.

For cost, it’s hard to say since I don’t really keep track of expenses. I used to feed Otto 1/4c pellets per day, but now I’ve worked it down so they share just 1/4c, so that cost hasn’t changed (it’s a pretty minimal cost anyway, since one bag of food lasts for a while). I do probably go through twice as much hay and definitely twice as many veggies, so that cost has effectively doubled. Vet visits are also twice as much.

[kamdynandsunshinesmom]

I had kamdyn for 4 years and decided to get him a mate to bond. I did rescue a female rabbit named sunshine. My old bunny did get mad because I had them in the same room and I felt bad always feeding the old bunny first so I would alternate it every other day and he got really mad. So don’t change the old bunnies schedule it is stressful enough bringing a new bunny home. My behavior did change a little bit because I have to spend more times with the buns now that I have 2. My old bunny became disabled with cancer. So my cost did go extremely high because I have a ton of vet bills from my bunny having cancer. I have spent probably $1,000 in vet cost just in the last year and have to give him medication. You will want to get your rabbit spayed it is very important before you adopt a male rabbit. Be prepared for the new bun and old bun marking there territories. My bunnies currently aren’t bonded they live in seperate cages in seperate rooms and never see each other or smell each other unless they both have to go to the vet. My old rabbit just loves me. This stuff isn’t going to happen to your rabbit and alot of rabbits love the company of other rabbits. I am sure if my rabbit wasn’t ill he would love the company of other rabbits. I so happy I adopted a 2nd rabbit my life is better because of it. Good luck can’t wait to hear further from you

[bunnyfriend]

Thank you everyone for sharing! This has been really helpful. I’m going to take Wilbur bunny dating, there’s a couple guys that I’m hoping she’ll pick one of. Does it work if you adopt a pair of already bonded rabbits and try to bond all three of them together? Because these guys are adorable http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/20973152 ;P

My top pick: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/20972996

[Dee]

It’s funny, my husband was so worried that our 1st bunny, BunBun, wouldn’t like us as much if we adopted another rabbit, he actually didn’t want to take the chance. I insisted, because from what I have read, most bunnies prefer to have a companion.
Our 1st bunny is a male and we’d only had him for a couple months when I decided he needed a wife. He was and still is very affectionate- we call him The Love Bunny (I would be embarassed to admit that anywhere else- lol). He was neglected for the first few months of his life and left to live outside before we found him, so it seemed like he was extra grateful to get so much attention. Bun was newly neutered when we took him to a foster rabbit house to pick a lady bunny, so the main problem with their bonding was his constant humping. It still went really smoothly- they were fully bonded within about 2 weeks.
Nelli, BunBun’s wife, is his complete opposite- she is very timid and doesn’t like to be touched, so there’s very little competition for our attention. If we do pet her though, Bun usually rushes over to supervise- I’m not sure if he’s jealous or just protective of Nelli. I’m really glad that we got her- she has added so much joy and excitement to Bun’s life- and ours! When I see them cuddled up together, or grooming each other’s ears, or hopping around getting into things, I know that this is the best life possible for them- they just love being together.
I know that I buy more hay/greens (I don’t feed many pellets) but I don’t think the cost is double. Of course, nail trims are more, but I still don’t feel like the extra cost is really significant.
I know that some bunnies are happiest as only buns, but in general, I think that keeping more than one bunny greatly enhances their happiness. Also, it’s SO amazing to watch them enjoy each other’s company. Seeing Bun and Nell always makes me smile .

[bunnyfriend]

Awh that makes me feel like getting a second bun will be good for everyone (:

[MayaConsuelo]

Thanks for the responses, I’m interested in getting a second bunny as well. Once we move into a bigger apartment that is. I had two cats and one bunny, my cat Misha died this past spring so I’d like to get a bunny friend for Mr. Bun-Bun. He is over 2 years old and has always been a single bun. He’s extremely dominant, always demanding attention and head rubs, and very very affectionate, giving lots of kisses. Once we start snuggling, he never wants to stop. So I think he has enough love both for us and a new bunny friend too! I’d like to do the same, take him to a shelter and let him pick his friend. Not sure how many places will let you do that though…

[brittbritt]

When I adopted Gabby my ultimate goal was for her to be free range in most of the house and then adopt her a husbun. After getting her spayed she was great at being free range and I noticed she started trying to be close to my 13 year old cat. My cat wanted nothing to do with her so I decided Gabby needed a husbun of her own.

I wanted to take her to a bunny rescue to do some bunny speed dating as I really wanted a solid white bunny as she is mostly black. My daughter fell in love with a petfinder video clip of a bunny at an animal shelter. She fell in love with how much he was running around and playing. So I went with my daughter’s choice and Thumper immediately fell in love with my Gabby.

It took them about a week of being in the same household and they got used to each other. Now they regularly flop and groom each other. He has turned out to be the sweetest bunny I’ve ever met in my life.

[Elrohwen]

DH and I were talking about our pair last night and we agreed that seeing their interaction is one of the best things about having two. It’s just so much fun to watch Hannah start exploring and see Otto trying to follow her without having to go on the hardwood floors. Haha. They are just so much more bonded than any animals I’ve seen (certainly more than any pair of dogs I’ve known) and their interaction is really precious. It’s even cute when they don’t get along so well – Hannah will try to groom Otto on the back/bum, which he hates, and he’ll hop off and stare at her disapprovingly while she looks confused about what she did wrong.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I would wait until you spay, just likely to be easier

When we brought Kahlua home (as a baby) we first had Kahlua in a carrier and let Kokanee sniff. She didn’t care. So we let Kahlua out. Kokanee was all over her, licking and kissing. Following her while she explored. Kokanee even lept over to me and kissed me, and I swear it was a thank you. She seemed to need her own kind and was thanking me. Maybe I tasted good and that’s all it was, but I doubt it. I slept two minutes that night worrying they’d fight as I’d rabbits could. But they slept together that first night and were inseperable until Kokanee left us.

Kokanee did change, but not in a bad way. She showed Kahlua the ropes and was often doing things with her. But she was still our baby and spent time with us.

Now Kahlua was her sidekick and as a second bunny who is now a sidekick to Rupert is always the sidekick. She doesn’t care for us much, we’re not close. She lets me handle her, she’s known no life but with us so she’s spoiled and does her own thing. She’s very devoted to Rupert and that’s who she is-somebunny’s friend. So I’d say though Kokanee stayed our baby and Rupert is our baby, Kahlua is a sidekick and never bonded to us. Like I said-she’ll let me groom/trim/clip/shave her, she’s fine with everything but I doubt she’d miss me!

Expenses went way up, as you just get obsessed the more buns you get lol so toys and treats and hidey places and structures will slowly take over your house.
Vet bills are what you really have to prepare for. A big vet bill or a rabbit who needs meds around the clock is easier when there is one, when you have two to care for plus added work it can be a big job. I had four when Chuck was ill, plus a dog and that was work from the time I got home until I went to bed. Easy to handle when everyone is healty, but throw meds into the routine, and cleaing etc-and it can be a big job real quick. Food/litter etc doubles as it would and isn’t a big thing.

That said I don’t regret getting a second bunny (or 3,4, and 5) and I don’t think I’d ever keep a single bunny again, because they have each other. They groom each other, snuggle, get into mischief-they are social animals and a good bonded pair is heartwarming

[Beka27]

Definitely spay her first. Even if the other rabbit is altered, it’s too dangerous to have her unspayed, you won’t get an accurate understanding of their interaction, and most rescues will not allow you to bring an unaltered rabbit for dating.

[bunnyfriend]

Alright, I will definitely wait a couple months! (:

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