Talk us out of getting another bun!! (UPDATED with photos & name!)

[ScooterandAnnette]

Of course I can’t really think of a good reason NOT to get another one, aside from the added cost and cleaning and stress of trying to bond them and house her separately until they’re bonded etc.  But here’s the thing:

There’s a super cute little girl at the shelter, she’s only 6 months old and she was found as a stray, which probably makes her a discarded Easter Bunny.  This is her pic:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd….9475_n.jpg

We’re so thrilled that Carbun and Keelie have bonded, but with his congestive heart failure we have no idea how long he’ll be with us and once he’s gone Keelie will be all alone.  She’s never been alone in her life, she came from a hoarding situation, we adopted her with a “sister” rabbit (no idea if they were related or how old she was) who has since gone to the bridge, and now he’s bonded with Carbun.  There’s pretty much zero chance of bonding her with Aeryn & Tegan, they hate her.  So getting another bun would mean that Keelie would have someone to keep her company.

Of course it might also upset the balance/relationship she’s got with Carbun right now.   I really don’t know. We’re so tempted by this cutie.

Thoughts?

– Annette

[tanlover14]

I say get him if you have the money and time for bonding!

She is adorable as all heck!!

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Trios seem to rarely work I’d wait, let Carbun and Keelie have their time, when he passes and shes had time to grieve maybe take her on bunny dates and start looking then?

On the plus side, the shelter bunny is young enough that she can still find a good home.

[tanlover14]

My trio worked out perfectly, could be because they were all originally from the same litter. In any case, do you have room for the extra bun if for some reason they can’t bond? That’s probably the better question.

[jerseygirl]

Sweet lil lop! Have you been in to meet her yet?

[ScooterandAnnette]

I think we’re going to go and try to meet her today, although it might be a moot point because I called the shelter and someone already has a hold on her until 6:15 today. To address the other concerns:
– Yes we can accommodate her if they don’t bond – we had Carbun totally separate until he bonded with the other two, which took something like a year and a half.
– I keep hearing that trios don’t work, but we had 2 trios side by side the worked quite well. I think it depends on the nature of the individual bunnies involved.

– Annette

[CinnabunMom]

Sweet lop!!!! I’m for the adoption, but I know it can be overwhelming, so it has to be something you’re sure can work either as a trio or another single bun! Let us know!!!

[Elizabeth Paige]

awww she kinda looks like my Babbity! Im all for the adoption too as long as it doesnt add too much stress to you! As soon as i move into a house (instead of a apartment) i plan on getting another lop

[mocha200]

Awww! So cute!

[ScooterandAnnette]

Okay so here’s what ended up happening:
We came home without a bunny — today. The shelter had 3 buns in, and we spent some time with each of them. The lop was very very cute, and very soft, and very skittish and nervous. She spent a little bit of time looking around, but was mostly concerned with finding a place to hide. We felt she wouldn’t be a very good match for our group, sadly. So then we spent a bit of time with the other 2 buns there. #2 they had down as a Dutch, but it looks more like a Rhinelander. She was friendly, and was okay, and was very pretty, but was just okay. So then we spent some time with #3. The have her marked as a Netherland Dwarf, and then scratched out Dwarf, but there’s absolutely no way she’s a Nethie at all. Her ears are way too long. Now this is a rabbit that I never would have thought I’d like, because she’s a REW and generally the red eyes kind of freak me out. But hers don’t. And she’s incredibly friendly. INCREDIBLY friendly. And big. I think she’s got a bit of Flemmie in her somewhere. We decided to sleep on it, but did put a hold on her until tomorrow evening. Now since you actually have to pay a non-refundable deposit to put a hold on them, and the deposit is more than half of what my adoption fee is, I highly suspect that we’ll be going back tomorrow to bring her home.
The down sides are: they don’t allow you to bring in your bunnies so they can do a meeting, and adoptions seem to be final so if there’s a major behaviour problem once she’s here – well too bad. It would have been really nice to bring Keelie in to see if the new one (her current name is Alby, that would have to change) was really aggressive towards her or not.
Here’s the shelter pic of Alby:
http://www.winnipeghumanesociety.ca/listing-images/5050f803eccdf.jpg
She’s just barely a year old.
– Annette

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Gorgeous, she looks like a new Zealand rew let us know how it goes!

[Monkeybun]

She’s beautiful And I agree with the NZ REW. Definitely not a Nethie lol.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Exciting!! I LOVE REWS!!!

[RabbitPam]

They’re both really cute.

I was going to suggest that you bring Keelie with you, and am not pleased with their attitude regarding that. Maybe you could tell them you are very experienced bunny owners, and you know how important it is to be able to bond them. Since they have some of your money, perhaps you can insist that Keelie come with you to meet the REW (I love REWs, btw) or you’ll lose your downpayment but you will not bring home a bunny she won’t get along with. Maybe just have Keelie with you in her carrier and make them decide on the spot. I think it is too important that they not hate each other on sight to let this slide.

[CinnabunMom]

She’s so pretty! (And I’m with you, the Red eyes tend to freak me out, but I find the more time I spend at BB the more I like them )

[tanlover14]

Love her! Someone correct me if I’m wrong because I don’t know a WHOLE lot about the different breeds but she looks like she could be an American? The breeder we got our buns from had a whole herd of Americans and she looks just like them!

[tanlover14]

Oh wait — I just compared her to the New Zealands on the same girls website and you’re right — she looks much more like them!

[ScooterandAnnette]

Spoke to adoptions again this morning, they will not allow for a bunny meet. They’re a general shelter not a rabbit shelter, and they’re very concerned with any communicable diseases between rabbits (either from a visiting bunny to theirs, or from theirs to a visiting bunny) since often illness doesn’t present very well at first. They specifically mentioned snuffles, so I’m guessing they’ve had an issue with it in the past. Mind you they also don’t do any cat meets either, just dog ones.
Waiting now to see if Scooter wants to go down later and spend more time with her to try and check her out further or just forget it. She’s on hold for another 5 hours yet, will keep you updated.
– Annette

[jerseygirl]

Ooh! I bet she’ll be a big snuggler. She just has that look about her.

The Rews are often overlooked so it’s great she might be going home to you- experienced bun parents. I expect the other bun being a lop and young would be snapped up quickly.

I personally think the rew eyes are really pretty & interesting to look at. Different in person to pictures you see.

I’m curious, was the little lop spayed at all?

[ScooterandAnnette]

Well right now we have a very excited dog, and a very unimpressed large white rabbit. Further updates once there are pictures, and a name.

@Jersey – all animals at the shelter are spayed/neutered, they don’t adopt them out until they’ve been speutered.
– Annette

[CinnabunMom]

Yay!!! Can’t wait for pics and a name!

[jerseygirl]

Congrats!!!

[mocha200]

Congrats! She is adorable!

[floppybunny123]

she deos have the eyes of a snuggler. Congrats!!!

P.S. she looks like a Syndney

[tanlover14]

AHHHHHH — I’m so excited for you guys!! CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW BUN!!!!! I’m so jealous. I love the feeling of bringing a new little (or big) guy home to the family!

[ScooterandAnnette]

Scooter here. The new bunny, who remains nameless at the moment, is adapting well to coming home. We’ve set up one of the X-pens on a tarp in the dining room, on the opposite side of the room from the bunny condo complex. She is very friendly, came up to greet us when we got up, and happily ate her piece of the bunnies’ breakfast banana.

It appears that bonding her to Keelie may be difficult at best. Keelie lunged and pawed at her through the X-pen bars yesterday, and repeatedly peed on the tarp in front of the X-pen to show the new bunny who is boss. This is unfortunately Keelie’s typical response to other bunnies. After a bit, the new bunny pawed back through the bars at Keelie.

Carbun sniffed at the new bunny through the X-pen bars, but neither seems to mind the other’s presence. We do not yet know how Aeryn and Tegan are viewing the newcomer, but we may well wind up having to try to bond her with these two instead. The dog tried to play with the new bunny, which was a bit too much. The cats strongly disapprove as expected, but aren’t doing anything other than stare. Since the new bunny seems to be asserting herself and is physically larger than Keelie and one of the cats, we predict that she will quickly keep the cats in line.

We have several pages of potential names, most of which have been rejected.

[Sarita]

She’s pretty – reminds me of my Maxine that passed – she was a big beautiful REW and she was very easy going too. The name will come to you.

[Stitchntwinks]

Congrats on your new bun, pictures when she settles in please

[RabbitPam]

Oh, Congratulations!
It sounds like she is fitting right in, kind of in the middle.

Pixpixpixpixpixpix (don’t make me use the poking stick)

[Raindrops]

Aww she’s beautiful!

I’m glad you went through with it

Everyone will settle down I’m sure!

[ScooterandAnnette]

We have named the new rabbit Kaylee, which is a variant of a Gaelic word meaning “slender”.  Which she somehow is, despite being a giant glutton.  We think she’s channeling Bailey, because she’s eating everything in sight, including our own watermelon plate from last night (see picture below).  Kaylee is also a fitting name because that’s the name of a character, played by Jewel Staite, from the cult sci-fi series Firefly.  We already have Aeryn, who’s also named after another such character, this time from Farscape.

 

Kaylee appears to have no fear of anything, including the dog.  She also doesn’t recognize boundaries and has pretty much explored the entire main floor of the house, including the back window ledge.  The other bunnies seldom leave the dining room/living room area where they’re allowed, aside from Aeryn’s forays into the kitchen to eat the dog’s food.

 

The other bunnies are not too thrilled with her.  With the exception of Carbun, they’ve all pawed at her through her cage bars, and she’s done the same with them.  Bonding Kaylee to either or both pairs will take time.

 

Some pics!

 Sunday brunch was more than just a banana….

  Hey, that was my fruit plate!

  Preparing to hop on the rice bin (immediately behind) to explore the kitchen!

 

 

[LittlePuffyTail]

She’s gorgeous!!! Congrats to you both!

[RabbitPam]

oooo, she’s pretty! What’s the mark inside her right ear? a tattoo?

She isn’t afraid of dogs because she either thinks she is one, or (more likely) knows she is a superior species and dogs are only pets.

It’s early yet. I’m sure she will be able to bond with one of the gang with a little patience and polite introductions.

[ScooterandAnnette]

Yes that’s a tattoo. The shelter tattoos all the animals when they’re speutered since they have them under anyway.

[sleepy538]

so cute! congrats!

[LBJ10]

What a pretty bunny!

[CinnabunMom]

She’s so beautiful. Great name too (Firefly….gone from this earth before it’s time)

[Author]

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