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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.
› Forum › THE LOUNGE › 4 Bunnies Saved – New Bunny Alert & Bonding Update!
A coworker (who I used to be friends with) approached me at work last week. She told me about her best friend from kindergarden (she is now like 40-50s) who has 4 bunnies. 2 Lops & 2 Flemmies. She was using the rabbits for breeding. She said that the friend was in need of rehoming the 4 rabbits because there were “issues” going on. I told her to tell her friend to add me on Facebook and I would help find homes for the bunnies….. since then, I had been posting to friends and on Facebook inquiring as to whether anyone was interested in adopting one of these rabbits OR admitting them into their rescue and putting up for adoption. I am involved in the Bunderground Railroad (a group that helps get transportation for buns between shelters and bad situations) so I was hoping to find homes even if they were far away.
Fast forward to this past Wednesday. The “friend” sends me a message on Facebook telling me that her and her husband have split and he has the rabbits. Well, he apparently messaged her and told her that the bunnies were running out of food and once the food was gone… then that was it. He didn’t care what happened to the rabbits. To give a little background – I already knew the conditions they were in. Their hutches were small, they were being housed outside (it’s currently below 20 degrees here on most days and windy) but that was about it. So when she messages me, I asked her if he really would let them go or stop feeding them. She said that they were “her” rabbits and there was a lot of bad blood between them so she believed so.
I told my boyfriend what was going on and began posting on Facebook that we needed urgent homes for the bunnies. My boyfriend texted me back and says “let’s go get the rabbits”. I messaged her and told her we would come and pick up all four. Her and her husband disputed back and forth for a few hours and finally she said we could come get them in the morning because her husband wasn’t home and he refused to let her anywhere near the house without him home. I messaged her back and said “since they’re outside is there any way I could come and get them out of the yard, would he mind?” She messaged me back that he said it was fine if I went..hutches would all be unlatched and we could take them.
Aaron and I loaded up four carries, jumped in the car, and headed off… the whole way trying to come up with a solution of where the HECK we were going to put four bunnies (especially 2 Flemmies) and trying to find places for them to go through our local rescue. We agreed that the next morning, we could take them to the Humane Society where I volunteer and have them admitted. Along the way, I found a home for the two Flemmies through a rescuer who normally does guinea pigs here but who also has two house rabbits of his own. He asked if he could take the Flemmies. I, of course, said sure knowing they would be going to a great home with him! So only spots needed for TWO now! WAHOO.
When we got there, we were a little horrified. All four bunnies were in hutches along an alleyway next to the house. They were the typical wire cages with the “wooden box” as a house to get inside away from the cold. When I reached in, I noticed that this “box” only had the wire base for the floor so the bottom of the box was also completely exposed to the elements like rain, cold wind, etc. It was in a really bad neighborhood which didn’t help. We immediately began grabbing them all as fast as we could. Shoved all four into carriers. And ON OUR WAY WE WENT. I suffered a few battle wounds from this tactic!
We dropped the two Flemmies off at the rescuers house and high tailed it home with the other two. Once home, we pulled them out of the carriers and checked everyone over for any injuries or places that needed urgent medical attention. Everyone seemed in good shape, just rattled over the whole situation.
From her messages, I knew there was a “pair” from each breed. A male lop & a female lop; a male Flemmie & a female Flemmie. Here are pics of everyone rescued:
Lops
Flemmies
I FINALLY found a spot for the other lop to go for the night and I found a rescue that would be willing to take both the next day if we could find transport to her. (She is another rescue about an hour outside of Pittsburgh.) While debating… my boyfriend was holding the black Lionhead Lop… he goes “honey….” and right then and there we decided…. this one has found her forever home. The next day we took the male lop up to rescue where he is currently getting vet checked & will be neutered & available for adoption within the next month!
Here is my girl and an overview of the situation; if anyone has any thoughts, ideas, or can help please let me know! This is new territory for me and I would like to do whatever is best for her:
As you can see from the photos she is one of two things: very overweight OR pregnant. I am not sure which. The girl we got her from swears they were not together on purpose BUT the hutches were connected. Each hutch housed the “pair” of the bunnies used for breeding. The hutch was split down the middle with a wire strand. We all know that this means CLEAR access could have been possible for breeding. The soonest my vet could get her in for an emergency spay was Feb. 10th. She is out of town furthering her education and won’t be back until next weekend (worst timing ever!). I have messaged the other very trusted vet who actually performed Noras spay and they said they could get her in on Monday at 5! WHOOP. Just waiting back for a confirmation that the spay has been scheduled!
Our other problem is that she has been on a diet of unlimited WalMart brand alfalfa pellets. She has never had access to hay, only straw for bedding. Getting her to eat has been a challenge. The next morning, she had not eaten anything and there was no urine so we did standard stasis protocol – fluids, critical care, metacam, and reglan. I went out and bought a bag of the alfalfa pellets to help try and get her switched over in the easiest and best way possible for her. She will only pick at the Oxbow alfalfa pellets. I offered her some of the “slop” (Aarons term!) that we make for Tucker every night – critical care mixed with pumpkin and pineapple juice, she ate a tiny bit of that. She has been SLOWLY munching on strands of hay here and there but nothing enough to keep her going. So if anyone has any helpful ideas on switching her over to Timothy or ideas to help her pick up an appetite, please let me know!
She is the sweetest thing. Last night she spent the whole night in the kitchen running around and binkying. Nothing is sweeter than giving a rabbit that has never been out of her hutch, the chance to run around and play and well… just BE A RABBIT!
Now… for the name. I am a little late at posting (since this happened on Wednesday and I’m only posting now)….. but I told Aaron that we could NOT post her on BinkyBunny until she had a gosh darn name! LMAO. We began thinking of names yesterday & actually agreed on one VERY quickly, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? YOU ALL REALLY TAUGHT US A LESSON WITH TUCKER! hahahahahahha.
Her name is Zoe!
I know her age is around 9-10 months. I also know she had a litter back in October with four kits as my coworker was one person who took 2 of them (eventually figured out they weren’t for her and gave them back). She has a BIG dewlap that I’m absolutely in love with!
What do you guys think of her?!
TL WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I’ve missed you!
I don’t know where to start with this – great story! So sad to hear how they were being kept
The brown flemmie looks like my Teddy, it breaks my heart.
Thank goodness you saved them, you’re such a star!
I’m also thrilled you’re keeping one!
Yaaaay for more bunnies! She’s super cute. It’s a bit naughty of you to go naming her when you know that’s our job
Let us know how the others get on, won’t you?
As for food, I guess the old classic of gradually switching in the good stuff…? I mean, if all else fails, she’ll get hungry and eat eventually.
As for hay, I don’t know… Maybe fashion some for of dig box where her food (the kind she likes) is hidden under hay? So she needs to root through it to get to it? I kinda feel like she’ll get the idea eventually.
So good to see you!
CONGRATS TANLOVER! Oh my goodness another bunny! What are you are now? 8? I don’t think there’s anymore room on your Siggy! Ha ha, she’s so cute! Let’s hope Zoe is a little overweight!
Oh TL, I think she is beautiful . . . and I think you and the bf are totally crazy and totally wonderful!!! LOL!
You all couldn’t have picked a better name for her, she looks like a Zoe! I think she would make the perfect girlfriend for Wuck Wucks!
What a wonderfui story!! She is adorable!!!
I kept looking on here for this thread ever since FB I was like when is she going to tell everyone?!?!! I didn’t want to ruin it
also the male lop that is mentioned might be mine (I have to convince Josh first but it’s his favorite color for rabbits and a lop *which is also his favorite* but we couldn’t take him that night unfortunately because he wasn’t neutered and there was no way we could’ve *I was at work and we didn’t really have a place to put him*). But if everything goes well the male lop will be mine
I really hope Josh says yes
Also I just want to say you and your BF are AMAZING!!
OMG, TL, you are one crazy bunny lady. But for those 4 bunnies, it’s a good thing that you are! I know the idea of getting a friend for MANNY was mentioned before, but you thought perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea. Sounds like MANNY will have himself a friend to call his own after all.
Zoe? Hmm… I dunno. I suppose she looks like a Zoe. You learn quick. Hehehe! BTW, I successfully named a BB bunny in your absence. That’s two for LBJ! Manny and now Addie too!
Haha! What’s one more to the growing herd of bunnies? So cute Good Idea naming her before posting her existence
Lol TL, 2 more to go and you will be caught up with our 10
Reading your story, I was thinking, oh man. My husband and I would do something like that to save a bunny! I’m glad you’re smart enough to find them homes – we would pry end up keeping them!
When I read the name of this thread for the first time, I thought you were going to keep all 4 buns!
Kcom, I really hope you end up adopting him! He is an absolute sweetheart! I know he’s doing well! For those who aren’t following, Kcom saw the bunnies when I posted them on Facebook before we went to get them – she wanted to adopt the tan lop (now named Stanley) but he still needs neuter and vetted so we thought putting him into the local rescue I know would be easier and the best course of action & she will look to adopt possibly when he’s up for adoption! I REALLY hope you adopt him – I would love to know that everybun has great homes!
The two flemmies are doing very well in their new home & creating tons of mischief! Their bun dad says they are absolutely disgusting creatures and create the worst messes of their areas ever. BAHAHAHA. Both are scheduled to be neutered/spayed next Thursday.
We have a possible spay scheduled for Zoe tomorrow at 5 *fingers crossed*. Expensive vet but if he can do it, it’s ASAP considering there is the possibility she is pregnant. We are pushing for anything that can be done very soon. One of my friends told me that she is disappointed in me. I am very pro-life and she does not think I should spay her if she is pregnant. I think this is very different. The sanctity of life is the same to me but she is not pregnant because that’s what she “wanted” or because she decided to have children. She’s pregnant because some idiot bred her at 5-6 months and she could possibly be pregnant at 9-10 months now! I asked her if she is going to take in the 4-10 babies and ensure they find good homes that will love them forever and vow to take them back if anyone decides they do not want them afterwards. I am not spaying her because I do not respect that she may be pregnant – I’m spaying her because I want her to have a happy, healthy life with no further cares in the world minus what the heck mom may forget to put in her salad later. I want her biggest stress to be she doesn’t have enough kale NOT babies. It is very hard for me to be criticized like that because I am very pro-life. I see her as a pregnant momma suffering more than I see happy. What do you all think?
Also, you guys may not remember but… my news years resolution was no more rabbits. LOLOLOL.
TL — I think you are making the right decisions for all your bunnies. Pro-life or pro-choice, nothing is cut and dry when you are responsible for making decisions for someone else, especially when that someone is of a different species. That person has every right to disagree, but to be disappointed in you? That’s her problem not yours.
Yay for Zoe! I’m so glad you were able to find homes for 3 of the buns! Zoe is such a beautiful girl. Will you be bonding her with Tucker’s trio?
I hope you can adopt the lop, kcomstoc!
I think you’re making the right choice for zoe TL and not because I’m pro-choice, it’s because of the reasons you already listed (btw my typing my be poor due to the fact I’m holding Firefly right now and I’m typing with one hand lol) Also thanks for explaining my ramble lol
MissGabbster I hope I can too, it’s all about convincing the BF if I do convince him we’ll be up to 3 bunnies >.> you guys are bad influences
Thank you everyone! I feel like I am doing the right thing but you really question yourself when others begin questioning you and your decisions regarding things like that! She is scheduled to be spayed in an hour. I’m leaving now to drop her off! Please keep my wonderful girl in your thoughts and send lots of vibes.
I hate hate hate spays! UGH. They never get easier – no matter how many bunnies you do this with!
MissGab, she will be an addition to the Tucker group!
Safe spay vibes for Tucker’s soon to be new girlfriend. {{{{{Zoe}}}}}
From a practical and financial standpoint, it is easy for others to say that they are pro life but not have to deal with the consequences and incur the fees and costs of raising additional bunnies. Your friend is entitled to his or her option but unless they put their money where their mouth is, they don’t really have the right to be upset. Especially since you did not willingly get the rabbit pregnant, or allow the rabbit to get pregnant under your watch. Now if your friend said that she will be responsible for the new born bunnies and ensure that she will provide a good home and take care of them, then she can voice her displeasure.
tanlover, how could you not keep them all?? You would have completed team Floppy and would have been well on your way with team Flemmie! What a waste… No, I’m kidding, but I’m glad you decided to keep Zoe, she’s such a sweet looking girl. Thank you for saving these four buns, they deserve it!
I hope her surgery goes well! And don’t feel bad about doing the emergency spay. I assume your friend didn’t offer to take the babies home? Well, then she shouldn’t judge you.
kcomstoc: Good luck with Stanley, I hope you get him!
Tanlover— I think you are doing the right thing with Zoe’s spay. If the person you were talking about was so “pro-life” then they would take into consideration the life of Zoe, who would be very stressed out during the whole situation, and there could always be complications during the pregnancy/labor. They would take into consideration having to find homes for all the babies, making sure they ended up in wonderful homes. And if one couldn’t find a home? You’d be responsible to take care of that bun too. I think you are making a very responsible decision with the love for your new bunny Zoe in mind. <3
Sending ((((VIBES)))) for a safe spay!
I hope her spay went well! ((((((((vibes for a good spay and speedy recovery!))))))))
That is such a touching story! You are incredible for caring and making such an effort to help bunnies in need! Zoe is a gorgeous girl and seems so happy! She’s very lucky!
How is she doing?
Thank you all for the well wishes, vibes, and thoughts on the spay! I really appreciate hearing it was the right thing for her.
Sorry for the late update but she is doing well! She didn’t eat last night or this morning but late afternoon, we upped her dose of Metacam and gave her a dose of Reglan and she began to perk up A TON more and became way more active! I was beginning to worry I would have to force feed her… Horrible! But nope! She must’ve known she had better eat!
And for the record – she never did offer to take the babies! I’m so exhausted. I started classes yesterday too but I’ll update more tomorrow when I have a free minute and give you all some more pictures!
I’m so glad that she perked up! I’m also looking forward to more pictures. She’s so beautiful. ♥♥ Did you ever find out if she was pregnant or just chunky?
I swear I had replied to this? Anyways…
Congrats TL, she is beautiful! And yay for a safe spay and perky bunny!((((Continued vibes))))
Thank you everyone for the well wishes! She did wonderfully & she’s healing wonderfully as well!
Tucker & Simba & Lacey were having terrible fights all day long. I wasn’t sure what to do so we came up with the idea to do a date between all four to see what happens. Her incision is only 5 days old so I’m watching them like a hawk. But we were trying to throw something up into the mix (only if the date lasted a few minutes) to help through off the bonding issues with the others.
Well, it worked! Here’s some pics from bonding. We have left them together now for a few hours because it’s been going well. No scuffles. They’ve only chased once and nothing bad. Simba was trying to hump people and she would flick him off her. I few disagreements but nothing major and nothing to warrant removing her.
Here’s some pictures from the bonding and a few of just her since she’s been home!
My beautiful Zoe!
Yep! Tucker’s got a girlfriend!!!!!
JR, you mean MANNY has a girlfriend!
I can’t get to the little yellow faces (emoticons?) on my phone. Anyone know the keyboard symbols that result in the yellow face sticking its tongue out so I can reply to LBJ!?!? (hehehe)
Yep, the tongue face is : P without the space. The common ones are what they appear ( (:, (;, etc) and the rest of them are a colon, a name of the emoticon (“laugh” or “cry” etc.), then a colon.
Oh, and MANNYMANNYMANNY!
.
.
Tucker will finally get the girlfriend that he deserves. AND he won’t have to be the awkward 3rd wheel anymore.
Sorry guys, you’ve lost me to Team Tucker (Wuck Wucks).
Glad Zoe is healing good. How’s she today?
They are all doing really well – including my Zoe girl! Here’s some more photos over the past 24 hours. They haven’t had to be separated yet!
TEAM WUCKIES! I mean… Manny…
Love the pictures!!
So the answer to how to bond three bunnies is to get another bunny?!?!
Sounds like to perfect solution to me!!!
Go Manny! Go Manny!
I spoke toooooo soon! I’ve been battling Lacey to like Tucker. Despite Tucker living with them for over a month, she has continued to nip at him which sends him FLYING around the pen like an idiot. Well, now she has started doing it to both Tucker & Zoey! IDK WHAT HER PROBLEM IS! And I have no clue how to fix it…. I’ve tried everything.
Margo DeMello & another friend (Lisa) who has 2 groups – one of 15 and one 13 told me to just battle it out with them in a small area and that’s what I’ve been doing with Tucker but it still does not seem to be getting any better! It did for the first 24-48 hours of the new bunny and now Lacey is back to being a nipper. I have no idea how to break her of this. Stress bonding (now) seems to make her nip them more (she’ll run around in circles & nip them while being stressed). Which, idk, maybe is an indication that I need to stress a different way. Maybe it’s just not stressful enough for her anymore. OY.
I took Simba out last night in an attempt to force her to lean on them for comfort. I’ve been switching up putting Zoey & Tucker w/ Simba so he doesn’t become depressed. All I can think of is if she becomes slightly depressed & needs to lean on them for comfort maybe that will be what sways her to liking them.
I’M SO CONFUSED. Lacey is sitting here eating nicely w/ Tucker & Zoey. Just now, she plopped down next to Zoe. IT MAKES NO SENSE TO ME! Like I don’t even know… any ideas?
TL –I always think of you as one of the bonding experts on BB, but have you considered throwing the question at one of the folks on allexperts? I think there are one or two on there with bonding as one of their specialties. It can’t hurt.
DO THEY REALLY? That’s a FABULOUS idea, JR. I had never even though of that though I’ve used it before!
Okay, I messaged someone on AllExperts & then I PM’ed Dana Krempels on Facebook although I’m not sure if she really has much advice for bonding. Worth a try I suppose!
Well, that was useless….. The first one posted blah blah blah maybe another rescue can help blah blah blah maybe they won’t ever bond… blah blah blah. The other allexpert I contacted (only two I saw for bonding) sent me a link to my blog.
Fail.
Oh well, it was worth a try. I hope you replied to the one who sent you the link and told them it was you! I was hoping you’d get a fresh viewpoint.
TL — I know this is going to sound really stupid, but since you do marathon bonding, have you tried stopping her and telling her no when she nips?
I know we all joke about my “talks” with my bunnies, but Marlee at least looks at me now before trying to bite Moshi’s butt to see if I’m going to say anything.
TL – Perhaps it’s time to change settings. Is there another area you could try doing bonding sessions in? Taking Simba out of the equation sounds logical since he is sort of Lacy’s security blanket.
Well, I’ve been contemplating this all night….
And we decided to go back to Step 1. I know I always tell everyone that with their own bunnies but I’m terrible at following my own advice. I have put Tucker & Zoe in one x-pen and then Simba & Lacey in another x-pen right next to them. I’ve decided I’m going to work on strengthening Tucker & Zoe’s bond since they have really taken to each other. I’m going to hold off on bonding for 3-4 days and then SLOWLY reintroduce them all together again but only for small sessions.
Maybe I am just pushing the issue too much w/ them. I know I’m becoming way too frustrated and I’m sure it’s affecting the bonding. It always does!
TL I am no bonding expert but when I was doing my final bonding of my two Usagi would do the nipping. What seemed to put a stop to it during the final marathon sessions was to take them out and stress bond them in a box for a few minutes. I think it was a reset for the two. Maybe try something like that? I agree it can be very frustrating and I think the bunnies do pick up on it. Like JR talking to them wont hurt anything. I wish you lots of luck hopefully it gets better soon and you find something that works for you!
Sin – thank you for the last message! I haven’t been on BB in awhile (minus a time or two) & missed the message! I really felt we were going totally backwards in bonding them. It wasn’t working for any of us and I really needed to step back and re-evaluate my game plan. I ALWAYS tell everyone, don’t give up….you will get there. But I was really ready to give up. If Aaron didn’t mind three groups, I’m not sure I would be back here trying…. anyways, we are back at it again. Just to give everyone an update…
They have spent since the last time I messaged on here in x-pen set-ups right next to one another. I switched them back and forth b/w the setups and have kept doing the “little” set ups to bonding. So a few weeks ago, I made the jump to try and put them back together again. To begin up the bonding process.
Their first picture back together. I set them up in an x-pen in the living room after doing a stress bonding session w/ them in the carrier & used the vaccum for the noise. Then I stuck them in this set-up. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. They chased a little bit, it was on and off pretty much the whole time. By the end, tensions were high between all four though.
So I decided to try and do something completely different. Rather than giving them only the space in the x-pen, I decided to go the polar opposite and give them the entire kitchen. This is what the set-up first looked like their first few hours in this set-up. I only meant to keep them together an hour or two but they ended up spending the entire night together b/c it went so well. They ignored each other the whole time. Sometimes it’s really hard to think of ignoring as progress but really in the bonding world it is! I tell everyone that on my blog but I never listen to my own advice! SO Typical!
I had to separate them back into their side-by-side x-pens when I went to work but I now work from home 2 days a week so I’ve been able to do overnight sessions and then longer when I work from home the next day.
A few days back into the grove, I took this photo…
Which makes me incredibly happy. The interaction is still pretty limited but hey, IGNORING IS PROGRESSION FROM ATTACKING!
I am now about two weeks back into it – on and off. I tried the first week only a few sessions but have progressed them up to them being out in the kitchen together whenever I’m home (and asleep). I’ve been sleeping on the couch since they don’t need constant supervision due to the amount of ignoring. Tonight I took this picture.
I’ve decided to do something I never do (for all of those who know me and my bonding ways know this is the polar opposite of what I do!) and do this bond very slowly. My angle currently is to let them make the moves. Before, I was always so focused on getting them to interact. I’ve realized now that Zoe has made SO much more progress on her own than she did with me forcing the issue. Before, they were attacking both her and Tucker constantly. Now I have gotten more and more photos of Zoe eating w/ Simba and Lacey. Tucker is still the odd man out but Zoe is always with him and I can see her encouraging him to walk around even if the others still make him nervous.
I’ll keep everyone updated as we progress more! Please keep your fingers crossed that we have a bond in the very slow making!
Good luck with the bonding. Sometimes you do just have to do it the weird way. My two wouldn’t behave until I just let them have an entire room and chase it out of their systems. Buns, what ya going to do with them? lol
Glad Zoe is settling in so well. And glad she found a nice rescuer.
› Forum › THE LOUNGE › 4 Bunnies Saved – New Bunny Alert & Bonding Update!