Should we get a second?

[Elliriyanna]

I am getting my first bunny shortly and he will be neutered when he reaches about 6 months ( Partially personal preference). My boyfriend and I have been talking and he said we can get a second if this one doesn’t smell ( he is extremely odor sensitive). 

The question is … should we? Is there a downside to getting a second rabbit … I mean assuming of course that they don’t reject each other. 

[MoxieMeadows]

Be prepared, unfixed rabbit urine smells bad. (At least from my experience) Although odor wise everything should be fine once he is fixed and things are kept clean.

Downsides to getting a second:
Bonding can be stressful on YOU
Double the food, supplies and vet bills.
And if they don’t bond double the time and space.

That is all I can think of right now. Good luck!

[Elliriyanna]

Ok so what are the plus sides?

[Elliriyanna]

I plan to clean the litter box at least every other day and wipe down the flooring regularly. So that should help with any urine odor.

[MoxieMeadows]

Plus sides: (Please note that I have never personally had a bonded pair)

Rabbits often love companions and play together/groom
You would be helping to provide a home to a bun who needs one

[Elliriyanna]

It seems like since I can’t be with him 24/7 a companion would be a good idea … If he will accept one.

I do know if we get a second we really want a netherland and I want a doe after reading the gender differences in the species. So her being a … well her .. May help. 

but of course since the pens will be close I will wait until a month after his neuter to adopt. 

[tanlover14]

I think 2nd rabbits are GREAT….as long as you know you want a 2nd rabbit as well. So many people get one b/c they believe they are doing what is best for their bunny but if they don’t bond, you must give the same care and attention to two & sometimes that can be overwhelming.

Personally, I think every rabbit should have a buddy. My rabbits have always been bonded minus before alterings. We went from a trio, to quartet, to quintet, to sextet, and then a septet before getting our eighth. We now have two bonded groups of 4. Bonded bunnies are fabulous to watch. They are so interactive with each other & the love between them is unbelieveable.

Pros for you are — a lot of bunnies can be skittish, shy, etc. Having another bunny around can help your other bunny develop a relationship with you as well. They teach one another to trust you. It’s not much more work (if they are bonded) since they share everything. I work full time, go to school, have a rabbit blog, run, and a million other things so it’s really important to me that my rabbits have friendships outside of my relationships with them.

I have to agree — your boyfriend should not judge the “smell” based on the unaltered bun. Unaltered rabbits have horrible smelling urine. Once altered, it’s totally fine. I can never smell urine in my house. And I have 8!

[Elliriyanna]

Posted By tanlover14 on 4/29/2015 11:22 PM

I think 2nd rabbits are GREAT….as long as you know you want a 2nd rabbit as well. So many people get one b/c they believe they are doing what is best for their bunny but if they don’t bond, you must give the same care and attention to two & sometimes that can be overwhelming.

Personally, I think every rabbit should have a buddy. My rabbits have always been bonded minus before alterings. We went from a trio, to quartet, to quintet, to sextet, and then a septet before getting our eighth. We now have two bonded groups of 4. Bonded bunnies are fabulous to watch. They are so interactive with each other & the love between them is unbelieveable.

Pros for you are — a lot of bunnies can be skittish, shy, etc. Having another bunny around can help your other bunny develop a relationship with you as well. They teach one another to trust you. It’s not much more work (if they are bonded) since they share everything. I work full time, go to school, have a rabbit blog, run, and a million other things so it’s really important to me that my rabbits have friendships outside of my relationships with them.

I have to agree — your boyfriend should not judge the “smell” based on the unaltered bun. Unaltered rabbits have horrible smelling urine. Once altered, it’s totally fine. I can never smell urine in my house. And I have 8!

See my worry is that they won’t bond and I don’t want anyone to have limited space because they won’t bond. 

We actually found a second breed we really love, but we want to let him settle in and see what having him is like before deciding to get another. 

I can’t wait for his neuter, But due to my anxiety I worry about surgeries even in standard pets. 

[Sarita]

In my opinion, if this is your first rabbit, I would recommend you wait to get a second – enjoy the first one and see if having a rabbit is at all what you expected it to be.

I now have a single rabbit and I do work during the day he just sleeps all day long…

[rayray]

I was in your position when I 1st got Ziggy. I kept him as a single rabbit for about a year & 6 months. After that I had a clear idea of the care & work involved with giving him a healthy, happy home.
I got my 2nd bun just this past Feb/Mar. I was very lucky in that Ziggy & Lily bonded right off the bat. I didn’t even have to keep them separate. Ever.
Both buns were introduced after they were each fixed. I’m also told that male/female pairs sometimes bond easier than same sex pairs.

blah, blah… I’m trying to say is, I agree with Sarita. Enjoy your new fur baby for a while and leave the decision of a 2nd bun until you know the full costs & time involved with just 1.

PS Congrats! Can’t wait to see pics!

[Elliriyanna]

Well we are waiting I said that. I want to get a real feel for having a rabbit before getting a second … At the VERY least it would be 4-5 months before we got a second, his hormones need to come down before we get another rabbit, if that’s the choice we decide to make.

I was mostly asking because I didn’t want to waste time researching if it wasn’t a good idea anyway.

Pictures of our meeting on Sunday. But sadly … 3 weeks until regular pictures. My pet room needs to be finished and we have to move a lot of stuff and I think its better to bring him home once everything is settled, for his own health and ” sanity”

[Megan143]

Glad you decided to wait before getting a second.

We got our second bun 1 year after the first, by that time the first bun already knew our routines so well and we didn’t mind the extra work.
The buns had a speed date before we adopted, they didn’t hate each other so we took her home.

Now we’ve had our second bun for 6 weeks, I’d tell you, it was more work than I expected. The bonding took 3 days, I’d say it went smoothly comparing to a lot of people but that was still 3 days of kneeing on the floor and close supervision after my full-time day job. After they bonded, she had a bladder infection straight away while still litter training, it was three very stressful weeks for us to clean up her pee everywhere, EVERYWHERE. We love her so much but we couldn’t snuggle her because of the smelly bottom, I had to follow her around and tap her bottom with a paper towel every 30 mins so she doesn’t get wet legs. I had to re-build their condo 4 or 5 times to adjust to her hyper personality. I cried twice because I felt so tired and frustrated. But I knew that’s what we signed up for. Now 6 weeks in, her hyper-ness is going away by half, she’s peeing in her toilets now, she started to learn from older bun’s good behaviour and learn our routines too. But is there more work to do? Yes she’s still pooping all over the place, she’s lost weight because he took most of the food, and so many other problems.

The plus side, they are so happy snuggling together all the time. They interact amazingly, it’s so cute to see the nose touching, gentle nudging and flopping in all kinds of shapes. They bring us more joy. Did that hard work pay off? During her bladder infection, she didn’t get a UTI despite she was constantly wetting herself. The morning I picked her up and saw a fluffy clean bottom, it was one of the happiest moment of my life, I kissed her all over!

So I’d say, don’t expect you can spend less time with them because they have 24/7 companions. Be prepare to do more than twice the work. You will receive more than twice the fun.

Good luck with your first bunny!

[Elliriyanna]

Posted By Megan143 on 4/30/2015 11:36 PM

So I’d say, don’t expect you can spend less time with them because they have 24/7 companions. Be prepare to do more than twice the work. You will receive more than twice the fun.

Good luck with your first bunny!

I have no intention to spend less time because he would have a companion. I just thought it may be best for him to have one of his own kind to cuddle and hang out with. I know I wouldn’t like having only giants of another species to hang out with. 

[tanlover14]

Great point, Megan. I have known a lot of people who assume with more bunnies, they don’t need as much human interaction. Completely untrue!

[Elliriyanna]

Well due to the layout of the new pet room I have had to downsize to a 4×4 pen so I wont be getting one any time soon, I will have plenty of time to think about it.

Even if miraculously they bonded amazingly the first day and never had issues… I am barely ok keeping him in a pen this size so two in it is certainly a no go.

[Beka27]

Sounds like this has mostly been resolved, but just wanted to say that I can’t wait to hear about/see pictures of your new bunny!

My girl was a single rabbit for about the first year, and I honestly loved that time bc I got to develop a very close bond with her, learn her idiosyncrasies, and fine tune my daily rabbit regimen before committing to a second bun! When we did adopt our second, I was pretty much fully prepared and it was such a great decision!

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