Which bunny?

[Kirsty]

Hello. My boyfriend and I want to get a friend to bond with our bunny and we are having a hard time choosing the right one. We thought we would ask some bunny experts for your opinions.

If this is in the wrong section, please let me know.

I went to an animal shelter today because we saw one on the shelter’s website that looks a lot like our bunny. Our bunny, Sawyer, is a neutered two-year-old male Holland Lop. He is very sweet, never bites, and is super small! Probably about 2.5-3 pounds based on the weights of other bunnies I’ve recently visited. We want to get him a friend who is similar in size and age. Of course we would consider a larger rabbit, but bonding two that are the same smaller size seems good so one won’t feel too intimidated by the other.

The bunny I specifically went to the shelter to see today is named Penny. When I got there they told me she got a little scared and mean when taken out of the cage and that she has bitten pretty hard before. They have to pick her up with a towel. She was supposedly transferred there from another overcrowded shelter, so they don’t know her history other than that she had a litter recently. She was spayed less than two weeks ago. She seems really timid and scared and is probably extremely uncomfortable from her recent surgery. We really like her because she looks so much like our Sawyer. We are afraid that she will continue to bite and be scared if we brought her home. Of course, the most important reason we want her or another new bunny is for Sawyer. It seems like it would be a lot of extra hard work to bond them if she acts aggressively towards us. Here is a video I took of her at the shelter. She just sat in the corner the whole time. :

https://youtu.be/b3g3zuSsa2I

I’m guessing since she was recently pregnant, she must have come from a home inexperienced with bunnies which is why she was never spayed until now and allowed to breed. The shelter guessed she was about 2-years-old.
She acts like she was neglected and we feel bad for her. We really like her, but how could we make her less timid? Do you think she would calm down enough to be able to bond with our bunny and us? I heard bunnies who are spayed after maturity are hard to calm down. She let me pet her, but would charge, stomp, and panick when being picked up. I know most bunnies hate being picked up though. She was just much more difficult than the others.

The shelter likes to give potential adopters a few choices, so I decided to visit some more. The next bunny, Licorice, was so sweet! According to the information on her, she was a stray. Somehow, despite being a stray, she is very tame. She is also very small and is the first one I’ve seen since we started looking that is closest to Sawyer’s size. She looks nothing like a dwarf though! She looks like a young American bunny, but her age is guessed to be about 2-years-old. Does she look like she could be that old? I noticed she kept trying to stand on her hind legs and falling backwards. It was adorable, but later my boyfriend and I wondered if she was okay. The floor was kind of slippery, but she did it almost the entire time. She just seemed a little wobbly like a younger bunny. Here is the video of her:

https://youtu.be/_qiQw-SUIcg

What do you think? Also, why would a stray bunny be so tame? She must have either escaped from somewhere or abandoned.

I’m going to see more bunnies tomorrow, but these two are the top choices so far. Penny seems like she needs a lot of extra love and care. If it would work out the extra time would be worth it. We love how she looks so similar to Sawyer.

Licorice seems like a great little ball of energy for Sawyer to be friends with. It’s such a hard decision!

Her is a video of Sawyer. (Sorry about my annoying voice). He is small and energetic.
https://youtu.be/c2Py1uQKQS0

There are a few more rabbit rescues to visit. These are the top two bunnies so far. How did you decide on a friend to bond with your bunny? Was it this hard? Thanks for any help and opinions.

[Sleepy]

See if you can bring your bunny to meet your prospective picks. It’s good to see if they have any preferences rather than you bringing one home and realizing they hate each other.

[Mikey]

Agreeing with Sleepy. Its always better to let the current bun(s) pick out their future bond mate(s) It makes bonding go so much smoother

[Kirsty]

Thanks for the replies. I found a rabbit rescue that helps bond rabbits and I’m taking my bunny to meet one of their rescues tomorrow. This bunny is not one I saw at the shelter but is another we really liked. I hope it goes well.

[Azerane]

Best of luck with the meet and greet, I hope it goes well

[Kirsty]

It went well! They like each other. I ended up adopting her. They still need more time to bond, but they got a long really well the first bonding session.

 

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