Lonely bunny?

[Ami]

Hi,
So I have one bunny, his name is Finn and he is 8 months old.

He isn’t super friendly…. He loves me, when I come in the room he runs to me for pats and he grooms me but I am the only person he likes. He doesn’t like my mum even though she has been trying to bribe him with food for months. He takes the food and runs off =p And my cats are terrified of him because he attacks them.

He seems pretty content, because I am home a lot so he spends a lot of time with me, and he is free ranged in my room day and night.

My main worry is what to do if I go away. My dad lives overseas and I might be able to go see him for a few months in December but I don’t know how Finn would cope. I’m scared to leave him =(

I thought I could get another bunny but I don’t know of they would get along? He hasn’t shown much interest in making friends so far…

Finn has been a model bunny, he was toilet trained in two days and he doesn’t chew on anything except cardboard. My parents don’t want another rabbit because they think I was lucky with Finn and if I get another one it might not be so well behaved.

I’m sure I could convince them to get him a friend if it was necessary but mostly what I’m wondering is how do I know if he will even get along with another bunny?
Also how long can you leave a bunny without him missing you?

[Bam]

It’s very difficult to tell if a bunny wants a friend or not. Most bunnies do, but it has to be the right bunny, and only the bunny knows waht rabbit is the right one. Some shelters offer speed-dating for bunnies for this reason, so the bun can pick a friend himself. That is often very successful, but not available everywhere.

Bringing another bun into your home can result in loss of litter-box habits, because buns are territorial and mark out their territory with poop and pee. This can be a temporary thing or it can be permanent. There’s no way of telling.

Is Finn neutered? He’ll have to be if he is to have a friend. The friend too must be desexed.

Bunnies can form strong bonds with their human, and they can be sad if their human leaves them, but it’s not quite like when they lose a rabbit they’re bonded to. If your mother is prepared to take care of Finn while you are away and she’s willing to give him a chance to love her, I think he’ll be fine without you for a few months.

It’s normal for a bun to take food and run off with it. My Bam does that even when his favorite person in the world (my mother) gives him a treat. Bam can sit in my mothers lap for any amount of time and just doze off while she pets him – but if he’s on the floor when she gives him a treat, he runs off with it. It’s more an instinct than lack of trust, I think. Some dogs does that too, if you give them sth particularly yummy.

Bunnies can be a long time about accepting people. It’s built into their genes to regard non-rabbits as possible predators looking to eat them. A human who wants to bond with a rabbit as a rule needs LOTS of patience.

[Ami]

Thanks for taking the time to reply =)

Yes he is neutered.

That’s interesting about the treats, when I give him treats it’s in his litter box so I always assumed it was because he didn’t like her =p One thing my mum doesn’t have is a lot of patience XD She gives him a treat and expects him to love him then gets upset when he won’t let her touch him =p

Im glad bunnies don’t get as upset when they are away from humans cause I don’t want him to be too lonely but I also don’t want to upset him by getting a bunny he hates =/

I’m in Australia so I don’t know if they offer bunny speed dating here but I can look into it.

[meridiian]

Hi. Im in Australia also. I know in the past some rabbit rescues offer that, at least in NSW. Try Google 🙂

Best of luck!

[meridiian]

Speed dating I meant. 🙂

[Ami]

Thankyou =)
I have been googling and have found one place that offers speed dating so it looks like it could be a realistic option =)
For now I am going to try to do more research on bonding rabbits.
To be honest I didn’t know much about rabbits when I was given Finn, so I still have a lot to learn.

[meridiian]

You’re welcome. 

Please let us know how it goes 🙂

Good luck!

[Deleted User]

OMG, how awesome – all these Aussie’s!!! Lol….

I ‘ditto’ everything bam said….

BIG smile!

[Vienna Blue in France]

“G’day to y’all” (that’s an Aussie American twist sentence !) lol

Absolutely don’t worry about Finn running off after being given food – totally normal especially if it’s a big bit – mine does that it’s sooo funny. They can tell if it’s a “one-piece” or several pièces of food. If several, they’ll stay for the other bits! If a ‘one-piece’, then mine grabs and runs to the furthest possible place to nibble in peace, as if I’m going to chase after and take it back !!

Also re your Mum wanting a stroke…. when she gives Finn a treat, to not let go of the treat immediately and just give his nose a rub whilst he’s nibbling on food still in her fingers…. it may help

The other think is not to give a treat in one big bit, but to try break it down as much as possible – so instead of having just one episode of treating, he gets used to having lots of little bits. (the same quantity obviously, but just more repetition of good positive rewards)

[meridiian]

If a ‘one-piece’, then mine grabs and runs to the furthest possible place to nibble in peace, as if I’m going to chase after and take it back !! 

Yes, mine is like that too. As if. They are funny creatures.

[Q8bunny]

Chewie does that too. He’ll help himself to something I happen to be eating and then run off to eat it on his favourite little rug.

[Author]

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