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Author Topic: buck rabbit on his own  (Read 8752 times)

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
buck rabbit on his own
« on: March 24, 2012, 09:33:47 pm »
Having recently viewed another thread about keeping rabbits i have a question to any rabbity people out there. I was given a rabbit that was an ex show buck he is a lovely boy but a bit flighty. The other thread said it was cruel to keep him alone and i just wondered what i should do for him. I haven't any other bunnies, but i do have cavies, but the Cavy society are adamant that the two should not be kept together because bunnies bully cavies.
I am a bit unsure how to proceed now, my boy is on his own in a very large run and house in our garden. do i need to get him another bunny for company? i was always under the impression two males would fight and i certainly don't want babies!
Any ideas? all help would be appreciated

little blue

  • Joined Jun 2009
  • Derbyshire
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2012, 10:39:53 pm »
try him with a castrated but large-ish companion .... so he can hold his own!
but be prepared that they may not get on, and can do damage.  so you might need a back up plan ... perhaps a rabbit from an understanding rescue that will take him back if there's problems?

or have him castrated?
then get a girlie bunny

 All our seven rabbits lived with guinea pigs for some or all of their lives, with no problems at all (we did have to separate two buck brothers after sexual harrassment & back-of-the-neck injuries)

whatever you decide, put plenty of tunnels/pipes/boxes etc in the run, so there are places to escape to

hth
Little Blue

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2012, 09:55:03 am »
I have kept two male rabbits, brothers, together in the past but both were castrated at an early age. They also had access to a large outdoor run shared with the chickens and were let into the garden when I was at home ....so plenty of space to get away from each other.

My sister had a castrated male from a rescue and introduced it to her existing castrated male when its original friend died. They loved each other and were good friends. She just wired off part of the pen to start with so that they could see each other and get to know one another before being allowed physical contact .... as you would if introducing new chickens to your existing flock.

On the other hand I have known people say that their rabbits have appeared okay together and suddenly started to fight and badly hurt each other. Guess all animals can do that.

Perhaps smalltime will see this. Think he has connections with a rabbit rescue and maybe able to give more detailed advice.  :)

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2012, 01:09:03 pm »
Thanks for your imput, i will have to consider what to do with him. He seems happy and the chickens visit him cause they are free range. Here's a pix of him in his favourite flowerpot he loves sleeping almost upside down with his feet in the air!

little blue

  • Joined Jun 2009
  • Derbyshire
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2012, 06:24:49 pm »
he's a beauty...
Silver fox?

Little Blue

colliewoman

  • Joined Jul 2011
  • Pilton
  • Caution! May spontaneously talk rabbits!
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2012, 08:19:01 pm »
I had my buck castrated in January and then adopted an already spayed pair of girlies. THey are the happiest buns ever!
We'll turn the dust to soil,
Turn the rust of hate back into passion.
It's not water into wine
But it's here, and it's happening.
Massive,
but passive.


Bring the peace back

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2012, 09:28:00 pm »
He is really sweet ...... and looks content enough!!

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2012, 09:54:21 am »
he's a beauty...
Silver fox?
Yes he is he's got a lovely coat and a nice nature but doesn't like being picked up much

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2012, 10:42:34 am »
My rabbit now lives in the house. He loves to sit next to you for a fuss but does not like to be picked up much. I read that since they are prey animals they do not like to be picked off the floor .... think they are being carried off to become dinner!! Dont lift mine much just sit with him.

cuckoo

  • Joined Jan 2011
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2012, 11:13:29 pm »
Why dont you adopt a spayed female - He may try to hump her - but no offspring will result.  Rabbits are better off in pairs. 

Smalltime

  • Guest
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2012, 11:00:51 am »
You are taking my words out of context a bit as I was talking about keeping rabbits for food and keeping bucks on their own, isolated and basically ignored, not as pets that may get some affection from their owners but as livestock. Rabbits are not livestock nor suitable to be livestock for numerous reasons because they are rabbits. Part of the problem seems to me being people adopting farm animals as pets and then getting the whole debacle totally confused in their own minds, in addition to those drawing comparisons between different types of animal when there are none that can be drawn. This is more the sort of thing that I was referring too:

We are in East Yorkshire - we have 2 does and 2 bucks and various young stock (all NZWx Californian).  We tend to breed in the winter as reduced risk of myxomatosis. We have 6 6ft hutches in the garage, 2 6ftx3ft runs for the lawn and also a number of other 5ft hutches with permanent access to runs.  In my opinion the wire acges donot meet the welfare requirements of rabbits.  However, rabbit have provided us with ample meat over the last 8 years.

We are considering giving up on the rabbits to concentrate on our other animals if you are interested in some stock / hutches.

Best thing you can do with those 'runs' is burn them, not pass them on to another person to inflict the same misery on another generation of rabbits. 6 x 3 foot is a run? Thats about the size of me, our rabbits hutch is bigger than that, let alone the run. No, wire cages with no floor (as was helpfully suggested in that post to save cleaning) are not meeting the welfare requirements and actually nor are you. Anyone with even a basic grasp of rabbits knows they are very clean and litter-train themselves as they prefer it that way. Thats BASIC info...

I digress...whatever you do, you will have to get him neutered or he will spray pee everywhere and hump everything in sight most of the time, as well as be unfairly sexually frustrated tbh. In short, if he is going to kept outside in a large run as you suggest, get him a spayed girlie bunny for company. The rescue centres will bond them for you, just pick one about the same size as him (this can be important as temperaments vary dramatically, some bully, some are very placid etc..) that has been spayed already (as this is expensive to do yourself and a major operation for the rabbit which dont take illness/operations very well). Then drop him off with rescue centre which has the chosen girl bunny and they will bond them and you can pick them up together in four or five days. Ideally move the run or at least clean it thoroughly, as if he is going back to his territory this can cause a bit of fighting sometimes, best off going back to a (different) 'neutral' zone. Makes life easier all round. Rabbits have good memories. Thats pretty much it, its not rocket science really, they need room to be able to run around when they want and lots of interaction, which can either be from a doting human being or another rabbit, ideally both. He will like a varied diet and there are lots of things people feed them which they will eat but disagree with their guts (like lettuce). As a very general rule, dark greens are mostly okay (spinach/brocolli) and obviously carrots. You will have to keep an eye on them anyway as they do squabble and fight sometimes and if a bite goes septic its is expensive and time-consuming to nurse them better. They do not show if they are ill as they are prey species (dont show weakness). If they look off colour or unwell, they are likely seriously ill and can die in short order so go to the vet or it may be dead in the morning. Rabbits dont like being picked up much unless they have always been since bunnies in which case they are used to it and dont mind. If you dont neuter him and get a spayed doe then you will be taking one of them to the vet at some point as she will snap in the end if he humps her all the time, which he will. If they fight you will need to seperate them or it can get bloody so I am told, not really had major problems myself other than the odd nip and fur pulling. If your rabbit is headbutting your hand, leave it alone, its rarely a sign of affection and its telling you to butt out for while. If he is happy you will hear his teeth grinding when you stroke him, sounds like purring. They make good pets and are probably better pets for adults than children in my opinion as they can bite and be a bit unpredictable sometimes, although if you know your bunny very well then the underlying reasons for this will be more apparent to you. Its usually unwell or bruised or something like that. Mine just turned and bit me on the thumb pretty hard one day (bled a fair bit) for no reason other than I bent down to stroke her (she was running up and down the hall) from behind and had just got back from my parents where their cat had happily spent the afternoon on my lap. Took us a while to figure out why she bit me but its obvious when you think about it. Good luck with him, he is very sweet.  :thumbsup:

feldar

  • Joined Apr 2011
  • lymington hampshire
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2012, 11:45:20 am »
Thankyou Smalltime, i am making some enquiries about finding him a friend we have a good Rabbit rescue service around here that i actually never knew anything about until i started digging deeper.
Many thanks for your help :wave:

princesspiggy

  • Guest
Re: buck rabbit on his own
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2012, 09:57:29 pm »
we breed rabbits and each one has its own 4'x 2' hutch. that is the way i believe the british rabbit council suggest.

 

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