My rabbits litter mate died last night, were together 3 yrs- whats do I do??

meow · 18-09-2012 09:09AM #1

One of my rabbits suddenly and unexpectedly died last night after a very short bout of sickness. I'm very upset, they are indoors and I'm very close to them both. But right now its not about me.

His litter mate is left behind. I got them together 3 yrs ago and they were inseperable- sleeping side by side, grooming each other, basically everything they did they did together. I left Oscars body in the hutch with him for a few minutes last night so he could undertstand what had happened, and he licked him and spent time with him.

He seems ok at the moment, he ate and drank well last night. But he's cross, doesn't want me near him (he was never very affectionate to begin with). I know the problems of introducing a new rabbit but will he be ok on his own?

Does anyone have any experience of introducing a new rabbit?

I don;t know what to do now...

Sigma Force · 18-09-2012 10:34AM

Sorry to hear that, what did he die from ..just in case it can be passed on?
If it wasn't a contagious illness and the other bun is fit and healthy and showing no signs (might be no harm in having a vet check before introducing another bun and the new bun vet checked as well) rabbits are very good at hiding what ails them until it's too late.

Is the remaining bun a male? If he's neutered already you could introduce a female to him ideally though a spayed female or a young female and have her spayed at 6 months of age. It's best not to buy from a pet shop because they're so badly bred. Rabbits come in to rescues often enough so you could maybe get one from a rescue and at least you'd have the back up if the pairing doesn't work out or you need extra advice or anything like that.

Thing is with rabbits, like most other critters, there can be personality clashes so you might have them hit it off straight away or you might have to try a couple of different rabbits but your bound to find one that will get along with him.

Once the other rabbit is fully vaccinated (and ideally spayed if over 6 months) you can start intoductions on neuteral territory, it might take a few tries or they might fall in bunny love straight away.

meow · 18-09-2012 12:32PM

Thanks SF,
They think he had some major GI event -a blockage or rupture of some sort, nothing that could be passed on.

I was thinking about a female, maybe a year old.
Kermit is a 3yr old neutered male rex.
I got the 2 of them from a good breeder 3 yrs ago, had a bad experince with a rabbit before and bad teeth from inbreeding so was very careful.

I'm involved with a rescue, and they have rabbits coming in soon so maybe.
To be honest I don't know right now if I want another rabbit so soon, but I'm trying to think whats best for Kermit.

He seems to be doing ok at the moment, quite active this morning.
Its so sad tho to see him sitting there alone now, they were inseperable..

My rabbits litter mate died last night, were together 3 yrs- whats do I do??

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