To think rabbits should always be sold in pairs

[Popfan]

I was in Pets at Home today and a family were buying a rabbit. Just one rabbit. I felt really sad for it as rabbits are animals which live in groups and so will be miserable on their own. We have two guinea pigs who love each other and often cuddle up next to one another. Guinea pigs should also never be sold as an only pet!

Yo are not to have a single one in Switzerland- if one dies you can rent one or put yours up for adoption (these are the ones people rent)

My pets at home will only sell them in pairs because it’s so cruel to keep them singly!

What if they had two, one died and they wanted to get another one so the remaining rabbit wasn't lonely but didn't want to have 3?

Tbh with bonded pairs the other often doesn’t live long, as a PP said. You can help them understand by leaving the dead body of the other rabbit with them for a few hours until they understand but still they seem to often die shortly after

Yanbu OP- I just wish they weren’t sold at all. I love bunnies but they shouldn’t be pets

When my previous bunny died (who was bonded to my other) it was a fair few months before we were able to bond her again and she was still going strong so not so sure about the other going soon after in a lot of cases

I adopted 4 rabbits as they were all bonded when I viewed them and I couldn’t bear to separate any of them. I built a large shed for them and put lots of staging inside so they could hop on different levels. I added tunnels which led to their own 4x5 meter play area and when I’m home from work I let them out into the rest of the garden where they chase each other around the shrubs for hours. Their food costs a fortune (hay, pellets and fresh veggies everyday) as does the vet bills. Nobody should buy a rabbit on a whim, it needs lots of consideration and planning so that you can give the rabbit the best life it deserves. In fact nobody should be buying rabbits from Pets @ Home fullstop as they’re breeding them purely for profit, not for the benefit of the animal.

Rabbits should not live on their own in my opinion.

We got rabbits earlier in the year, the original plan was to get one, but I bought my son some books to read about caring for rabbits and it was almost the first thing it said ‘rabbits are social creatures and like to live in at least pairs’ so two rabbits it was. And in all honesty, 2 rabbits instead any more work, and barely much in cost more. Okay the initial cost was more, second rabbit, both being spayed/neuter etc, but now they’re together it’s only a little extra food and they’re so much happier.
They were apart initially as we bought brother/sister combo so we’re apart till being done, but once it was acceptable to put them back we did and they love being together. Everything they do is together.

We bought the biggest cage pets at home do, with the double tier, because it seemed bigger than any other cage available, and then they have a big run which we attached to the front of it.

@TheDHand your post makes me worry I'm doing the wrong thing by my rabbit, I hate the thought of him being unhappy or lonely. I should look into bonding but worry about adopting another in case they don't bond. He's so precious to us I would never want to cause him any pain. He was kept in such a small hutch he wasn't able to clean himself properly & had a skin condition over most of his body. His previous owner had bought him for the grandkids but they lost interest so he was kept outside on his own for most of the time. People think rabbits are an easy child pet but they're not.

We adopted a single rabbit in spring. He was totally happy on his own, was friends with the dog, very sociable. However I don't like seeing lone animals, and I read up on it, and we got him a friend. They snuggle together, clean each other, binky around - he adores having a friend. Yes they fought a tiny bit at first, but it didn't last long. I'd never have a sole rabbit after watching these two.

well, be bought two.
one died, so we bought another.

After 3 years that one died, so after a while with one rabbit, we adopted another older rabbit from a rescue.
That died!

So our sweet old man has been on his own for a few years. Not great, but we couldn't face trying to find another partner for him

Bunbunbunny you need to go to a rescue. Get one from there. Tell them you're getting one to be bonded with your bunny. If it doesn't work out they will take the bunny back. We had a failed bond. They knew we were getting the bunny for our current bunny and we tried it wasn't successful unfortunately so I had to bring the bunny back.

Another bunny suitable came up a few months later and that bunny did bond.

I would say in pairs for outdoors. We have two bunnies who had already bonded at the shop & it’s adorable to watch how they snuggle up & look out for each other. I worried about not spending enough time with them so we are all going out to see them more, letting them have the run of the garden at least twice a day & lately we’ve been bringing them inside whilst fireworks are going off. It’s bonded us too as a family & the bunnies are getting more & more affectionate with us.

Hey @Bunbunbunny I am sure that your bun is not unhappy or lonely. I bet he gives thanks every day for having been rescued by you out of his horrible previous conditions.

I know it is a difficult decision about whether to bond a rescue rabbit because as I mentioned we went through the same thought process. Bonding our two wasn’t a speedy process either and there were times when I thought we had made the wrong decision.

As previous posters have suggested, try a rescue. Some of them will let you take your bun there to see if he hits it off with any bun!

I have a house rabbit. She comes out for exercise daily, she has free run of the house although she hasn't ventured upstairs yet. We had her spayed recently and we described all of her behaviours to the vet who said they mean she is a happy rabbit. She is fussed and interacted with all of the time. I would not have had an outdoor rabbit as they can be attacked by other animals.

I agree. We have 2 outdoor rescue buns. I am horrified at the sizes of hutch/run/cage for rabbits at pet shops. The idea of them being in one of those tiny boxes, alone, is terrible, although the idea of 2 of them in a teeny box with very little shelter isn’t much better. There are so many rabbits in rescues that it’s not even necessary to buy one from a shop. We such had a choice of tame, neutered, paired young rabbits- it was hard to decide!

@blanched agreed about let’s at home. We bought guinea pigs from them who strongly advised us to buy two as they’re sociable creatures (we obviously took their advice!). Loads of advice re guinea pig care, size in they’ll need, what sort of pets they are etc.

(Let’s at home advised us, obviously the Guinean pigs did not advise us 😂)

We saw a family buying two rabbits at Pets At Home about a month ago, the mother let my daughter stroke them while the shop assistant was speaking. That was the day that we learnt that rabbits are social animals, because of the shop assistant 's advice! I think it might depend how knowledgeable the staff are, sadly.

Also, our Pets at Home have an adoption section for rabbits as well as ones for sale. Their little writeups sometimes mention if they csn/cannot be paired.

It's good to hear some Pets at Home shops advise selling in pairs and their website also gives this advice. I think I might contact the store I was in to raise what I saw.

@fanta. Our rabbit displayed signs of being perfectly happy when he was alone, but he was so much more visibly happier when he got a friend. And the thing about outdoor runs is they need to be in a run that is predator safe.

Our local pets at home have a rehoming section too. It's tucked away in a corner, you massively notice the newly bred, younger rabbits they sell first. Plus they don't sell large enough accommodation for rabbits IMO. Our local rescue have much better advice and really know all their rabbits individually - I'd always buy from them.

I foolishly fell for two cute guinea pigs on local Facebook page without knowing anything about them. Pages and pages and pages of quick research as well as joining online groups, I had a lot to learn.

One of the saddest things I read was that a solitary prey animal can never ever fully relax because in a group or with a friend, there is always someone else on lookout but if you are on you own ....... The poor solitary school guinea pig makes for sad reading. I hope he can have a friend.

My childhood rabbit used to curl up with the dog, a dwalf rabbit and a 20kg dog! She did sleep in her hutch outside but came in when we were home. I don't think anyone neutered them back then.

My mum and dad are retired and have a house bunny. Normally i would agree that yes 2 should be the given but i dont think its necessary if they have a 24/7 companionship with two humans

If you flip it round Buns, imagine a child being never being allowed to see or speak to another person ever and people justifying it by saying it's ok they've got a rabbit so they don't need human company...