Hello all, just wanted some advice as it seems my boy bunny seems depressed.
A little bit of background – I found 3 bunnies dumped about 2 years ago. You all helped me determine they were around 6 months old. Now at the time, I thought I could send them to a rescue as I've rescued stray dogs in the past and found help without issue. I contacted over 20 different rescues, shelters, and vets, and nobody would take them. They all had extremely long wait lists and refused to add me to them. So, completely unprepared, I now have 3 bunnies. I went into thousands of dollars in debt for their setups, vet visits, food, etc. I have to keep them in my basement as I have large dogs and our house is very small. I'm truly doing my best with them.
They're all three currently separated. The 2 females broke their bond when they were spayed. I do want to try to bond them again soon. The boy has had a check-up at the vet, but he is not yet neutered and cannot be kept with a female yet. Both females like him, but he harrasses them too much.
Between the bunnies having tons of issues (cervical cancer, overgrown teeth, UTI, etc) and my aging dogs, I have constantly been at the vet. Every time I think I'll be able to neuter him, something else pops up. I just put down my one dog from cancer and my other dog has a torn ACL and arthritis, plus I just adopted another dog. Needless to say, my vet is very familiar with me.
I've attached a picture of his enclosure. I try to give him palm leaf bowls, rope, dig boxes, cardboard, cardboard boxes, and most recently a wicker basket box. But he never seems interested. He currently has that cat tower and he just sleeps on the bottom of it all day. I know it's dirty, I'm throwing it away and getting him something new when he's neutered. He just sprays everything all the time and it's not worth it to get him something else. Plus, it seems to be the only thing he really loves and I'd hate to take it away.
He really loves the girl on the other side that you can see in the picture. She goes up to him and he grooms her between the pen bars. So he does have SOME contact with other bunnies. Otherwise, I hardly see him act happy or interested or running around. It seems as though he's lost his spark and I feel terrible. Getting him neutered is a priority, but is it the only thing that will make him happy again? He just really needs to be with another bunny to be happy? I do want to get him another hide or a tunnel but I don't even know if that would help. And I don't want to overcrowd his pen with too many things…
My dog may be getting surgery, we're waiting to see a specialist, then likely she'll have physical therapy. Unfortunately for him, she is top priority right now. If I could find the buns a better home than me, trust me, I would. But I'm sure you all know how unwanted REWs are.
TL;DR – Boy bunny seems depressed. I try hard to enrich him, but nothing seems to interest him. Besides getting him neutered and putting him with another bunny, is there anything else I can do?
by Chesirem