Thinking of adding a bunny to your life? Here are five great reasons to adopt a bonded pair instead of just one:

Like any community, the world of rabbits has its own lingo! This can be confusing at first, so here’s a handy list to get you talking like a seasoned bunny owner in no time!
Cait Reizman and Matt Cummins

Rabbit rescue can be a very rewarding experience. To help an abandoned or injured rabbit feel love and receive the care they have been denied in life is truly an amazing and emotional adventure. This can also be educational for the rescuer as I discovered each rabbit presents their own story to be told. The downside of all of this is that rabbit rescue can also be very heartbreaking.

Rabbits are very curious, intelligent creatures. They need daily enrichment to keep them happy and healthy. But what is enrichment exactly? Enrichment is an activity that increases your rabbit’s mental and/or physical health. The best enrichment toys encourage a rabbit’s natural behaviors such as digging, chewing, and foraging. The key to enrichment is variety and while there are many toys and products on the market that provide enrichment for rabbits, the cost of regularly purchasing these items can quickly add up. Luckily, enrichment can easily be made at home using items you likely already have on hand.

“I don’t think they’re going back to HRS.” 

The words for failed fosters everywhere, but this time they were for Magic Mike and Sully, who had been taking residence in our home office and slowly stealing our hearts with their affection and silly antics. However, we already have our girls, Elsa and Anna, who have free run of the house minus the office. After living in our house with multiple baby gates separating pairs of bunnies in different rooms for a decade, it was so nice to have the bunnies all living together in one area, so we were reluctant to go back to living that way again. My husband then asked, “how about we try bonding the four of them?” 

It often starts with a late-night text message, perhaps just a blurry photo and a pin drop or cross streets. Sometimes it’s my name being flagged on a Nextdoor post or a share of a Facebook post, but regardless of where the “lost rabbit” message comes from, the urgency is the same. The clock is ticking for these poor souls as we know that domesticated rabbits have zero ability to survive outside on the loose. They are threatened by predators of all types—from dogs and hawks to cars and horrific treatment by cruel people—but they also struggle to find food and water to sustain themselves while awaiting rescue. 

I’m going to be honest; Reno Rabbit Rescue is a VERY small organization. I organized it in 2019 and do not have a fully functioning board. So, when I got a message from a transporter describing a situation in Lassen County (another county, a different state, and over 1 hour away), I was scared and overwhelmed. After talking to the transporter and then the shelter staff, I was even more concerned for the state and care of the bunnies, and the additional 100 hundred animals involved. 

The concept of foraging has been gaining popularity and interest among pet parents, and for great reason. When supported in healthy and meaningful ways, foraging is a beneficial and instinctual activity for all small animals, including rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats, hamsters, and so on.

It was a cold afternoon in December 2020 when a good Samaritan called to report two domestic rabbits hopping around a parking lot, almost as if trying to get someone’s attention. As I was making drive to the location, the number of rabbits grew from two to six. By the time we had caught all of them, the number had grown to 20. Miraculously, only one of the rabbits was pregnant—we named her Rowan.

When the bonding process gets difficult, some of us start to wonder if it’s a recipe for disaster instead of love. But anyone who has ever had the privilege of seeing a difficult bonding through to success knows it’s worth it. In fact, the most difficult bonding I did at home became the strongest relationship between rabbits I’ve ever seen. Not only were they inseparable, when one of them became sick, the other was able to provide a level of both physical and emotional care beyond my and my vet’s abilities. My rabbits were also closely bonded to me, but I’m certain they lived happier, more fulfilling lives together than they would have had I not found the courage and patience to work through the challenging dating process with them. 

Research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found interacting with house plants can help lower a person’s blood pressure, calm their nervous system, and promote a general feeling of well-being. Who doesn’t want that? In recent years, the popularity of growing plants at home has soared. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in London has reported a 10-15% year-on-year increase across the industry in houseplants since 2013, driven largely due to the doubling of foliage plant sales. These are those decorative, colorful plants with funky, interesting leaves that you’ve no doubt seen when scrolling through your social media feeds.

As their human, I would do anything for my bunnies. This includes rabbit proofing anything remotely chewable … no matter how unattractive it may look to my friends and family. But just because something needs to be protected from a chew-happy bunny does not mean it has to be an ugly, bulky option; and I have learned sometimes all it takes is a good regimen of distraction techniques.

“We like to use adorable terms when we’re doing things for bunnies,” said then-HRS board member Dana M. Krempels, PhD, presenting at the House Rabbit Society Educators’ Conference in St. Louis (2014). Indeed! Language is a readily available, no-cost tool we use to establish intimacy both within a household of pawrents and furkids and among people with shared values and experiences like those in HRS.

Sunshine flooded the porch on a clear blue mid-December afternoon as Apricot and her brother Peach egressed the house and arrived on the scene. Peach took a quick hop around the enclosed porch, inspected the perimeter, and found two humans. They wore muzzles made of cloth or a strange paper and seemed to be trying to keep away from each other. One of them was Susan, their faithful foster caretaker. But the other was a stranger, smelling of other rabbits, and Peach didn’t recognize him. Still, all seemed well enough.

As their human, I would do anything for my bunnies. This includes rabbit proofing anything remotely chewable … no matter how unattractive it may look to my friends and family. But just because something needs to be protected from a chew-happy bunny does not mean it has to be an ugly, bulky option; and I have learned sometimes all it takes is a good regimen of distraction techniques.

Is there a more rewarding sight than watching a bunny grow, mature, and flourish into a wise, old age? I love senior rabbits—they’re opinionated, affectionate, and often just as inquisitive as younger bunnies. If you’ve shared your life with a senior rabbit before, you know just how special gaining the love of an elder bunny can be; whether you’ve been together for years or rescued each other much more recently. 

What do you know about rabbits?  

I thought I knew a little something. Cute. Soft. Timid. Shy. Calm. Quiet. Cuddly. Hahaha! I look back and laugh about it now. Just like Jon Snow in Game of Thrones, I knew nothing!

Edgar and Fergus came into our lives on a dreary February day in 2018. While scrolling through Facebook one morning, I saw a post from a local rescue asking for help in transporting two rabbits from Delaware to Maryland. By chance, my husband and I were in Delaware that weekend and were available to help with their relocation. Little did I know such a simple task would turn into a complicated and beautiful journey.

I adopted Corey from the House Rabbit Society of Chicago in October 2014. He was a particularly scruffy seven-year-old gent who had been under their care for two years. I had an affinity for older buns, knowing how hard they were to rehome. I asked to meet the oldest residents, who were Corey (7) and Wiley (11). Lovely Wiley was a bit wobbly, and his long-term caregiver later expressed how glad she was that he would stay with her and avoid the added stress of a new home so late in life. Corey hopped all over me, pooped in my lap, and hungrily inhaled herbs. Fast-forward two states, four houses, and five years; and I scattered Corey’s ashes in a quiet clearing in Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley. February 2020 would have marked his thirteenth birthday. 

“Please eat. Please … You need to eat.”

Humans who live with rabbits quickly learn the four most important signs of rabbit health – eating, pooping, drinking, and peeing.