Bunji, our foster bun, has sorta grown on us and we’re heading down the path of a possible foster failure. A foster failure, for those that don’t know, is when a foster family ends up adopting the foster child.
To see if Bunji would bond well with Ginger and Juju, we’ve moved Bunji’s pen right next to Ginger and Juju’s. We want to see how to interact when they can see each other and also to get them acclimated to each other’s presence.
Tonight, the first night, they seem very interested in each other. I don’t see any hostility in any of their behaviors but definitely a lot of curiosity.
I’ll be keeping a close watch on them through the webcam (http://houserabbitblog.wordpress.com/bunnycam/). Ginger and Juju’s pen is closer to the camera and bunji is the pen that’s further away.
Bunji got spayed this past Friday after Thanksgiving. I wanted to take her to Ginger’s vet, Dr. Siperstein or Dr. Kruse at VCA Wakefield but apparently it’s too expensive for spays there and the HRN sent Bunji to McGrath Animal Hospital in Billerica. Joey took Bunji there and picked her up.
Bunji is doing quite well. She is obviously in some discomfort but I can still tell that she’s still her playful self. She’s not eating as much as usual but that’s to be expected. As long as she’s eating a little and going to the bathroom, it’s all good.
Once she heals from the operation, she’ll be ready to be adopted to a loving home.
I’ve moved recently and my house is in disarray. Right now, my two bunnies, Juju and Ginger are in the basement in a very large, closed off pen. I’m also fostering another bunny, Bunji and she’s in a NIC condo that Joey and I had built.
At this point, I’m wrestling with what to do in the long-term with the bunnies’ living arrangement. In the past, all the bunnies resided in the kitchen. I could see them every time I went in there for a drink or just passing by on my way to the bathroom. Now, I have to make deliberate trips to the basement to see them.
I know I miss them and I would want to see them all the time. However, I don’t know if I want to have them come upstairs, possibly live in the sunroom and basically lose a whole room to them. On the flip side, I don’t know if they’re happier being with humans or having some distance away from us. I wish I could ask them what they prefer, instead, my heart breaks a little every night when I go downstairs to feed them vegetables and I have to walk back upstairs, leaving them in the basement.
I suppose I imagine it to be a dungeon (even though it’s huge, well ventilated and well-lit). Joey on the other hand says it’s a step up for them because in the wild, they would be hunted and afraid for their lives all the time. With us, in the basement, they’re safe and well fed. I guess it all comes down to whether living means simply survival or something more. That’s a question we all have to wrestle with – bunnies or humans.
