Hi Beth,
I’m sorry for the loss of your rabbit.
It’s very hard to say what may have been wrong with your rabbit. Since you said your vet did feel masses, I’d tend to believe that was most likely the cause of her having these issues. Most likely if she felt masses, there may have been other issues as well that she just couldn’t see or feel. She could have had a mass rupture internally and that may have caused her odd head symptoms and lack of wanting to eat.
Rabbits of course need to constantly eat or else their digestive symptoms start to shut down so once she’s to the point of not eating then it’s usually a downhill battle. It would have been interesting to get a necropsy done on her, but that would have been costly depending on your vet. Some vets will do it for free just for learning purposes.
Again, very sorry for your loss.
~kelly
Hi Ashley,
I just love green cheeks!! I used to have several and they are just wonderful. Nandays tend to be a little bit larger as well as more “possessive” and more boisterous birds than the green cheeks. But you can certainly try them together. I would NOT recommend just sticking them together in a cage and hoping for the best. First, you’d want to keep them isolated for at least 2 weeks until or until you can take your new bird to a vet for a general exam/check up and to rule out any disease.
Next, once your vet clears him as healthy I would be sure to closely montior them when they are near each other. You will want to be sure they each have their OWN cage to be in. Putting them in the same area, but not directly near each other is a good first step., then moving the cages closer if you’d like. Until they are next to each other. I’d never put the cages so close that they can grab one another through the bars, so be sure there is still a good gap.
Once you’ve had them near one another and they seem interested but not screaming or trying to attack, then you could try introducing them together on neutral territory,,,like a playgym. Always ALWAYS stay near so you can step in and remove one if they start to hurt each other.
I always keep birds in their own space when I’m not around –unless you have an aviary type situation with lots of room for them..they really need their own areas unless they are a very bonded pair. So until that happens make sure you have two cages.
In general I’ve found birds either love each other or hate each other. Usually no in betweens. You def are taking a risk with bringing a new friend home, either it will work ,or it will fail. But there is no way of telling how they will react based on how the green cheek is behaving in the store with a bird it already knows.
Good luck!!!!
~kelly