When Marble Jr. passed away a couple of weeks ago it wasn’t a case of if she’d be replaced, but when – after all, we knew that our rabbit Half Pint would be one lonely rabbit without anyone to look down on from her second-story cage. Not to mention te fact that even with two humans and three rabbits the house still felt empty absent Marble Jr.’s commanding presence.

The original thinking was that we’d fill Marble Jr.’s area with a single rabbit, but her area is pretty big – originally it had been set up for her and her partner/mother Pepper – and from our involvement in the East Valley rabbit community we knew there were a number of bonded pairs looking for homes.

So, when I went out today I wasn’t sure if I’d be bringing home one or two rabbits. As it turned out, the rabbit rescue organization had an acute need to find homes for some bonded pairs, so a bonded pair was what I brought home.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the newest members of the Richard household: Louise & Clark!

I don’t know if we’ll keep those names or not – Louis doesn’t look like a Louise and Clark doesn’t look like a Clark to me, but they certainly have the house in a bit of an uproar. Just as Half Pint and Cosmo had to adjust to no more Marble Jr., they’re now going to have to adjust to the new inhabitants of her space.

I think Half Pint is pretty happy with the new company – she gets to watch the activity below her and no longer feel like she’s all alone. Cosmo, on the other hand, is less then impressed with the new arrangement. I think he considers the new buns to be a threat to his status as the “big kahuna” in the house. Right now he’s pissed and sulking all at the same time, but in a few days after everyone settles in to their roles he’ll realize he only has to spend time in their company at night when the room is gated off and he still has the whole house and his secret spaces all to himself during the daytime.

As for the newbies, like all rabbits in a new situation they’re kind of timid, but there seems little question that Louise is the dominant of the pair and Clark is a pretty sensitive fellow. She’s definitely the more inquisitive and self-confident of the two, whereas Clark seems happy just vegging out and digging at the towels that cover their area. We’ll see if the status quo holds after a few days and they get accustomed to their new environment and the ebb and flow of life in the Richard household.

Stay tuned.