New friend for bunny

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 16 years ago by MooBunnay.

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- 11/15/2008 at 5:10 AM
  LeahS
  Participant
  1 posts
  Hi, I would like to get my rabbit (BUGGS) a friend. He is getting fixed on Friday. We have had him for about 4 months. he was really unfriendly when we first got him bitting everyone. But then we gave him space and had a no touching rule for about 2 weeks. Now he is more friendly but doesn’t like being picked up, growls at us when we have to pick him up. He has the free run of two rooms in our house and the whole house when we are home and awake. We do have two guinea pigs that he has seen and goes in to attack position when he has seen them. My question is Should I try to get him a rabbit friend? Or will he be better off with us humans? How will I know that they won’t fight? I don’t want two rabbits that have to be separated at all times. Thank you, Leah
- 11/15/2008 at 7:57 AM
  Beka27
  Participant
  16016 posts
  welcome here! the truth is that chances are they WILL fight at first. you need to get him neutered (on friday, you said) and then wait for one whole month for his hormones to calm down. at that time, you will have a better idea of his “real” personality.
  
  if you still want to get him a friend after one month, it is best to take him to a shelter or rabbit rescue and allow him to go bunny dating. this is where they introduce him to several female bunnies and he gets to pick the one he is most compatible with. in most cases, a male/female pair has the best chance of working out, obviously both need to be netuered/spayed. rescues are ideal for this b/c they do the altering before you adopt so you don’t need to worry about getting it done yourself.
  
  before you adopt, you need to be prepared with a second cage or pen as well as doubles of all the bunny supplies. they will not be able to be housed together right away. in fact it might take a month or more until they can be housed together. the bonding process consists of getting them together daily in neutral territory (space that Buggs has never been in before) and supervising their interactions.
  
  like i said, this can take weeks or even up to a couple months before they can safely live together. from your description, pre-neuter he is very territorial. this is not unusual for a hormonal bunny. but if he remains this territorial afterwards, be prepared for a long bonding period.
  
  here is my favorite bonding article, it’s long, but it describes the whole process in great detail… http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml
  
  keep us posted on how his neuter goes!
- 11/16/2008 at 7:02 PM
  MooBunnay
  Participant
  3087 posts
  Good job on giving your bunny some space and giving him some time to get used to you Hopefully as he gets to know you even better he will calm down even more. It is not unusual for a bunny to not like to be picked up – all 8 of my bunnies get very angry with them if I pick them up!
  
  I agree with Beka’s advice, you probably need to wait a month at least to allow your bunny’s hormones to calm down before attempting to bond him. This will make the process easier on both you and the bun. Also, bunny dating is a very good idea, especially with bunny’s like yours that have very strong personalities. You want to make sure that you find a bunny with a personality that is compatible with his.
  
  Good luck with the neuter, and let us know how it goes!
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