I did! I found myself with a 5 yr. old lionhead who had lived all his life with indoor cats. He had absolutely no clue he was a rabbit…lol

When I realized it he was with me permanently, I had Simba neutered and after a healing time we went dating at the North Texas Rabbit Sanctuary. We came home with an older lady, Hershey, who had recently lost her lifetime mate. I’ll add more to the story tonight, but it was an easy bond for me….Hershey laid down the law to my little old bachelor and he was happy as a clam for the two years they had together.

Hannah was 3, so not too old, but 3 years is a fairly long time to live alone. She was interested in Otto from the first second they met (I think he just wanted her to leave him alone) and she couldn’t be happier having a friend. She’s still a bossy little thing and sometimes annoys Otto, but she’s absolutely one of those bunnies who is much happier and calmer with a friend, even though she had never met another bunny before him.

I think it all depends on the bunny’s personality and not really on their age. If you think of it from a bunny point of view, after they leave their siblings around 8 weeks and don’t have any more contact with rabbits, whether for one year or six, they’ve lose most of their social skills and will need to learn them again. The rabbit doesn’t know how many years it’s been, so bonding a rabbit who has been alone for one year is probably about as difficult as bonding one who has been alone for six years, assuming the personalities are the same.

P.S. It’s so great that you’re considering an older bun! They definitely have a harder time being adopted.

Powder is four (as best guess) and bonding him to Stickers went rather smoothly, he had to figure out the whole grooming thing (he totally didn’t get why she was hunkering down in front of him and just blankly stared at her when she did it) and he had a slight humping obsession for the first week and a half, but after that he learned he had to do things her way if he wanted attention. She’s taught him how to snuggle, groom and be a proper husbun. I think your bun would probably be successful at bonding, as long as the females personality matched his well.

How long it takes depends on the rabbits themselves and honestly, dating is good but it isn’t a guarantee. With some rabbits, it can take months to bond. My two took two weeks. Would the rescue be willing to let you foster to see if they would bond and let you return the bun if it didn’t work out?

Bonding time really varies. I think if you go dating and they get along well, especially if it’s to the point of eating together or even grooming, they will probably bond eventually. There are some (and I’m in this camp) who believe any bunnies can be bonded if you’re patient enough and willing to put the time and effort into the bond. Of course, for an inexperienced bonder you don’t really want one of those difficult bonds, but as long as they’re not trying to attack and go for blood during their dates, you should be able to get them together eventually.

Most bonds on this site seem to take between no time and a couple months. There have been a few that were much longer, but I think those were special cases.

I am also in the camp (as Elrohwen called it) of believing any bunnies can be bonded. I think you are already set up for success because you can “bunny date” before bringing another home. Also, Moxie is already used to plenty of animals so I’m sure he would be more accepting of another bunny than one who’d never seen anything but humans.

I didn’t have a choice of bunnies to bond with my Rosy (8-month-old dwarf) because Kevin (3 -year-old lop) found ME. He needed a home and I had room. I knew I would bond them no matter what it took . They happened to have a very easy bond because neither one was dominant and they just kind of accepted each other. That being said, Kevin, who had lived his whole life alone, prefers being alone for most of the day. He only enjoys Rosy’s company at night. It makes me a little sad for Rosy because she ADORES him and would love to have an all-day companion.

With the experience I’ve had, my suggestion would be to find a bunny close to Moxie’s age and a male/female bond usually goes the best.