Introducing a new friend to an existing bunny - advice needed, please :)

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This topic has 4sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 6 months ago by tanlover14.

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- 05/21/2013 at 8:07 AM
  Tino's Mum
  Participant
  2 posts
  Hi there,
  
  I’m new to this forum, and this is my first post
  
  I’ll try to be as concise as possible; we have a 3 year old, neutered Netherlands Dwarf buck who lives in a very large cage in our bedroom and has the run of our upstairs. He’s a little tetchy at times, doesn’t enjoy being picked up but does enjoy affection on his own terms. He’s just been leaping all over my lap and trying to climb over my shoulder; he exhibits this behaviour all the time, but if I try to cuddle him back and he’s not in the mood he’ll give me a little grunt!
  
  A friend of ours who has multiple rabbits has suggested that maybe he would like some female company and that her existing rabbit became more sociable with humans when he was given 2 little girl companions. When we go to the pet store all of the rabbits are chilled out in groups or pairs and are always snuggled up together, and constantly seeing this and hearing from our friend who hints all the time at getting Tino a girlfriend has made us start to seriously consider this.
  
  He’s been an only-bunny since we got him at 12 weeks, so we’re not entirely sure how he would take to company – does an only-bunny make for a lonely bunny?
  
  We have found some baby girls of the same breed in our locality, but have no idea whether getting a friend for him is going to be the best thing we’ve ever done for him or the worst, or if a baby is the right way to go, let alone how to go about socialising the pair!
  
  Any and all advice greatly appreciated! Thank you
- 05/21/2013 at 8:52 AM
  MoveDiagonally
  Participant
  2361 posts
  Single rabbits aren’t lonely because they have human companions. If you want a second rabbit there are definitely things to consider.
  
  I would not go with a baby. I would take your boy “dating” at a rescue or shelter and try to find somebunny compatible for him. A baby is a lot of work and you wouldn’t be able to start bonding until about a month after she’s spayed. Females are generally spayed at 6 months of age.
  
  Bonding can be really time consuming and stressful for everyone involved. There is always a chance that they aren’t able to be bonded. I would not get a second rabbit unless you’re prepared for the possibility of having two single rabbits.
  
  There is some really good info on bonding here:
  https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx
- 05/21/2013 at 10:36 AM
  Tino's Mum
  Participant
  2 posts
  Oh wow, okay! That’s definitely food for thought. I read this page http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/friend.asp and was hoping from that that it would be a fairly simple process and a happy thing for Tino. Thank you very much for the reply and for the link – I’ll go straight there and have a good read.
- 05/22/2013 at 9:02 AM
  Baxter n Boos Mom
  Participant
  394 posts
  Rabbits are social animals. As long as his human family spends quality time with him – it’s probably not necessary to have a rabbit companion. I think it’s different if the bun is alone in a cage by himself most of the day. I decided to get our Baxter (free range bun) a companion, because I was traveling for work, or away from home for much of the day – and my husband said he could tell that Baxter missed his bunny lovings 🙂 I was hoping to find him a girl companion, and went with a baby, because Baxter was so gentile, and his previous owner told us that he always tried playing with her little chinchilla + I was hoping we could train the baby to be okay with being carried.
  
  Well – our baby turned out to be a boy. He still doesn’t like to be carried 🙁 And Baxter did not appreciate the baby, in fact, Baxter turned into a mean, ferocious, territorial bun. The next 3 months were very stressful and time consuming trying to bond the little guys. We had to let the baby grow up before bonding. Luckily it worked out, and now I’m glad we did it, but it was a lot of work.
  
  If you’re able to spend time with your bun….he’s probably perfectly content as a single bun.
- 05/22/2013 at 12:19 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Having a bonded quartet – I can tell you ONLY get another bunny if you are prepared for the long possibly very stressful bonding process. AND are prepared for them not bonding and having two separate buns. Bunnies can be perfectly content with just having human companions (I have a single girl also right now). They don’t NEED another bunny to be happy if you give them attention. They sleep most of the day anyways so not being home for hours – they usually will just adjust to your schedule.
  
  I would suggest what MD said if you are still interested in having a 2nd bunny. I can tell you the hard work of bonding is DEFINITELY worth it but you have to be willing to do it. Taking your bun “dating” at a rescue will help ensure that he picks out a bunny he likes. It will make bonding much easier. And you will be able to see his reactions to other bunnies before bringing another one home. You CANNOT bond a baby and a full-grown together until the other is spayed/neutered though. Once they become hormonal they can really turn on the other rabbit and cause horrible injuries that can make bonding in the future impossible. So be prepared to not let them meet until AFTER they are spayed/neutered if you get a baby.
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