Question about bonding rabbits?

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This topic has 5sd replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 10 months ago by Zombie-Sue.

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- 01/04/2014 at 10:14 AM
  Lexidavoulas
  Participant
  21 posts
  I have a 6 month old holland lop male and I am very interested in getting him a buddy in the spring. He has full privilege of my bunny proofed bedroom and is out during the day and in his cage at night. If I got him a friend would I have to keep them separate until they are bonded? Can I leave them together or will I have to watch them all the time to make sure they won’t fight? Will they eventually sleep in the same cage? I am not very familiar with the process and want to be 100% with what I need to do before I get another bun. Any great websites would help! I have only ever had one bunny at a time before.
- 01/04/2014 at 10:19 AM
  Tessie
  Participant
  1231 posts
  Hey, welcome to the forum!
  I’m not an expert, there are other members who can help you more with your questions, but I’ll give it a go.
  
  Yes you will need to keep them separately until they are bonded, and also be prepared to have them separate forever in case they cannot be bonded.
  You will need to have bonding sessions -like dates- lasting 15 mins or so to begin with, and longer as time goes on, until eventually when they have spent 48 hours together happily they are considered bonded. You will need to supervise them all the time when they are together until they are bonded.
  
  Once bonded they will live in the same cage, and share everything and generally be two cute balls of fuzzy together.
  
  Buns really do love company, it’s totally worth it!
- 01/04/2014 at 1:13 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17028 posts
  Is your bunny neutered? Both bunnies will need to be spayed/neutered (+ time for hormones to diminish) before they can be bonded. You would need to have them separated initially anyway, but if you have to wait until everyone is hormone-free then it would be a longer amount of time. Perhaps it would be best to have him neutered first, then you could look for an already fixed bunny at a shelter to be his friend? That would hopefully result in the least amount of time with them living separate.
  
  Once you are ready to start bonding, then you would go about introducing them slowly and in neutral territory. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it isn’t. It will depend on the bunnies involved. There are no guarantees though, so always be prepared for the possibility of having 2 single buns. But yes, once they are successfully bonded, they can live together in the same cage 24/7.
- 01/04/2014 at 5:37 PM
  Lexidavoulas
  Participant
  21 posts
  My bunny was just neutered recently. What are some signs i should look for when on a “Date” that my bunny likes the other bunny? He loves to play with my cat and follows her around sometimes, I think he would like a bunny friend. Thanks for the help
- 01/04/2014 at 8:45 PM
  MoveDiagonally
  Participant
  2361 posts
  Bunnies interact with cats and dogs differently then they interact with other bunnies. Rabbits can also be a bit particular about their partners and they will get along with some bunnies better than others.
  
  Generally good signs on a bunny date are ignoring or general friendly behavior. Even a couple tiffs if they resolve them on their own are fine.
- 01/07/2014 at 2:33 AM
  Zombie-Sue
  Participant
  875 posts
  circling, a little bit of stomping or chasing is fine. If they ignore each other, that’s good. If they groom, that’s REALLY good. Flopping in the presence of another rabbit or even self-grooming are also good signs.
  
  The only really really bad thing is if they go straight into attack mode.
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