First off, you will not want to introduce either of them until BOTH have been altered. Even one unaltered rabbit in the mix can cause serious injuries to one or both rabbits.

Second, I would not recommend letting them near each others spaces. Rabbits can be very territorial and when they feel threatened by another rabbit it can make bonding in the future extremely difficult or close to impossible! When they are both altered, you’ll want to introduce them in a completely neutral space that neither has been in before. Until both have been altered, you can do some things to help them become used to the others scent though! Swapping used litter or the litter box itself is a good way. I do that and would give each a handtowel to lay on and play with and then swap it to the others cage/area the next day!

Posted By tanlover14 on 11/23/2014 11:17 PM

First off, you will not want to introduce either of them until BOTH have been altered. Even one unaltered rabbit in the mix can cause serious injuries to one or both rabbits.

Second, I would not recommend letting them near each others spaces. Rabbits can be very territorial and when they feel threatened by another rabbit it can make bonding in the future extremely difficult or close to impossible! When they are both altered, you’ll want to introduce them in a completely neutral space that neither has been in before. Until both have been altered, you can do some things to help them become used to the others scent though! Swapping used litter or the litter box itself is a good way. I do that and would give each a handtowel to lay on and play with and then swap it to the others cage/area the next day!

Agree with tanlover here. I have three bunnies all condo’d in a large bedroom that we re-floored and painted for them. Only two of them really see each other; the two that are going to be bonded when they are altered. They each get separate play time each day, and our youngest bunny (who we suspect will have bonding issues into a trio, abused rescue) is penned off with blankets over the pen when the other two are out and the other two are penned when she is out. At most they smell/hear each other. I think it’s important that your bunnies don’t get to each other’s living spaces if theyre unaltered. But following the handtowel advice that tanlover gave will familiarize them with their separate scents. I do this with my two girls who will be bonded with toys, dishes, litter boxes, everything. They show absolutely no aggression to each other and often lie next to each other or “talk between the bars” of their condos. I think steps like this are absolutely key to ensuring a successful bond after your buns are altered.

It sounds like Zapp is the aggressor here. Who was the dominant bunny?

Sorry, Tazy. I can’t open the link and it doesn’t find it when I copy & paste.

Be careful of using the term “aggressor” when describing bunnies. I have a bad habit of doing it but the aggressive bunny is typically the one that is more fearful. Recent studies have shown that rabbits are not aggressive animals and that their aggression is stimulated by fear. The “aggressor” is usually showing aggression because he does not trust the other rabbit – not necessarily because he wants to be dominant or does not like the other one.

The dominant role can actually change quite a bit, it does not necessarily stay the same rabbit. I have a pair, Simba & Lacey, and you can tell from watching them that the role changes from rabbit to rabbit quite a bit. However, in my larger group, my boy Fleury has always been the most dominant in the group. His reactions kind of speak for themselves though – when anyone in the group bickers, he will intervene w/ his ears back and tail up and lunge at both until they stop. And then he will continue sleeping from his perch on the box in their area. Haha!

Shockingly though, he is always one of the first to accept a new rabbit. He is typically the first one to groom the new rabbit, if not he’s the second behind Simba.