Off-site bonding is often a great option! Bonding has to be done in neutral territory, so often things go a lot more smoothly when the buns are both in an unfamiliar location. Plus then someone is going to do the work for you! Personally I would take them up on the offer! 🙂

Keep in mind there is sometimes some “cementing” that has to be done once you bring them home. You’ll want to clean and rearrange their living space so it is as neutral as possible (I usually get new litter boxes, new toys, wipe everything down with vinegar, and flip the set up so it’s a mirror image of how it was before), and you don’t want to give them full free-roam immediately because sometimes too much space too fast can cause some issues.

It’s normal to be a worried bun parent but I think she will be just fine! Rabbits are remarkably adaptable little creatures, despite them also being weirdly fragile. As long as the bonder is experienced with rabbits (which I’m sure she is if she’s bonding rabbits for people) then I think she will be just fine! You could ask some questions about the process and her experience as well, that might help put your mind at ease.

I agree with Dana. I have heard many success stories of people using bonding services. I also follow a couple rabbit rescues on social media and they are alway posting updates about bunnies they have in for bonding and they are very knowledgeable. Some bonding services may even have your rabbits back and ready in a very short amount of time depending on their staffing and method. Your bun will likely be absolutely fine and adapt well!

I have personally always opted to bond at home but thats more do do with me than the buns…. Theres upsides to bonding yourself such as getting to watch your hard work pay off if they do bond and the excitement of it… But there are also down sides, bonding can be exhausting and can consume you until its done. Also it can sometimes take months of work when done at home especially if it’s a first time bond due to inevitable mistakes – we all makes mistakes the first time around.

Sounds like a good compromise! Then you can do some pre-bonding at home and then send them off to the bonders to have them finish things up.

Since one of your buns is free-roam, you will likely want to pen her during this process for simplicity. People seem to have the best success with setting up two side by side pens in the main room where the buns will live. For the first week or so they just live as neighbors (make absolutely sure they cannot nip each other through the fence or escape… you’d be surprised how high buns can jump when they have a new neighbor). This gives the new bun a chance to settle in and lets you get to know the bun a bit (and also make sure there are no underlying medical issues). Once the new bun seems relaxed in the space, you can start swapping who is on which side every day or two. Most people opt to do this for about 2 weeks before starting actual bonding sessions.

Then after the pre-bonding you can start having them go on “dates” in a neutral area, so an area of your home where your current bun has never been and ideally cannot see (bathrooms are popular for this). During dates you will supervise and prevent fighting. Most times it’s nice to start with shorter sessions and get a sense of how they are together. If they are doing pretty well you can start increasing the length of the sessions until you get to a point where they can stay together several hours without fighting. At that point people usually opt to do some very long sessions (such as a full day or overnight), or they marathon bond (24/7) until the buns are bonded. Being bonded means they show lots of positive behaviors (grooming each other, cuddling, food sharing, litter box sharing), and have no aggression between them (light nipping and mounting is normal but nothing beyond that) for at least 48 hours. Once they are good for 48 hours in neutral territory you would transition them to a semi-neutral area and continue supervising for another 24-48 hours. If that goes well you can move them to their final home (cleaned, deodorized, rearranged to be less familiar) and supervise for another 24 hours (48 is better) to make sure they are still happy. Occasionally there are little hiccups when you move locations and they need a bit more supervision.

I’m guessing that bonding service is sounding more appealing after reading all that!  My bonds have ranged from about 2 weeks for the easiest ones (not including pre-bonding) to 4 months for the toughest ones.

Aww tough love is necessary sometimes for good things long term! It’s normal to be nervous but you’ve done your homework so you are well prepared! And please update us with how it all goes!

Yay!!! Congrats and thank you so much for the update!! 🙂

And of course we want to see pictures of the happy couple 😀