Adopted bunny… need advice

[Rosie316]

I just adopted a bunny from someone who no longer wanted her. He is 6 weeks.. I know he’s young but I don’t know that’s the story with him…
He’s adorable he’s a blue eyed white rabbit. Anyway, I already have a female rabbit that’s spayed and she’s going crazy! I put him in her old pet store cage (he’s tiny) he won’t be there forever obviously just giving him a place to stay. She’s running around she’s acting insane. She’s spayed I don’t know why she’s being so crazy. I opened the cage door and she charged at me and bit me or something… I’m not sure it all happened so fast. Now I have a bruise on my leg. I don’t know why she’s acting so crazy! It’s stressing me out and I’m starting to wonder what I got myself into. I may need to keep them separated until he’s old enough to get neutered, but I need to know it’ll work out. Yikes! Please help. Was your bunny this crazy when you got a new bunny as a friend for the old? Any advice or help would be much appreciated. Also, he is in her cage so I guess he is in her territory, but I need some place to put him. She’s just free range and barely uses the cage anyway. Thanks for reading this.

[Rosie316]

Oh, I think it’s good to mention that also she is giving this weird onion smell off that she did before she was spayed, but she’s spayed now so I don’t know what’s wrong with her

[sarahthegemini]

You cannot just put rabbits together like that, they need to be properly bonded. Once he is neutered and heeled you can start but until then they need to be separated.

[Rosie316]

They’re not together, they’re separated ,but in the same room to get used to each other’s scent. The baby bunny is in a cage and my other bunny is running around my room.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Bunlo12 on 7/23/2017 3:34 PM

They’re not together, they’re separated ,but in the same room to get used to each other’s scent. The baby bunny is in a cage and my other bunny is running around my room.

Okay but clearly that isn’t working either as your doe is acting out. Put them in separate rooms and let your baby bun settle in. 

[Rosie316]

Now the bunny I’ve had for a year is lunging and growling at my cat and I! Goodness gracious! Why is she acting so crazy? She’s spayed!!

[Bam]

She’s being territorial. Even spayed and neutered buns can be territorial, some more than others. The oniony smell is her marking territory. You probably need to do this introduction really slow. For a bun there’s no such thing as barely using the cage -it’s her cage, and he’s an intruder. It can make a bun go crazy, more or less. Could you keep him in another room so you can introduce his smell to her on objects (like on a toy) before she meets him?

We have another member who just told us about how her neutered male suddenly became crazy aggressive. Turned out she’d been volunteering at a shelter and brought home the smell of other buns on her clothes. Her bun became normal again when she started to shower and change clothes before going into his area. So rabbits can really react very strongly to the mere scent of a stranger-bun. In your case the scent will be of one and the same bun consistently, so she might get used to it. But there are some buns that do best as a solo bun.

[Rosie316]

How will that help with them getting used to each other though?

[Rosie316]

Do you think if I get a brand new cage and put him in a different spot of the room she’ll still be angry? Since it’ll be a brand new cage..

[Boston's Mama]

They are separated by the sounds (?) he’s in cage and she’s free.

However there are issues with this – one – he is in her territory ( her cage ) and -two- the cage bars is not enough of a divider.
He is so young at 6 weeks old I wouldn’t have his cage near her with how it is now…
I recommend a vet visit for the wee guy asap given he is so young off mum, and I would get him his own cage if poss so your girl isn’t losing hers to an “invader” as she will see it. If you can’t do that and don’t think she needs a cage then white vinegar mixed with water is a good solution to clean the cage and remove her smell from it.
Whether it’s old cage or new I would move him to another room – quieter and away from your girl bun- until he has a few weeks to settle in and is more 9-10weeks at least.

Then when you do bring him back to same room as her you will need a playpen around the cage too or similar way to seperate – they can bite/ fight/ injury through bars so you need two sets of bars spaced apart so that there is a gap between preventing touching.

Once they settle in there at that point others here can offer advise on prebonding

[Rosie316]

Like how Bam said, she may be better off a single bun. Maybe I should just tell the people it isn’t working out. She crazy lunging, I’m terrified of her. I could just give him back.. he’s adorable, but my rabbits scary! She doesn’t like him

[Wick & Fable]

Agreed with STG — spaying and neutering do act as a prevention for reproduction, and to mute down territorial instincts; however, no matter the situation, spayed and neutered rabbits need to go through a bonding process before being put together. Your female rabbit is probably very much on edge with this new addition.

Onion smell. Territorial poos and pees smell like onion. Either your female is spraying and pooing to re-establish her home, or your new addition is already mature and spraying/expressing territorial claims as well. Or both.

I’m not experienced with bonding rabbits, but 100% keep them separated until he’s neutered. While you wait a month or two, read up on proper bonding.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Rosie316]

I can get a new cage and all, i can keep them separate until he’s neutered, but my problem now is my bunny lunging and biting me and my other animals. I can’t have that. I don’t want to upset her. She never did that to me I’m scared.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Bunlo12 on 7/23/2017 3:37 PM

How will that help with them getting used to each other though?

They don’t need to get used to each other at the moment. They need to be in separate rooms so your new bun can settle into his new home. Then you can start pre bonding (swapping litter trays and whatnot whilst they’re still in separate rooms) so your doe can get used to his scent and vice versa. 

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Bunlo12 on 7/23/2017 4:06 PM

I can get a new cage and all, i can keep them separate until he’s neutered, but my problem now is my bunny lunging and biting me and my other animals. I can’t have that. I don’t want to upset her. She never did that to me I’m scared.

Because her territory was invaded. It’s a perfectly normal response tbh.

[Rosie316]

I can’t put him in a different room, but I did make him a NIC grid cage and he’s in a different area of the room. My bun Daisy came in after being in the bathroom to calm down a bit and she was feeling better. I cleaned her cage out and put her in there so she can calm down and feel better. She did go sniff him though and I got a little nervous about her biting his nose. I will putt cardboard at the bottom so they can small each other but not bite each other. Also I’ll switch toys and litter boxes , etc. I’m preparing for a long bonding process after he’s neutered.

[Deleted User]

I just got a second rabbit. When I come out of my room smelling like him, my doe (spayed) also lunges and grunts at me. She was totally fine with me smelling like him, until she ran into my room one day and they got in a tizzy. They pulled out each others fur and she chased him around and I got them separated shortly after. For the first few days after the fight, I couldn’t even walk out of my room without her running from across the apartment and lunging at my legs. She was stressed and territorial over the smell. I had to wash my hands for about 5 days after I left the room with him. She seems to have calmed down now, and will let me come right from the room and pet her. She only grunts slightly if I smell like him and I pet her bum (which she probably considers “mounting” because I smell like him and I am near her bum). I think that having them in the same vicinity where they can see and smell each other might be stressing her out, causing her to “be on guard”. If you want to make it work, just keep them separate until he is healed from the neuter, and in the meantime swap a stuffed animal and litter boxes. I totally get what you are going through, my Ophelia is SOOOO sweet and I’ve NEVER heard her grunt before so I was very freaked out. and the lunging!!! That freaked me too, but she never nipped at me, just charged at me as if to say “hey back off, I don’t want him near me”. At least you haven’t had a fight on your hands!! I was absolutely terrified, luckily I have a good 3 months to reset before trying to bond! (He is not neutered yet, only 10 weeks old).

[Rosie316]

That’s so scary! Now that he’s in a new cage she’s much better. It’s probably like having a new neighbor lol. Mines 6 weeks, I’m mainly trying to bond with him right now. We should keep in touch on here because we both have babies and we can share our experience and share pictures of our cute little babies. Lol just a suggestion. But I totally understand, the lunging was so scary!

[Deleted User]

I’m not as experienced as some of the others on here, but you can feel free to shoot me a message with any questions! Sounds like we will be going through exactly the same process lol… resident female bun not too happy about the new guy.. I bought them each a stuffed animal though and I rub it all over them and let them use it for about a week at a time and then I switch them out. At first my bun didn’t care about the stuffie, she just groomed it and chinned all over it… after their fight though, she was lunging at it and circling it. So I took it away from her for a week and now that she has calmed down I gave it back and she has gone back to chinning it without any grunting.

[Q8bunny]

Just saw this after your intro post and it answered my question. LOL Poor you… and poor Daisy! I’m sure things will get much calmer with time. I don’t have a bonded bun (he insists on being an only child) but lots of members have extensive bonding experience.

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