Advise on bringing rabbits in the house to play

[Henry]

Afternoon.
I have a bonded pair who live outside in a large walk-in aviary. They recently had an unexpected litter of two. We are going to keep one of them and the other is being re homed.

my question is – with my new rabbit (once old enough) can I bring it (don’t know sex yet) inside through out the day and put it back outside during the late afternoon evening to sleep out side? Will this break the bond if only one rabbit is coming in while original pair stay in garden. My pair are friendly (hate being held but love a scratch/stroke) I really want a rabbit that wants more attention in terms of being held and being with people etc. the original pair seem happy to have an hour attention a day which works for me. The original pair were not handled a lot and since I have had the baby from birth I’ve been handling and having sit on lap etc and I really want that to continue without it becoming just happy for me to enter cage and feed and stroke like the pair.

I really hope that makes sense. Any advice or further questions are completely welcome.

cheers

Henry

[Wick & Fable]

Especially as a house rabbit forum, BinkyBunny’s view is that rabbits are considered truly bonded if 1) both rabbits have been spayed/neutered and 2) they have gone through the bonding process (https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/). Alongside this, rabbits who are intended to live together in the same enclosure must be bonded. If neither of your original pair are fixed, then the majority of the house rabbit online community will not considered them to be “bonded”, since hormones are a big piece that prevents stable, secure bonds between the vast majority of rabbits. Keep in mind that a neutered male can still impregnate an intact doe up to 6 weeks after the neuter.

Note that a baby bond is not the same as a true bond. A baby bond, also known as the false bond, refers to the relationship between rabbits where at least one is unfixed and young. Due to the absence of hormones, territorial feelings and aggression are not yet present, facilitating what can seem like a very loving, stable relationship — however, this can change very quickly once a rabbit reaches sexual maturity. Please note that rabbits being together since birth (i.e. siblings, parent-child) does not rule-out the baby bond phenomena, since rabbits can and often will fight and mate within family. Therefore, if you suspect your two rabbits have a baby bond, please keep them separated to prevent further pregnancy and potentially dangerous interactions. Also note that a female rabbit can be impregnated immediately after giving birth, so they need to be separated now if both your rabbits are intact.

Assuming all rabbits will be spayed/neutered, once properly bonded (over a couple weeks/months, as outlined in the link earlier), those rabbits should never be separated from each other, therefore, if you will now have three rabbits (the original pair + one child) and plan to have a bonded trio, they must all stay together — taking one inside then back out every day is not recommended. Please also note that depending on temperature differences, the act of constantly shifting a rabbit indoors to outdoors can be medically risky due to the rapid temperature fluctuations, in addition to the rabbit’s coat not staying in conditions that will facilitate the formation/maintenance of a coat which is appropriate for their living space (i.e., a rabbit who is outdoors to sleep overnight may shed its winter coat due to not being in chilled temperatures consistently due to the constantly being brought inside).

Until the bonding process is complete, all rabbits who are not bonded with each other should be housed separately to ensure all rabbits’ safety (presumably should be instilled after the baby is successfully weaned from the mother, of course).

Sorry that was a long response with a lot of information you did not necessarily ask for, but bonding rabbits is often a much more engineered task than many people realize. Knowing the spay/neuter status of all rabbits involved would be helpful.

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.

[Henry]

No the answer is perfect.

dad has been neutered hence the unexpected birth. Mum can’t be done now until weening and baby’s are free from milk.
I knew about the time of year thing, and them needing to adjust to winter so they grow the correct coat.
I was just more concerned about the new one coming in the house for a few hours everyday and then being up put outside to sleep while mum and dad stayed in the garden. (Baby will be neutered at first chance I can get it done)
Every time I googled it. The only links that would come up are either. It’s a house rabbit or it’s a outdoor rabbit. There are no links that kind of explain the example for what I was looking at.
So Ill re look at home arrangements to have them all in for an hour max play instead. Is that something I can do without having them break bonds.
main reason I don’t want mum in the house is she is a wood chewer. A massive wood chewer. I don’t mind her chewing the hutch and bits of extra wood I put in I just don’t want her chewing things in the house. Ie skirting boards (she loves to chew)

Mini rant – we took our male to vets to be done and they said he’s not sexually mature enough to have baby’s. They gave us a date three weeks later. He was then done, Then a week after that she had the 2 baby’s. To be fair the vets have been good and apologied (we knew when mum and dad were born) but they wouldn’t do the op even though we knew he was old enough.(there’s also a chance she’s pregnant again because they were at it the day of the birth before we found the baby’s) and we have told the vets there dealing with any other baby’s for failing to have him done which they have kind of agreed to rehome any other litters.

also as a last side note well done for understanding what I was asking. Yes we are only keeping mum dad plus one baby. Also mum and dad are super friendly and don’t bite and will take treat from hands etc when I re read my message it sounded like mum and dad don’t get attention they do. Normally an hour or two a day. They just hate being held so I don’t want to stress them out bringing them all in everyday if I can train one (the baby) to enjoy being inside.
Thank you for the advise it is much appreciated, I’d love to hear other people opinions and if I can work out how to upload pictures from my iPhone I will

 

cheers

Henry

 

[DanaNM]

So, if you intend to bond the baby with the parents, once that’s done it wouldn’t be good to separate them for the most part. I’ve actually been thinking about this question in reverse for myself, because in one of my pairs (Cooper and Bonnie), I know that Cooper would love to have some time in an outdoor run, and he doesn’t mind being picked up. But Bonnie hates being picked up and I don’t think would like to be in a new place.

Usually when a pair or group is bonded, they should never be separated. So you could start bringing the baby in before it was bonded if you’d like, but once you go through the bonding process they shouldn’t be separated.

Some people will train their bunnies to go into a carrier so they can move them around more easily. Maybe that’s something you could try for moving the whole group? There are also lots of things you can do to “bunny proof” to protect your house and furniture from chewing.

Also, oooh I would be so mad at that vet! You might find this info useful: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html

. . . 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.  

[Henry]

Morning.
After much discussions with the husband (me talking and talking and talking till I lost) we’ve decided that it would be unfair to move all of them in and out everyday. (Plus if we go on holiday who’s going to do that for us, think I’m getting a holiday out of this lol) he suggested that why don’t I train the new baby to come out the avery into the garden and I teach it to follow me round the garden instead. So mum and dad can still see it but I still get the extra time with it.
we also started looking at a portable tube system. Like a mini maze which I can add to etc, and I like the idea of that. (Again I don’t want anyone to think ignoring mum and dad, they are just set in their ways and happy so don’t want to break that)

in regards to carrier box training. Mum has already chewed her way through the very expensive carrier we got. (She really loves to chew) so when we take to vets we now use a small cage while dad goes in a carrier.

before we got them we spent a lot of time looking through websites on bonding/housing/enrichment etc and I totally agree that people don’t realise how much time and energy rabbits need. We have two dogs and they are so much easier to look after. I remember as a kid having rabbits and them just having a hutch and let out in the garden once a day. But after everything I’ve looked into it was crawl which is why my bunnies have the aviary and all the extras they get. The worst part about the advise you get from places like pets@home and things is that they say what the MINIMUM is then don’t sell homes that are even that size. But will let you buy a rabbit and cage at the same time and not batter an eyelid. (I could talk rabbits all the time so sorry for going off on a tangent)

Henry

[DanaNM]

That seems like a good strategy. If you check out the housing section under the “rabbit info” tab at the top of the page, there is section on outdoor runs with some really cool set-ups that you might find inspiring! I don’t know that you could teach him to follow you in the garden, but you could train him to return to a carrier or to you when it’s time to put him away. And of course you’d want to make sure your yard is very thoroughly fenced so he can’t escape. Also be very mindful of hawks!

Also, do you know if you are in an area with RHDV? If so, it’s very important to get your bunnies vaccinated since they will be living outside.

In terms of carriers, hard-sided plastic carriers recommended for cats or small dogs are usually your best bet.

. . . 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.  

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