Benny and Joon

[Benny&theJets]

We’ve had our male Polish dwarf, Benny, for almost a year now. He’s altered and although a little stand-offish (he absolutely hates to be picked up), he’s a wonderful little guy and we love him so much!

Recently we decided that he needed a mate…we both work full time and fear that he gets lonely and bored all day at home by himself. He currently has free run of almost the entire house, minus the hardwood floor which he despises and refuses to touch. ANYWAY…so we just rescued a female that we named Joon. If I had to guess at her breed I’d say she’s a siamese-colored Mini Satin. She was soooo excited when we got her home and let her run around her room. We put a baby gate in the doorway so they could visit each other, which they did, and she was insistent on getting at him (which we unfortunately misinterpreted as wanting to play ) so we gave it a shot that first night. Almost immediately she jumped on him and sent his fur flying…luckily there was no physical damage and it seemed a lot worse than it was. So once again we separated them and have kept them that way for about the last week. The last couple of nights we’ve put her in the cage and transported her to the living room for a few hours in order to force some interaction (which Benny doesn’t really seem to care about…he checks her out for a minute or two then hops off to do his own thing).

On one hand it seems good that they aren’t displaying any aggression but I’m still worried about putting them together again. She can be a bit overbearing, even with my husband and I. Nothing seems to put her off at all…I’ve vacuumed near her, squirted her for digging at the carpet…which makes me a little nervous too that maybe she’ll turn on him if given the opportunity.

We’re first time bunny owners and are completely new at bunny introductions so any suggestions are much appreciated!!

[Love4Bunny]

It’s very important to bond them in a space where none of the rabbits have previously been (otherwise known as “neutral territory”), or they could seriously injure each other, and it might make it hard to bond them if there is territorial animosity. Also, it’s best if both rabbits are fixed prior to bonding, with an additional month factored in for them to heal and hormones to abate, but I’m guessing that since you rescued Joon, she is probably de-sexed. Here is a link to Bonding in the Bunny Information section. I would hold off putting them together again, just until you familiarise yourself with bonding, and get a plan together. Here is the link:

https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx

All the best!

[Author]

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