Bonding

[Firsttimer]

Does it make it any easier to bond if one of the rabbits is a young one?  I have seen a local advert for a baby rabbit, ready to rehome in one week.  I wondered if I should continue looking for a rabbit of a similar age to Pepper (eleven months) or if I should check out these rabbits?

[MarkBun]

Bonding is easier with older buns. Hormones are out of the way and so on. Although, again, depends upon the bun as my 5 year old was a terror.

[Sarita]

I agree with Marksudark – better to bond older rabbits who are already altered. Also you have to be careful putting babies with older rabbits as the older rabbit can hurt the babies and scare the babies too.

[Gravehearted]

in addition to the great points both markusdark and Sarita made – bunnies personalities are more clearly defined when they get a bit older too. Truly if at all possible, bring Pepper to the shelter or rescue to pick out her own friend, if there are any in your area. We can’t really guess who our bunnies will choose, but it generally goes more smoothly if you let them pick each other.

[kimberleyanddarren]

i agree with all the points above that a neutered bun would be easier etc. but you could end up with a year old bun who still isnt neutered, if you see a bun which catches your eye and you have that immediate bond whereby you know that bun is for you, you can make it work.. the worst that could happen is you have to wait till after the spay and spend a few months bonding them right?
I would suggest to buy the bun you think you would enjoy the most rather than looking at their ages, however to answer your question yes older would be easier.

[MarkBun]

It would be best if both buns have been altered and recovered for a month to get the hormones out of the system. In addition, if you can, bring your bun to meet the new bun. Taking them on ‘bunny dates’ will help you see how easily they’ll bond. I have found that it is more about who your bun wants than who you want.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I agree with everyone but want to share my experience.

I brought baby Kahlua home to my Kokanee. Kokanee was approx one year old female and unspayed, and baby kahlua was female unspayed. So this is of course out of the ordinary…But they took immediately to each other. It seems to be more so that Kahlua was young, submitted right away to Kokanee and elicited parenting from Kokanee. At least that’s what it seemed like to me…Kokanee was licking the crap out of Kahlua immediately and binkying all over. It was love at first sight. Not typical but it happened for me. Could you meet the bun with your bunny maybe?

[kimberleyanddarren]

yes that would be a good idea, take your bun along see who takes her fancy!

[Firsttimer]

Yes the example of Kokanee and Kahlua is kinda what I was thinking might happen.  Hmm not sure what to do.  The rabbits available are albino lops – did I read somewhere that they are prone to poor eyesight?

[Sarita]

Well, some albino rabbits scan – I’ve had a few of those and see that quite a bit. My red-eyed rabbits have great eyesight when it comes to food or treats though :~)

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