Bonding advice for less than ideal conditions

[Mamazilla]

Hi everyone! We got our lovely bunny, Joe Jin, about a month and a half ago. He was 10 weeks at the time, living alone in a cage, with an owner that was gone most of the time. Poor guy was so lonely! So we brought him home and bunny-proofed my daughter’s room, where he roams free all day. We try to play with him as much as possible, but our poor guy is obviously still lonely. He’s not nearly as active as he was when we first got him, and mostly just lies around. So we’re getting him a friend! Now, I’ve done lots of reading about bonding, then talked to our vet, and the pet shop we’re getting the new bunny from (the rescues in our area only have already bonded pairs available, and the odd single bunnies are all much bigger than our dwarf lop, and described as very territorial) and, well, I’m getting mixed messages. Here’s the deal:

– I managed to get a deal where we can take our guy (almost 4 months old, already castrated) to do some speed dating there (great).

– However, he’ll be paired with a 10 week old bunny. I’m told by both the pet store people and the vet that is not a problem, but I guess I have concerns. I looked and looked, but could not find a bunny his age and size anywhere, so it’s either this or a much older bunny.

– I wanted to pair him with a female, but we live in Germany and females are not routinely spayed here. Everyone (including vet) will say it’s unnecessary.

So… what do I do? Can this set up work? Should we pair him with another male instead? I’m so confused! All I want is for our bun to be happy! Help!

[sarahthegemini]

You won’t be able to bond them until the 10 week old has been neutered.

Why are you so keen to get a friend that’s the same size as him? It all comes down to personality, not gender or size if that’s what you’re worried about . There’s a bonded pair on here – both females, one is a giant and one is a dwarf (Clover and Dawn)

[Mamazilla]

Oh, I though it was important for them to be the same size, for the safety of the smaller one if things got heated. I think I read that somewhere… but if that’s not the case, then I’ll look into rescues again.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Mamazilla on 6/26/2017 5:29 AM

Oh, I though it was important for them to be the same size, for the safety of the smaller one if things got heated. I think I read that somewhere… but if that’s not the case, then I’ll look into rescues again.

That could be an issue but if you’re super alert, you should be able to prevent anything getting too heated anyway

[tobyluv]

Also, don’t limit your choices if the other rabbit is somewhat older, especially if you are just talking about a couple of years or so. It can be good if they are close in age, so that they will hopefully live out their lives together, but I have had rabbits with a big age difference that loved each other very much.

As Sarah said, if you get the 10 week old bunny, you will have to wait a few or several more weeks until he has been neutered, then let another month pass for his hormones to level out before you can start bonding. If you get a rabbit who is older and already neutered, you can start the bonding process a week or so after you bring him home. You will need to let any rabbit settle into your home first before you attempt the bonding process.

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