Bonding Older Rabbits

[SweetB]

Hi everyone!

I have a 5 year old female Dutch rabbit and have been considering adopting a 5 year old male American rabbit at a nearby shelter so she can have a companion. It says that he’s previously been in a pair but his partner has passed. I’m so torn on whether I should get him. My rabbit has never been socialized to other rabbits and I’m worried that they might not get along, or that my rabbit is better off being solo. Please let me know your thoughts! I’m feeling guilty about potentially not adopting, I’m really not sure what to do.

[LuluRabbit]

Your Dutch rabbit in the photo is so cute! I’m in the middle of my first bonding process, so I’m not an expert, but does the nearby shelter do rabbit speed dating? Maybe a short meeting would be able to tell you if they might get along – if they ignore each other at first meeting, or seem curious, it might be a good fit. The shelter near me lets current rabbits meet new rabbits before adopting, and the great thing about shelters is that they will take the rabbit back if it doesn’t work out. I’m currently bonding my Alfredo (who has been a single rabbit) with Theo (8 mo. who is not from a shelter) and it has been going alright…. but it was a huge risk because if it wasn’t working, I would have to keep them in separate areas for life (which I committed to doing knowing that). Knowing what I know now, I would definitely look for a suitable companion at a shelter.

I’m not sure (others can correct me if wrong) but 5 years old doesn’t seem TOO old. I’ve seen videos of people bonding 8 year old rabbits – as long as they are healthy!

[DanaNM]

5 isn’t too old. 🙂

Dating could help to see if it might be an easier match, but if that’s not possible, it would probably still be worth a shot (assuming everyone is spayed and neutered?). Some pairings are easier than others, but it’s rare that a pair is completely impossible. My first pair was with my bunny and a friend’s bun that she could no longer keep. I opted to try bonding them and it was a really hard process (about 3 months), but they ended up madly in love (they are the pair in my avatar). The fact that the other bun was previously bonded might help a bit, as at least he has lived with other bunnies.

“love at first sight” is about as rare as “hate at first sight”, and both are very rare, prob less than 5 % of pairings. Most pairings fall somewhere in between, where there is tentative interest, followed by a period of sorting out the dominance hierarchy that can be days to several weeks long. There can be some scuffles that need to be prevented/stopped. If they hate each other at first sight (immediate aggression even in a neutral space), I would not attempt that pairing unless I had a really good reason to.

I do think that most bunnies are happier with companions. There is the rare bun that is very hard to match, so having a backup plan for if things don’t work out (or it takes a long time) is a good idea.

. . . 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.  

[SweetB]

Thank you both for your suggestions! I’ve been watching a lot of videos on how to bond rabbits and it seems do-able! I tried reaching out to the shelter to see if they could do an initial meeting and they just asked me if I’d ever bonded rabbits and that it “wasn’t like dogs meeting” which I understand. I just don’t want them immediately fighting because I don’t know this other rabbit whatsoever and he’s much bigger than my bun. Sigh! I’d like our rabbits to meet but I don’t want to annoy the shelter people by asking again, or seem unkind if I ask if I’d be able to return him if it really wasn’t working out.

[DanaNM]

Usually when rescues do dating they have an experienced bonder chaperone, but I know sometimes things are different when it’s a shelter. One tip I’ve seen (but haven’t used myself) is to have a wire colander that you can stick between them if you are concerned about fighting. If the space is neutral, it is really rare for bunnies to just all-out attack each other immediately.

Even if they won’t let you do a foster-to-adopt, if you are willing to, you can always adopt the bun, and then if it doesn’t work out (and you aren’t OK with having two single rabbits) you can surrender the bun back to the shelter. It sucks paying the fee twice and it’s might feel embarrassing, but I don’t really think there is much harm in it (the bunny at least gets a brief vacation from the shelter).

Perhaps you could go meet the bunny yourself at least. If you really like the bun, then it is probably worth a shot.

 

. . . 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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