Buck or doe?

[mybunnysnameisbubbles]

Hi everyone, I’m considering getting a second rabbit but I need some advice before I go ahead with it.

 

I currently have a 4 month old Holland Lop, he’s not been neutered as his testicles have yet to drop. He became fully toilet trained after I transitioned him from a cage to a playpen – actually, I can’t say I trained him, because he started using the litter box consistently as soon as I transitioned him to the playpen, whereas he used to pee and poop all over his cage. (I figure it was because the cage and litter pan were too small, and because both the cage floor and litter pan were grated, he got confused and started going everywhere. I have to confess that I got him before I had time to do proper research on rabbit care, so I went with the cage that the breeder recommended, but having pored through the BB forums I’ve ordered some grids and will be building him a 6’ x 2’ condo soon!)

 

Anyway, because I spend most of the day at work and only get home late at night, I was planning to get him a companion – a doe – after his neuter. But… I visited the breeder’s yesterday and fell in love with another Holland Lop, also a buck! (I swear I was only there to pick up a new package of pellets.)

 

I’ll be bringing him to the breeder’s tomorrow to see if he and the other rabbit like each other. If they get along and I bring the second rabbit home, I will of course get them both neutered as soon as they’re old enough, but I’m wondering:

 

1. Would it be better for him if I got a doe instead?

 

2. I’ve read about bonded pairs falling out – will a buck-doe pair be less likely to fall out with each other than a buck-buck pair?

 

3. Since I’ll be getting them both neutered, are there any factors apart from hormones which could cause bonded pairs to fall out?

 

4. Will introducing another rabbit disturb my rabbit’s established toilet habits? I love the fact that he’s toilet-trained and would really think twice about getting another rabbit if it meant that he (and god forbid, the second rabbit) would start spraying. Assuming that there is some spraying, will the spraying stop after they’re neutered?

 

BB has been a wonderful resource for me so far and I would really appreciate any advice that you guys could give me on this!

[Elrohwen]

Since they are both young and unfixed, you might not be able to tell much at all by an introduction. They might love each other because they are young, or they might hate each other because they are hormonal males.

As far as genders, I think that female-female is the hardest. From there, I haven’t seen a huge difference between male-female, and male-male honestly. My female is far bossier and harder to live with (from the rabbit point of view) than my male, and that trend seems to hold up with other rabbits I know. My boy is very easy going and would have easily bonded to another easy going male. So I can’t say one way or the other which would be better, but you’re not doomed to failure by having two boys.

Bonding pairs falling out is a pretty individual thing. It’s often related to some circumstances, or the health of one of the bunnies. It’s really not possible to predict.

Generally rabbits’ litter habits are disturbed by bringing another rabbit into the house (their territory) and once they are bonded everything goes back to normal. It doesn’t always work that way, and some continue to have bad habits after bonding, but it’s usually the pre-bonding period where they are housed separately that the marking wars happen.

[mybunnysnameisbubbles]

Thanks for the advice, Elrohwen!

The bunnies got along fine at their meeting so I brought the new bunny home, but as soon as we were home my boy started humping the new addition! The new addition is about 6 weeks younger than my boy, and he has to struggle to get away just because he’s so much smaller.

Should I leave them to work things out? I can’t help but intervene because the new addition is so tiny and helpless!

[Author]

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