First time bonding my two rabbits.

[ProudBunnyOwner]

Hello everyone on this forum. My name is Kayla and I’m ninteen years old. I have discovered this forum a few minutes ago since I really need a bit of advice on bonding my two rabbits as I am very new to this.

From the beginning.. I have adopted my first female american sable rabbit named Jaz about 3 years ago from the animal shelter. She’s a very good bunny but sometimes she has her days. I have thought alot about finding her a new friend and I’ve wanted to get another rabbit for quite some time.

The other day I visited the animal shelter looking at potential rabbits for me to adopt and I came across a one year old, not fixed male mini lop by the name of Hershey. I instantly fell in love with him and the adoption counciler and myself picked the next day for me to bring in my female rabbit so they could meet and see what would happen instead of me just buying him, bringing him home and something terrible happens. The next day I bring my female rabbit in and they meet.. The male rabbit Hershey instantly starts mounting her and she didn’t seem to distressed by it so the adoption counciler and myself let him finish but he kept wanting to so she pulled him away for the sake of my female rabbit.

Now, the male rabbit I have adopted isn’t fixed. The adoption center had my female rabbit fixed when I adopted her but he didn’t come fixed. I have an appointment to get him fixed about two weeks away.

My only concern at this point is how his behavior is now that he is home with me and my female rabbit. I’m not too familiar with how males react, but he has been showing signs of marking his territory by spraying and his poop is pretty much everywhere in the cage except for where it needs to go, which is in the litterbox.

They are both in seperate cages and I decided to stick them next to each other so they could see each other (theres enough space between the two so they can’t nip through the bars). He notices her right away and he starts to freak out a little bit by running back and forth in his cage and he makes an odd buzzing noises at her. He did thump once, but he didn’t do it again. My female rabbit is pretty much okay with him being next to her so I’m just thinking it’s because he isn’t fixed and it’s his hormones playing a good role in this.

My other concern is his behavior in the cage aswell. I usually line the bottom of the cage panel with newspaper and he starts to tear it up and eat it, so my reaction was to remove the newspaper incase it messes up his digestive system or makes him sick. He also does this scratching gesture on the towel I place in his cage, he’ll start to claw at the cage bars and he’s very high-strung.

I’ve never owned a male rabbit before and I’ve mentioned I’ve only owned my female rabbit for about 3 years and she’s never had any interaction with another rabbit while the male one was in the shelter for awhile and he’s been around other rabbits but in his own cage. I’m just trying to do everything perfectly when it comes to bonding them and I’m really afraid of messing up somewhere.

My question is.. What options do I have when it comes to what I can do about my male rabbit until he’s fixed? I don’t think I can keep him locked in a cage for 2 weeks until his surgery to get fixed and then another  4-6 weeks of keeping him away from my other rabbit until his hormones die down a bit before I can fully start to bond them. Should I leave the cage next to my female rabbit until the appointment to get him fixed? Should I put him in a different section of my room so both him and my female rabbit don’t get too stressed out or aggervated?

I’m just looking for advice on what I can do with him until I can get him fixed and I know that once I do, it will hopefully help him not be so high-strung anymore. I’ve only had him for a day and I think it’s a bit stressful on him to be in a new enviroment too. I’m afraid to try and bond them now since he isn’t fixed and I think the continous mounting onto my spayed female rabbit will irritate her and it will kill any chances I have to bond the two of them.

Thank you guys in advance, I apologize for the long post. I am just a nervous wreck and I hope that I can do everything correctly to make this bonding a success.

[MoveDiagonally]

I’m afraid to try and bond them now since he isn’t fixed and I think the continous mounting onto my spayed female rabbit will irritate her and it will kill any chances I have to bond the two of them.

You are correct, trying to bond them now is not a good idea. Wait until he’s neutered + 1 months for hormones to dissipate.

What options do I have when it comes to what I can do about my male rabbit until he’s fixed? I don’t think I can keep him locked in a cage for 2 weeks until his surgery to get fixed and then another 4-6 weeks of keeping him away from my other rabbit until his hormones die down a bit before I can fully start to bond them. Should I leave the cage next to my female rabbit until the appointment to get him fixed? Should I put him in a different section of my room so both him and my female rabbit don’t get too stressed out or aggervated? 

If being caged near each other seems to be upsetting him I don’t see the harm in moving him to another area. It’s really up to you. His behaviors are pretty normal for a hormonal male and there’s not much to be done about it until he’s neutered. If you have a bunny proofed area you can let him run so he doesn’t have to be cooped up in his cage for so long. I just wouldn’t let both bunnies out at the same time or anything.

[Treori]

 Can I add to what MoveDiagonally has suggested and invest in a puppy pen?

 

What happens if you CANT bond them together? Getting two puppy pens means that both can be out their cage at the same times, and they are relatively cheap to get (I have two, they have 8 panels that are 61 x 91 cm big each) If one ends up ill with something contagious you would also need some way or separating them.

 

Two pens can help unless they are constantly jumping the pens of course, and then you would probably need a ‘two room’ solution, or again the two pens, jsut with covers over the top and allowing only one bunny out at a time.

 

This is my current set up. Im hoping to bond Freya and Zeus though and once I do I can use the pens for something else (probably convert them into a giant condo/x-pen kind of accommodation for them both to share) BUT if bonding doesn’t go well, they already have their own space and as neither has shown any interest in jumping half a foot in the air during binkies I don’t need to worry about one leaping the barrier and trying to kill the other.

 

Once Zeus gets bigger I will be removing the cage in his pen, and instead I will create a ‘hidey space’ out of cardboard because he is a french lop and way too big when grown for a cage (he wouldn’t fit through the door haha)

There is a gap between the pens that’s big enough for their water bottles to fit, because they [Freya] will pull fur between the bars and they [Freya] will attempt to scratch too. I would say you should be able to fit your fist in the gap if the bars are as far apart as mine are.

 

~Edit~ I should point out this is my current permenant set up, I NEVER close the cage doors. They stay in there during the night nad if I have to go out, and they come out for exercise etc when supervised, so they have enough room to hop about, periscope up and stretch out fully

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