Harlow might be getting a brother soon? Bonding an adult Holland(or mini?) Lop male with a young female Lionhead?

[Auburnie]

I was on my local craigslist,  just looking at the pets for sale when I came across Buddy!
Buddy is a male neutered adult Lop bunny who is litter trained and actually house trained as well. 

The lady selling him adopted two dogs and had to move Buddy to her moms, but because her mom is older and has other animals she has decided to rehome buddy for a ten dollar rehoming fee. She is coming over this thursday to do a home visit and determine if buddy is fit for my home and vise versa. 

I’m really excited because I spayed Harlow because I had full intentions of getting her a Lop brother. This one is used to animals and really sweet! The only concerns I have is that Harlow is still recovering from her spay. I don’t intend on even attempting to bond them together until she is fully better. Not going to happen. 

Harlow is such a spunky bunny, and has sass with humans but loved my cat. She was also raised with multiple bunnies and has only been away from them for the month and few days that I’ve had her. 
Buddy is wonderful with other people and animals, both dogs and cats, but hasn’t been around bunnies since this lady has owned them.and he’s 3.

Do you think bonding will be possible? I’m totally open to the idea of housing two separate bunnies if they need to be. That’s if they never end up getting along. I know they’re going to be separated until I can attempt to bond. And if it comes down to it, he’s not going to get any less attention and floor time than Harlow will!

[cinnybun2015]

This is wonderful news!! I personally don’t have any experience on bonding, but I want to wish you good luck, and it’s great that you’re thinking of taking in Buddy!!

[tobyluv]

Rabbits do love the companionship of their own kind. It’s pretty rare that bonding doesn’t work. Sometimes it is easy and almost instant, other times it may take a while longer. I may have been lucky, but the 4 bondings I have done over the years were all easy, no fighting at all, just a little humping and chasing, which is normal. Hopefully your bonding will be quick and easy too.

You may already know about or have already read up on bonding, but here are a couple of good articles:

https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx

http://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/

[Auburnie]

Thank you both! The lady is coming Thursday and I’m picking up my room. Buddy has been in a pet cage his whole life because he was trained as a house pet. I have a vet that is 5-10 min away from my house (weather pending) and have spoiled Harlow unbelievably. I hope this will help convince Buddy’s mom to choose me to be his new owner! I hope she is especially fond of the C&C cage I built! I’m worried because she says she wants him to go to a home where he can be free-range again, and unfortunately i only have some room space for him. But Harlow gets so much floor time and I have a LOT of time at home to spend with the both of them as well. And the bigger cage will give him so much more room to run around.

I have been reading up on bonding a lot, but I really appreciate the links! I wan’t to be super prepared. Even if I don’t get to bring home Buddy, I still want to be prepared for any future adoptions!

[Love4Bunny]

Congrats for little Harlow, and all the best with the visit One way you can look at this is that it’s more important that a rabbit be in a safe, consistent, & caring environment, which seems the type of environment you’re going to provide for Buddy. From what you say, the lady wants to provide a good home for Buddy (make sure you’re not alone when she visits your home), but she did choose to overcommit herself with the dogs, and as a result, is selling an apparently ideal bunny – basically, the rabbit is the one who is losing his home in this deal. I bring this up, because you should remember the choices she is making, and the caring home that you will be opening up to this rabbit – and sell those virtues to this lady, as nice as she may seem. There are lots of homes where rabbits cannot be free range, so I think her expectation is unrealistic. Essentially, I am saying, be confident in yourself, and good luck!

[Auburnie]

All very good advice, thank you so much for your response Love4Bunny! I keep thinking about what I’m going to say to her when she gets here. And she’s coming at a later time of the day. 7:30 pm I think she said. I’ll be here with at least my two brothers, my mom and her boyfriend if it’s not his late working night. We’re going to have the full family here. My mom and her boyfriend aren’t too impressed with the bunnies because he has had them before and he doesn’t believe they are indoor animals. And then I litter trained Harlow. So at least they were swayed enough to say I could get another. I’m hoping they don’t leave a bad impression on her,

My room may be very small, and they might not ever get free range of it all, but I spend lots of time with my baby. Spend so much money on her getting the toys, cage accessories, food and hay and everything that she needs. I’m not stupid when it comes to rabbits, so my inexperience with them isn’t an issue. I do so much research, read so many things on here and other places every single day. I’m confident she will see this and choose me as his new owner. But, it is her bunny, and if she decides he would be better off in another home, I’m not going to be upset. If he can find a place free range and somewhere he can get spoiled a bunch, I’d be happy for him.

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