Having two rabbits: do they get less affectionate towards their owners?

[Barush]

Hi,
I’ve never had two rabbits at the same time, so I was wondering if that might have some effect on how much cuddly the rabbits then are, since one could perhaps assume, their needs for bonding and being close are automatically met by the other rabbit in contrast to having only one rabbit which would be then seeking the closeness from the owner, because there are no other rabbits close. Any experiences with this? 🙂

[LBJ10]

I think it depends on the rabbit. Some aren’t all that affectionate toward their owners anyway, but are extremely clingy to a bond mate. Others can be kind of “eh” toward their bond mate, but seek out attention from their owners.

Personally, I feel like there was a little less interest in me when they were young because they had each other. As they got older though, they started seeking out more attention from me… even having little shoving wars with each other during petting sessions. So I don’t necessarily think having a bonded pair will cause a rabbit that has interest in you to suddenly lose all interest in you.

[Wick & Fable]

I agree with the above that it depends on the rabbit. In the pair I’m bonding, the first rabbit is very affectionate towards me and that hasn’t changed. The second rabbit doesn’t get affection from the first rabbit, so she also comes to me for affection still as well, haha. So in my case, neither rabbit turned away from owner snuggles. That being said, both their baselines was to get pet by me.

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.

[DanaNM]

I’ve noticed that if both are friendly, they both stay friendly and seek affection from you (and then you get to pet both bunnies at once!). Buns seem to be little attention hogs and want all the pets you will dole out. 🙂  I’ve also experienced what Wick describes, where the submissive bun seeks you out more because they aren’t getting any grooms from the other bun.

I have also experienced a shy bunny becoming more bold and trusting once bonded to an outgoing bunny. Rabbits take social cues from other rabbits, so I think they can learn you are “safe” from another bunny.

I haven’t had any personal experience with a pair where BOTH bunnies were very timid. I imagine this might be a bit trickier to earn their trust.

But in general it’s not like what people say with parrots, where they say if you get another parrot they will just ignore you. It’s probably more akin to having multiple dogs. The benefit for bonded bunnies is that they have each other during all those times of day when you can’t be with them.

. . . 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.  

[Hazel]

Agree with everything above. It depends on the rabbit’s personality. I’ve had one pair, one of them was very outgoing and would seek out human attention a lot. The other was more reserved. However, once the first one passed away, the shy one came out of his shell and became more affectionate. In the end, I don’t think it should be a deciding factor though. If you have the means and think your rabbit would benefit from having a buddy, receiving less attention from them shouldn’t be the reason to refuse them a mate. Just throwing this out there, I’m not implying that’s what you would do. 🙂

[pinkiemarie]

My rabbit definitely wanted less attention after he got married but he’s just so happy with his little husbun I don’t mind at all! Seriously they’re so cute together 😍 Rabbits will probably always be happier as a bonded pair as long as the rabbit is bondable.

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