I Did a Bad Thing.

[Baudoin]

Frank’s sister just came home with me…. (Frank is a girl before y’all panic)

I saw her at the feed store when I went to pick up food for my zoo and couldn’t stop thinking about her so I just went and picked her up.  I just ordered my C&C grids to build a two level, 2.5ft by 4.6ft condo.  This condo will NOT have a door and they will have free roam in the room.  They are in a 2×4 ft cage while I am bunny proofing and waiting on the grids to come in. (I live in Alaska and even with Prime, shipping takes forever to up here)

My main questions are –

1. Do I need to build a larger condo?
2. Do I need separate litter boxes for litter training or will one suffice for two rabbits?  
3. Do I need two sets of food/water/hay dishes, one for each of them?

Any and all advice is appreciated.  They have been together with the exception of the last 6 days and I took them both into the garage to introduce them, they sniffed and did their own thing so they don’t appear to need re-bonding.  I did make sure I could bring the new girl back in the next couple days if things don’t work out there, though.

Thanks in advance,

Charlene, Frank & Unnamed.

Edited to add – I will be taking name suggestions. The simpler the better, I have a 2 year old.  Also, I do like the boy name thing I have going on haha.  

[tobyluv]

I assume since the new rabbit came from a feed store, that she is not spayed. Before you attempt any bonding between Frank and the new bunny, both of them need to be spayed and you will have to let a few weeks pass after their surgeries to make sure all the hormones are gone before you can start the bonding. And, are you absolutely sure about the gender of the new rabbit, and/or Frank’s gender? If it’s a young rabbit, it can be hard to tell the gender. Even vets and breeders have gotten gender wrong at times. I believe that Frank is young,  if the new rabbit is young, that is the reason that they are getting along now, but when they reach puberty, that can bring a lot of changes, which can mean aggression and that can lead to fighting.

Once they have had their surgeries and recuperated, you can start the bonding process. At that point, they will only need one litter box, although if they have free range, you may need a second one in a different part of the house. They can share dishes too.

Here are 2 good articles on bonding:

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

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

[Baudoin]

They are both from the same litter. When the breeder brought the rabbits down, she brought a couple extra for me to choose from and instead of taking them back with her, she dropped them off at the feed store. They are both too young to be spayed according to my vet (they are 3 months old) and I am pretty sure on gender. I have had rabbits before and with a refresher from google they both look female. There is a very definitive slit instead of a hole on both of them. They are also only free range in their room so I will not be needing boxes in other parts of the house.

[tobyluv]

Even if they are from the same litter, there is the possibility that they will start getting aggressive or territorial soon, and they will have to be separated before any fighting or injuries occur. Then re-bonded after their surgeries.

[Author]

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