Introducing a barely 1 year old female to new (M/F) bunny?

[bkosh84]

 So my wife and I have had a lop bunny for a bit over a year now (Female, little more than a year old and spayed) and we were thinking of getting a second bunny (probably adopting one, so it’ll be spayed/neutered already). Our lop bunny, well, she’s a bit ornery and doesn’t like being handled very much and all that jazz and we’ve come to realize that it’s her personality. We also let her roam the first floor of our house with no problems (we both work 40 hour weeks). My questions are:

1. Will be have a problem introducing them to each other because of our current bunnies personality? 

2. How would be go about bonding since our current bunny is allowed to roam free during the day, won’t caging our current bunny upset her? How would the new bunny react with the old bunny roaming the home and her/him being caged up until it gets acquainted with it’s surroundings?

3. Would we be better off getting a younger bunny or older bunny than our current little one? Does it matter?

 

Any help on these topics would be appreciated! Thanks!

[bpash89]

1. Most people suggest taking your current bunny on ‘dates’ at a shelter or rescue so she can pick out the bunny she likes best. Especially if she has a somewhat difficult or uptight personality. It generally makes bonding easier and smoother.
2. They have to be separated obviously but you could keep the new bunny in a cage/x-pen in the same room as your current bunny (keep a barrier between them so they can’t reach each other between the bars) and let the new bunny out to run in a different room of the house or keep your current bun in the pen when the new bunny stretches his/her legs. She won’t like being locked up but it doesn’t have to be a constant thing.
3. As far as I know age doesn’t make a huge difference as long as they are already spayed/neutered. It would be more about your preference. Do you want to go through another set of bunny teen years?

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