Male+Female vs Male+Male?

[Louiethebunny]

I’ve been seeing many (mostly male) rabbits dumped on craigslist and in shelters, and I’m wondering if a male would be a suitable friend for Louie? I’ve been starting to get serious about getting him a friend and want to begin planning in case we find a match soon, and I’ve been looking for mainly girls, but there are lots of surrendered boys too. I’ve heard that male-female bonds are more successful, but could a male-male bond work too?

[Hazel]

Same sex bonds work just as well as male/female. It doesn’t depend on the gender as much as on the personalities. Although you could argue that female/female could potentially be harder, since females are naturally more territorial. I had a male/male pair, they bonded with no help from me (I had no idea what I was doing 😆 )

If you find a boy that you like, I’d say go for it. 🙂

[Louiethebunny]

Thank you! I’ve even been seeing accidental litters on craigslist where all the baby does have gotten homes and the bucks haven’t 🙁 All I really want is to get a friend for Louie that works well with him, glad to know he has a chance with other males too!

[DanaNM]

Agree with Hazel, any combo is possible! Some buns do seem to have preferences but it is more about personality, and most pairs are possible, even if some take longer to bond than others.

. . . 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.  

[Moonlightbunny66]

I agree with the posts above. They just need to establish a hierarchy. If you have two rabbits that want to be dominant and won’t give in to the other bunny, it’s going to take longer. I adopted two separate males from the same shelter and I’ll be getting them next week. I’ll attempt to bond them after they’ve recovered from their neuters. That’s another thing! Make sure they are both neutered or they can be super aggressive and can seriously harm each other. They can even cause fatal damage. You can start bonding 4-6 weeks after the neuter but I’m doing 6 to be safe. Also, make sure you aren’t supporting breeders when you get the new bunny. Some people will lie just for money. Good luck!

[Moonlightbunny66]

+ you probably know this but make sure you do lots of prebonding for a few weeks!

[Peanutthebunny]

just any rabbit gender will work and long as Louie is neutered

[tobyluv]

If you get a rabbit from a Craig’s List ad, it likely won’t already be spayed or neutered, so you would have a longer wait after you bring the rabbit home, before you could think about bonding him or her with your rabbit.  Almost all rescues will have their rabbits already spayed and neutered and many shelters will too.  So if you adopted from one of those places instead, you could start the bonding within about a week or so after bringing home a new bunny.  They do need some time to settle in first, before any introductions with your rabbit.  It could be weeks or months before you could start bonding a Craig’s List bunny with your bunny, depending on its age and how soon you could schedule its surgery.  A shelter or rescue bunny would likely have had health checks too, which is also a plus.

[pinkiemarie]

I have 2 neutered males who love each other so much! Just get both fixed so they aren’t as aggressive and territorial and consider doing a preadoption date first to see if you can find the easiest match for him. 2 males absolutely can have an air tight bond!

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