neutered and unspayed

[Noddy's person]

About 6 months ago we bought 2 3 month old boys (Patch and Noddy) and they were extremely well bonded already. after 2 weeks patch got very ill and passed away leaving Noddy (the submissive one) on his own. He has been quite happy on his own though as I work from home and so he has my company a lot and is never really left on his own for too long but we have always wanted to get another one. 

The original plan was to take him to a rescue centre and let him pick his own friend but we recently fell in love with a 4 week old girl and have paid a deposit to have her on the 27th. 

Noddy’s cage is in our living room and he has complete freedom of the living room and hallway so we had to find a neutral room to use for the bonding sessions, We decided to clear the tiny spare room we have and put them in there but then we thought it would be a great idea to actually keep them in there and have it as the ‘rabbit room’.

Our plan is to get her another cage, put them next to each other (a few inches apart) and do all the recommended bonding activities such as swap cages, car journeys etc. and then get them a bigger joint cage once she has been spayed. so my questions are…

1. Is it okay to use a neutral room for bonding and then keep them living in there or should I use another neutral room for bonding them instead now?

2. The doe is tiny compared to Noddy so it would only make sense to get her a small, one floor cage for the time being. would she get jealous of him having a much bigger, two floor cage? 

3. What would be the best flooring to put in the room we are keeping them in? it is laminate in there at the moment. our options are to keep it laminate, put down a big rug or scrap of carpet or even use some astro turf? any suggestions would be really helpful.

4. Will it be okay to try and bond Noddy again after 1. his bonded bunny died and 2. he’s been our only rabbit for so long?

please help here are some photos of Noddy, he is a mixed lop about 9 months old. he loves being picked up and cuddled and his belly rubbed about 85% of the time, he’s litter trained and He licks us constantly! 

[Noddy's person]

we recently fell in love with a 4 week old girl and have paid a deposit to have her on the 27th.

sorry I meant to say a 6 week old girl, she will be 8 weeks when we get her.

[ThorandSif]

We just purchased a girlfriend for our 1 year old Netherland Dwarf male (Thor). We found a breeder and took him so he could pick out his new friend. Sif (his new girlfriend) was just 4 weeks old when they were introduced. He got to meet her 2 sisters and decided he liked her best (they kissed and snuggled at the first meeting). When we finally brought her home, we introduced her to him again and had her cage next to his. Within 1 day, Thor was showing Sif the ropes and taught her to jump in and out of the cages. After 1 week, we decided to let them stay in the same cage and they couldn’t be happier. Thor’s destructiveness has dwindled and Sif is now litter box trained.

[LBJ10]

OMG, what a darling boy!

If the room where they will eventually end up is neutral right now, then it is probably fine to do bonding sessions in there.

I don’t think there will be any cage envy going on.

Some people use low pile carpeting or a rug. Others use mats, like playroom flooring mats.

Only Noddy knows if he would like to bond with a new friend. There are no guarantees, but there are many successful cases out there with bunnies under those circumstances.

[Author]

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