NEW ADDITION TO THE FAMILY

[NalaHops]

Hello everyone! This is my first post ever so hopefully I’m doing it right 

I am the proud owner of a 7 year old Netherland dwarf female. She is a very big part of our family at home and we love her very much, we always make sure she has what she needs and more. For the past 2 years I’ve been considering getting her a new friend but always put it off to later as I am worried of her reaction to it. She has been the only bunny for 7 years and I am worried she might react badly to a new baby bunny. I’ve been feeling bad for her, we don’t let her out constantly as she bites the walls. Sometimes I look at her in her cage and she seems so lonely, it breaks my heart to think that she might feel sad. I am thinking of getting a new female.  All I want is for my bunny to be the happiest she can be, I am so grateful to have her.

Here are my questions :

Do you think I should get a new female bunny to accompany her?

How should I get them to bond properly considering the difference of age?

Please feel free to inform me of anything else you judge necessary! 

[Deleted User]

Could you take your girl to a shelter to speed date instead? If you get a baby bun you risk so many things happening. First you’d have to keep them totally separate until 1-2 months post spay for the new girl, so you’d be waiting at least 4-5 months to even start bonding. You’d also have to be prepared to have two single buns in case bonding didn’t work out. Another problem that could arise is with your current bun. Bringing an unaltered bun into the house could make her become very territorial and start acting hormonal again. Because she has had your space for 7 years to herself, her being territorial seems very likely, and girl buns in general are more territorial than males.
If you go to a shelter you can take the time to see what buns work best with your girl. It might be a boy and it might be a girl. But you shouldn’t be so set on an age and a gender. If you want an easier bond, going with a male might be easier and getting an already altered bunny would be a lot easier.

[Mikey]

Instead of adding a new bunny just yet, consider fixing up her cage area. Since she likes to chew on walls, consider getting a large pen (or a few large pens that connect to one another) and connect it to her cage. That will protect your walls since she will be in the pen, and she will be able to come out more. If her new area is large enough, you can also sit in there with her and play with her.

[Bladesmith]

Well, if she spends so much time in her cage she chews walls, and you’re concerned she’s bored, instead of adding another rabbit you may not have time for, you instead let her out of the cage and spend more time with her?   More bonding time with her “family” will do her much better than adding a stranger to her territory, I would think.  I don’t mean this to sound harsh (I’m often admonished for my blunt speech, so I apologize in advance), but it our responsibility to make our furry friends happy.  Adding a new animal she might see as a challenger or invader (She HAS been queen of her territory for 7 years after all) and putting the onus on the new animal to make her happy is unfair to them both.

And as a multitude of posts will show, bonding two rabbits, strangers to each other, is a LOT of extra work and sometimes fraught with fights, injury, and hurt feelings and heartache on everyone’s part, sometimes requiring you rehome a rabbit you just got.

Easier, I think, to work to make your current rabbit happier.

[sarahthegemini]

Bun proof your house, cover walls or block her access to them and let the poor thing have some freedom. I don’t understand why she’s kept in her cage when you’re home?

[Boston's Mama]

Hi nalahops , welcome to binkybunny
Nala looks so cute in your profile pic !
It sounds like a playpen would be helpful for you , you could use it to make her a pen area either permanently attached to her current cage or for at least 4 hours a day to give her enough space and exercise in the evenings . My boy started with it for playtime then it became his permanent area it’s about 2.5 metres squared my one and he also gets free time with me in the evenings
As far as the wall biting you can use the playpen sides ( most of the pet play pens are in 4-8 easy to clip together sides ) against the wall to stop her being able to chew the wall
I’ve seen people who have bunny rooms use them around the walls to stop wall chewers and it seems to work great

I would try to find ways to make her space bigger and her contact with the family increase along with that before looking to add another bunny or the guilt you feel about her now as expressed in your post will double with two bunnies

[Author]

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