New Bunny: 3yr old neutered Male

[Marshmallow&Joey]

I just adopted a 3 year old (neutered) bunny from a lady out of town(through kijiji), and he arrived in a dark rubbermade tote, along with all his old litter and accessories(I did not keep most of them). It was a 3+ hour trip, so needless to say he is a bit traumatized. I have him in a spare cage(open) inside a pen, but so far he has not ventured out on his own. He lets me pet him and I have picked him up and held him once. After holding him and petting him for a while, he began to relax and chatter/purr loudly. I had to put him back because he finally relaxed enough to pee(on me), but other than that tablespoon or so, he hasn’t peed or pooed at all since arriving yesterday. He won’t eat or drink, except for a few dark leafy greens I fed him. He is absolutely terrified.

So my current question is, any advice on how to help him adjust to his new home? Complicating the matter, is my female bunny Marshmallow has already discovered him, as I was unable to find a space secluded enough in my open floor plan suite. My fault, but I don’t want to wait to long to bond them that she has it out for them before they even meet. He is extremely sweet and shy, and was bullied in his previous home by the rabbit. My bunny is also very sweet and sensitive, but has never met another bunny before. She tolerates my parents dog, but not happily, so I keep them apart.

This is my first post on here, so I’m not sure if I’m doing it right. Haha. My current bunny is a year and a half, and I had another female rabbit for 8 years before that.

[Mikey]

Since he has not eaten since yesterday, he needs to go to the vet. He has GI Stasis which can kill if not taken care of fast enough. Until you can get him into a vet if there are no emergency exotic certified vets around, keep feeding him whatever he will eat

[sarahthegemini]

Yes I agree with Mikey, please take him to the vets. Not eating or pooping for that long can be fatal.

Once he’s recovered, wait a while for him to settle in before any bonding or pre-bonding.

[Marshmallow&Joey]

Duplicate

[Marshmallow&Joey]

He is fine, he is eating, peeing and pooping now. Shortly after I wrote this I realized he had peed a bunch in his pan after the accident on my lap… Since then, he is eating lots of hay, drinking water and pooing bucketloads. I should have double-checked, but he had been sitting on the pan constantly at the time!

I have encountered GI stasis before and know it is very serious. I think he was just stressed, but I am VERY relieved, he is doing very well now. He has been Thank you for your concern and advice, I was very close to taking him in for sure!

I have moved them both to be in long pens next to each other, with food near each other and litter on opposite ends. So far so good. I don’t know when I will try an introduction again, but for now they both seem happy to be next to each other. (they are just far enough apart that they can’t bite through they bars.

I have also read that swapping pens every other day helps them get used to smells, and not be territorial about either space. I may try this.

Any other advice on the future for them? I know bonding can take a long time, but what has your experience been?

PS. From their interaction thus far, my rabbit seems unsure about the new guy, but very curious and friendly. He is settling and very good with me, but I think being bullied in the past has caused him to be defensive/aggressive towards her. In the previous(unwise I think) setup, he tried to attack her a few times but she did not respond aggressively.

[Mikey]

Give him about a month to settle in and actually get his smell around his pen before you start pen swapping. This will make him feel more relaxed when it comes to swapping, and will help him relax more when it comes to actual bonding

[Marshmallow&Joey]

So I’m taking your advice to wait on bonding them until Joey is settled in, but the problem I’m having is that when I give them individual exercise, they keep harassing the one locked up. I have their cages next to each other but apart so they can’t bite each other through the bars, but when one is out, (especially my original rabbit), she just digs at the other cage and tries to get his hay, which puts him on defensive and they fight. I keep breaking it up, but while he does tend to explore when he’s out, she is relentless in bothering him. I have no where else to put their cages. Any advice???

[Marshmallow&Joey]

Also, I really respect your opinion, I can see you have a lot of valuable perspective. I really want to do my best here with them, although I have learned quickly that this is a much longer, more involved process than I initially thought. However, I think it will ultimately be worth it, I just want to make sure I’m doing everything I can along the way to not sabotage the bond!

[Author]

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