Pre bonding jitters

[toodianic]

I have a one year old spayed female (Panda) and we are off Saturday to a rescue group to find her a bunfriend.  I have researched bonding, read everything I can get my hands on, and am still stumped about one thing.  I know the rescue folks will help but I have barraged my contact person with so many email questions I thought I’d ask here too 🙂 

My bun has her own room (formerly known as the dining room 😉  and has a large cage where her litter box and hay are.  At night I close her in.  She and her new friend will eventually be in another room.  That is where I was thinking of setting him up during the bonding process.  That way I can switch them back and forth between their two habitats pretty easily. 

I’ve read some advice that says keep their cages together but I don’t want to keep Panda locked in her cage and I don’t think putting a pen for him in her domain is a good idea. Do I need to get another cage for him and put it in her room?  the new room?  Anyone have advice?  (other than relax 😉  p.s.  I was planning on the bathroom for neutral territory time.

[tanlover14]

Hahahah, definitely relax! Being stressed can make bonding so much more difficult for buns and humans alike!

Basically, you have to take bonding advice for what it is. Advice. All couples and groups are different and things that work for others may not work for your group. So you have to be willing to switch things around when necessary.

Keeping their cages together can help with beginning bonding (allowing the other rabbit to get used to the others scent) BUT I have also found this can cause a lot of build up aggression between the rabbits as they can smell and see but not touch. Which understandably can be very aggravating. If you are interested in keeping their cages close by each other, I would definitely switch to a new room (not the bonding room) altogether. Even if the space is smaller than what she is used to – this is only a short term solution while bonding and your bun will be okay. If you decide NOT to put them together, that’s alright also. I have a bonded five-some and never during bonding did I put their cages next to each other. You also have to be careful that neither can reach the other rabbit and if you are using x-pens to cage ABSOLUTELY make sure there is no way they can escape. It can cause dangerous fights between the two which are really unnecessary and can make bonding much more difficult.

My best advice is to try a few different things when first bonding and see which way gives you the most positive responses. And have lots of patience!

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