Should I try to bond my bunny?

[Marie]

Hi All,
We have had our bunny for about a month. We took him in after he was left behind by his previous owners. He is a friendly little guy and free roam now as he was litter trained. I have him booked to be neutered in about 3 weeks. I am considering trying to bond him to a spayed female (we will use a local rescue) in the fall.
My question is this: From reading here is seems like these bonds are pretty fragile….
And wr travel a lot to my cottage and the buns will travel with us. I know this is stressful for him and I’m worried that it would affect the bond between him and another bunny. Would I constantly be putting a pair in jeopardy of bonding issues if the bunnies are travelling back and forth in car trips for 4 months of the year?

[Rain]

You’ll want to wait a month after his neuter to make sure any traces of hormones disappear. They still have sperm until a month or so after their surgery. Car trips are actually a good way to bond rabbits because they’ll be stressed, but stressed together, and hopefully see that the other bun can help them get through the stress. Most people on here have actually used that for tough bonds. Just make sure to start off with a couple weeks of prebonding which means having their cages or pens next to each other, but not allowing touch. And then start sessions.

[CocoaPuff]

At my rescue that I work at, we’ve had bonded pairs get returned to us within the same month 2+ times. That’s a lot of traveling and new places for bonded pairs to withstand within a 4 week period. I feel as though, if the bonded pair are traveling together in the same crate, and being equally put in the same amount of stress, they should find comfort in each other instead of lashing out and breaking their bond. It is actually pretty uncommon for bonded pairs to break up.

At the shelter we have pairs and trios coming in and out all the time, fixed and unfixed bunnies coming in, pregnant bunnies, baby bunnies, a lot of sights and smells for pairs and trios. Although all the bunnies do get spayed/neutered before they are adopted some hormonal bunnies do get housed next to trios and pairs for a week or two before their operation. Longer if there’s other issues (weight, dietary, etc). Hormones and a new smelling bunny are one of the worst stressors a bonded pair can come across yet we rarely have them break up.
My point is, if you take your time (yes be patient!), and you don’t rush things, and your pair actually bonds, you probably won’t have a divorce. Even with your moving. Keep them in the same crate (do your research, larger crates are not always better because if someone slams on the brakes, takes a sharp turn, etc, bun can fly into the side of the crate and break something), let them out I’m their new area at the same time, just don’t split them up in general (even at the vets), you will be fine.

However! If your bun becomes aggressive towards other bunnies when faced with the stressor of a car ride (super rare probably won’t happen) then maybe a companion isn’t the best idea because they could break the bond by fighting in the crate. I have only ever seen 1 bun like this and he was absolutely terrifying. He was the closest thing you could get to a predatory bunny and had to be put down due to injuries he sustained because he initiated an attack on a large dog. Like I said, super unlikely.

[Marie]

Thank you for the advice.

[Marie]

Thank you for the advice.

[Sirius&Luna]

I agree, car trips generally shouldn’t break a bond, but it is important to keep them together.

Remember, on here and in the other forums, people come when they have a problem. So while it looks like its all doom and gloom, people don’t create posts to say ‘my bonded pair are so happy together!’ because they don’t need advice

But… My bonded trio are super happy together! They all groom each other, snuggle, eat and flop together.

[Author]

Messages