Where to place new bunny’s cage?

[ljamos]

Hi all! I have a female spayed bunny, and this weekend we are meeting a neutered male bunny who is looking for a new home. His current owner is bringing him to my house to meet us for a “date” and see how he and my bunny get along. This will be my first time bonding two bunnies, so I’m trying to do lots of research. I read over the bonding info on this site, but I still have some questions! I’m planning to have them meet on neutral territory where my bunny hasn’t spent any time.  Once they have met, and if they get along, I’m planning on housing him in our old large pet store cage until he and our current rabbit are bonded and I can have them together in her current housing area.

She has a three-level NIC condo and a playpen set up around it for when we can’t supervise her out around the house. Her condo stays open and she comes and goes freely between the condo and the playpen at all times. Some things I’ve read online say the new bunny’s cage should be put into the playpen area so they can be close to each other, but would that be considered as him encroaching on her territory? If I put his cage in there, I would keep her inside the condo so she couldn’t get up close to his cage. Also, should I switch them out and have her spend every other day in the smaller pet store cage and him in the larger NIC condo, with alternating times out to play in addition to the times when I am working with them together?

I’m sure this won’t be my last bonding question! Thanks!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Housing side by side is okay as long as the bunnies don’t seem too stressed out by it. You want the cages to be far apart enough so that they can’t reach each other. Angry bunnies can do some damage even through cage bars.

You can start by swapping litter boxes, if you wish. Some people do the whole cage switch-up. If the pet store cage is quite a bit smaller than what your girl is used to she may be upset about it.

[Author]

Messages