Bonding my bunny

[Freddi.w]

Hi, so I have a male holland lop rabbit named toffee. He is getting neutered on Tuesday the 15th of September, 2015. I really want to get him a friend. He is two years old and I’ve had him since he was 3 months. He has free range of my room, and he sleeps in my bed with me. He has a second level too. He seems lonely. I go to school for like 7 hours a day and he just sleeps, I feel sorry for him. I will be rescuing a female rabbit to be his friend, I’m just confused on the bonding process with a free range rabbit. I have a dog pen I could confine one in and I could ask my local shelter to borrow another one, because I heard you can’t have just one contained because it causes resentment. Could someone please give me the steps of bonding a free range rabbit?

[vanessa]

Firstly – rabbits sleep during the day. It is morning and evening that they are most active. Mine settle doen to sleep by 9am, and wake up around 5pm. Then they eat, poop/pee, snooze some more, and by 7pm they are getting real active. While I am asleep, they are the most active.
Second – Read through the bonding journals here. There are many different experiences. It will five you an idea of how long the process can take. Sometimes it is quick, sometimes not.
Third – Bonding must take place in a small, neutral area. Your bedroom is not neutral. Until they are bonded, you will need to house them separately. And then have a third area for bonding, that neither of them have been in before. I find the living arrangements.bonding areas the most tricky part of housing bunnies that aren’t bonded yet. I don’t know what your house setup is, but the general advice is to house them close enough to see each other and get to know each other for a few weeks. Like maybe have their playpens 6 inches apart. Not close enough to fight through the fence. If your current bun is used to having the whole room, try sectioning it off, so he as 1/4, the new bun has 1/4, and you still have space to do your stuff. Use a third bonding area – small – in a completely separate room that neither have been in.
If you try to bond free range – there is too much space, and they bunnies will have a lot of space to charge and attack. Plus – your current bun sees your room as his. So he might not be happy about a new comer invading his space.

[Freddi.w]

Thank you for your reply so when I’m housing them and they aren’t binded yet I cant have them each in an x pen in my room? I would be able to have them so they can see each other but not touch each other. And then bonding would happen in the bathtub and I have a guest bedroom upstairs, but I wouldn’t house them in their because it gets very hot and it doesn’t have enough room for two x pens. And my rabbit is very calm, he is friends with my little 6 pound dog, I know it’s not the same as a bunny but he doesn’t ever get territorial so I don’t really think it should be an issue but who knows haha.

[vanessa]

That sounds like a good setup 🙂 It would be best to wait 4 weeks after he is fixed, so his hormones can calm down. Be sure that the friend you pick for him, is also fixed, and at least 4 weeks has passed for that new bunny. Try calling your local shelters, and ask if they will allow you to bring your bunny with to help pick out his new pal. There are also rabbit rescue organizations who will help you and your bunny pick a suitable pal.

[Freddi.w]

Thank you and that’s what I was planning. There is a spayed female at my local shelter and I would love to adopt her in a few weeks and if my parents say yes

[CrazyGemini22]

I just tried to bond my two rabbits. Major disaster. The older one was humping the 6 month old one. The 6 month old one was fighting with her. I pulled the older one away and tried again. The 6 month old fought with her again because she was humping her she ripped out some fur of the older one, I put them back in their cages. I guess I can’t bond them ever.

[Dalielah]

Crazygemini, are they not spay/neutered?

[CrazyGemini22]

The younger one is. The older one I don’t know. I called the shelter but they didn’t know. They don’t have the money to get them prayed or neutered.

[Author]

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