[kmcar529]

Here's another rabbit question... :-)

We are planning on getting a second rabbit to hang out with our current one - a neutered, male, mini rex named Chester. I've never had more than one rabbit at a time, so I have little idea of how to bond them.

What age would be good to start the bonding process? The new bun will be at least 7 weeks old when we bring him/her home. Is it OK to start right away or should we wait until after he/she is fixed?

I know it's best to start them on neutral ground, but Chester has been all over our apartment - any suggestions? I just read that a lot of people use the bathtub for a first introduction? Our plan was to have them in separate pens in the same room so they get to know each other without being able to fight.

If they're both fixed, does gender matter? Would two males fight more than a male and a female?

Does breed make a difference? We're torn between getting a second mini rex or a Dutch. I know all rabbits have individual personalities, but is one breed generally more adaptable than the other?

Thanks in advance for the advice, and thanks for reading all that!

[Alty]

Where to begin?

Breed can matter. Like dogs, rabbits of different breeds can have different set personalities attributed to that breed. Rex's are very easygoing rabbits, they're the rabbit of choice for magicians that pull rabbits out of their hat,because they're calm, and easily tamed. Lionheads are also very calm rabbits, and so are many other breeds. But Rex's are great. I have one myself. But, like dogs, it really has a lot to do with training, handling, and how you, the human, raise the rabbit. So I really wouldn't worry too much about breed when it comes to them getting along.

I definitely wouldn't put them in the tub to meet. The texture of the tub, the echo in it, are very scary to a rabbit. You'll end up with two very scared, very skittish rabbits, and that won't help them bond. They'll likely end up scratching your tub, or hurting themselves trying to get out.

Neutral ground means any place outside of their respective cages. A rabbits cage is it's den, and placing a rabbit it doesn't know, in its den, will cause a fight. So really, anywhere that you can keep an eye out, is fine. It doesn't matter if Chester has been there before.

Since Chester is fixed, you don't have to wait for the new rabbit to be fixed before you introduce them. The new rabbit is very young, so he won't be hormonal, he likely won't try to hump or dominate Chester. Chester on the other hand, may try to dominate new bunny. When that happens, a loud clap and a firm no should make Chester back off. Soon he'll understand that that behavior is not acceptable.

They should spend an hour at a time together, at least 4 times a day at first. Then longer, and longer, until they're bonded. It can take a few months, and you may have issues once new bunny turns 6 months of age (sexual maturity). When you get new bunny fixed you will want to keep him in a separate cage until he heals completely. In the wild, a rabbit that is injured (new bunny won't be injured, he'll be fixed, but Chester and new bunny will view this as an injury until he heals) can be killed or bullied to get him out of the warren. An injured or sickly bunny puts all the other bunny's at risk. So until he's healed, he should be in a separate cage.

Once new bunny is healed you may have to start from scratch with the bonding again, but it shouldn't take too long, a week or so. Heck, you may not even have to start from scratch, they may still have that bond that was created before the surgery.

When they're bonding, never leave them alone. You, or a responsible member of the family, must supervise. If a fight breaks out it can cause severe injury in seconds. You have to be there to break up any fights, and there will be a few at first, while they get to know each other. Most fights look worse than they really are, it's more a show of dominance, and vying for position. A loud clap of the hand or a loud "No!" is usually all it takes to break up a fight.

Remember to make sure that Chester gets just as much attention as the new bunny when it comes. Handle new bunny a lot, that will help with taming, and start litter box training immediately.

Two bunnies is definitely better than one. Rabbits are pack animals, they don't like being alone, they thrive when having one of their kind as a friend. You'll find that having two is actually easier than one.

Once they are bonded I would suggest buying a new cage (I know that this can be expensive since you'll have to buy a new cage for new bunny, and then another cage when they're bonded) so that neither rabbit feels like their den has been invaded, instead they'll have a new den that belongs to both. If you choose not to buy a new cage, pick the bigger of the two cages, thoroughly wash it, move things around (water dish, litter box, toys) so that it feels like a new cage. Do not wash with bleach, just a dish soap is enough, and hot water.

If you have any more questions I'm happy to answer them. My expertise is rabbits, and sadly I don't get many rabbit questions on this site, so when I do, I tend to write a book.

Can't wait to see pictures. :)

[kmcar529]

Thank you so much! That's all really helpful! Yeah, I was pretty dubious about the bathtub, too, but figured I would mention it. :-P

There's one more thing I'd like your opinion on. We don't have Chester in a cage, really. We keep him on an area rug in a puppy playpen with his traveling carrier in there for hiding purposes. He's got a lot of space for a mini rex! He seems quite happy with the arrangement, and we were planning on doing the same thing for the next bunny. He'd have his own pen, carrier, area rug, the whole deal. The way the pens are built allows them to be hooked together and essentially make one big bunny room. Obviously, we would only combine them once we were absolutely sure they were bonded. Do you think they would see this as den infringement, or is it OK since both of their scents would be in there?

I won't have pictures of them together for a while. The new bun won't be ready until the end of the month. I post when I have them, though. :-)

Thanks Again!

[Alty]

I think your plan is great. The only thing I would suggest is that you get a new area rug once you combine the cages. That should do the trick, and get rid of either rabbits scent, which could make either rabbit feel it's his space, not a shared space.

Move things around a bit, give the pens a good scrub, and make sure each rabbit has a travel carrier of his own. Truth told, from what you describe, the travel carrier is Chesters actual den. The puppy playpen is the area surrounding his den. So, as long as they each have their own den (carrier), I think you should be fine.

Ideal, instead of a carpet, would be to form some kind of base for the puppy playpen to sit on. I'm assuming it's a pen like my bunny binky room, I'll attach a picture. If it's always up, not moved around, you can make a wooden base to fit the pen into, have the walls around the base around 3 inches high, and then lay lino, or cheap sticky tile on the wood. Use plywood. Fill it with wood chip bedding or hay, and it's easy clean up, and actually better for the bunnies than carpet. Depending on how much wood you need, and the cost of the sticky tiles or lino, it should cost less than $100 (if you or hubby are handy) to build. I can even help you with plans if that's something you're interested in.

Here's my bunny binky room. It's not the area they're in all day, they have cages. This is their hop around area when they come out to play. I have dogs, so I can't just give my rabbits free range. But, this bunny binky room is no longer used. I now have a room designated for the bunnies, and my birds. It also happens to be my computer room. So now, when the bunnies have binky time, I put the bunny binky room in front of the computer area (to keep them away from the wires), and they have the entire room to hop around in and play. But before we designated a room, they had the bunny binky area.



Ignore the mess in the background, we were renovating and moving things around and it got pretty darn messy before we got done.

[kmcar529]

Thanks for the advice! I don't think we'll be making a base, though. It's not quite feasible for us at the moment. Your binky area is almost exactly what Chester is using. His area rug is that really flat, tightly knit carpet that he can't chew on; and he's litter trained, so all I have to do is vacuum up the hay debris. We'll probably get a new rug as you suggested - at the very least we'll shampoo it. :-)
Thanks again!

PS - Please, I grew up in a military family. We moved into, out of, and renovated so many houses that your "mess" didn't even register as clutter to me. ;-)

[Alty]

Thanks for the advice! I don't think we'll be making a base, though. It's not quite feasible for us at the moment. Your binky area is almost exactly what Chester is using. His area rug is that really flat, tightly knit carpet that he can't chew on; and he's litter trained, so all I have to do is vacuum up the hay debris. We'll probably get a new rug as you suggested - at the very least we'll shampoo it. :-)
Thanks again!

PS - Please, I grew up in a military family. We moved into, out of, and renovated so many houses that your "mess" didn't even register as clutter to me. ;-)

Sounds like you've got it all under control. I can't wait to see pictures of the bunny baby. :)

Thanks for ignoring the mess. You should see the bunny room. Four bunnies can create a bit of a disaster. ;)