I have had a gorgeous bunny for many years who recently lost his best friend. His behaviour changed significantly since the loss, and it was fairly clear he was lonely and depressed. After some research, I decided the best option was to get him another companion and try to bond them as best I can.
Yesterday evening I picked up a gorgeous, 4 year-old rabbit who is super active and appears to have a lot more curiosity than my original rabbit, Dexter, ever did, making him quite a handful. Since we got dexter he's always been quite passive in nature, and is very chilled out. Needless to say, their first interaction wasn't too eventful. There was no biting, or aggressiveness. Just mounting. A lot of mounting.
The dilemma is I have just received some pressing news and need to leave immediately for about a week. While I have family staying who will take care of their needs while I am gone, they won't be able to put in the time and commitment to trying to bond them for this time period. I have no idea what this will mean for the bonding process.
When they do interact, they don't fight which is good, they just mount one another and there doesn't appear to be any resistance once they are mounted. The only resistance occurs during who is going to be doing the mounting. The mounting is incessant so while I'm not there I have separated them (put one in the hutch and the other free to roam around the hutch - they have been taking turns in each roll). They have been interacting with each other while separated by the hutch and appear to want to be near one another.
Anyway, I have no idea if I should keep them somewhat separated for the time I am gone and continue the bonding once I've come back or allow them to be together while I am gone. I have recently bought a very large, double storey hutch that sits outside. I also have another smaller hutch. If someone could help me figure out a suitable dynamic with the tools I have it would be much appreciated!
Yesterday evening I picked up a gorgeous, 4 year-old rabbit who is super active and appears to have a lot more curiosity than my original rabbit, Dexter, ever did, making him quite a handful. Since we got dexter he's always been quite passive in nature, and is very chilled out. Needless to say, their first interaction wasn't too eventful. There was no biting, or aggressiveness. Just mounting. A lot of mounting.
The dilemma is I have just received some pressing news and need to leave immediately for about a week. While I have family staying who will take care of their needs while I am gone, they won't be able to put in the time and commitment to trying to bond them for this time period. I have no idea what this will mean for the bonding process.
When they do interact, they don't fight which is good, they just mount one another and there doesn't appear to be any resistance once they are mounted. The only resistance occurs during who is going to be doing the mounting. The mounting is incessant so while I'm not there I have separated them (put one in the hutch and the other free to roam around the hutch - they have been taking turns in each roll). They have been interacting with each other while separated by the hutch and appear to want to be near one another.
Anyway, I have no idea if I should keep them somewhat separated for the time I am gone and continue the bonding once I've come back or allow them to be together while I am gone. I have recently bought a very large, double storey hutch that sits outside. I also have another smaller hutch. If someone could help me figure out a suitable dynamic with the tools I have it would be much appreciated!
