Question on bonding and age

[LaylaLop]

I was curious if anyone has noticed that bonding younger bunnies is easier than bonding older bunnies? I know they are easier to bond when both fixed, but I was just curious to see if anyone has had better luck bonding younger vs older or if age doesn't seem to matter, but more of personality playing a factor (or opposite personalities). I ask because I really would like to rescue a 2nd bunny and Layla is young and I know females can be kind of a pain at times, so I was curious if since she's only 4 months old (but spayed in 2 months) it'd be easier to do at 6 months than when she's a year or two old. (Sorry for the run-on sentences there.. phew)

 

[Sweetie]

When I introduced Prince to Sweetie, they instantly bonded. Not all rabbits instantly bond with each other, some take a while to bond and others may never bond. Now that I have Pudden, it is harder to bond adult rabbits. Sweetie is 3 years old and Pudden is 2 years old.

You should be fine with a 6 month old rabbit to bond with your 4 month old. But I would recommend getting a rabbit that is the same age as your rabbit, that will make it easier as well to bond them.

 

[LaylaLop]

The rabbit I'm interested in is unknown of age, but he is neutered. I think he's less than 3 years old. I bonded a 7 year old bunny to a 2 year old bunny before and had no issue, but the older one was very laid back.. They say this guy is skittish and somewhat shy, whereas Layla is the opposite and I was thinking that he might open up more with a human trusting bunny around. If he's still at the rescue when I come back from Christmas break I'll contact them and see if I can do a trial adoption or something... Even though I'm not allowed my existing rabbit, I feel like she might enjoy a buddy and if they do bond, one cage is still one cage.. And if they don't bond, they can be neighbor buddies!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I think it really depends on the rabbits and not the age. Korr has been bonded to 3 does. Sophie was 4 or 5 and Korr was just over 1 and they got along fine. Penelope was around 2 and Korr was 3.5 when they were bonded. Amelia was around 9 or 10 months and Korr was 5 when they started living together. Korr does pretty much get along with most other rabbits as long as they are not aggressive toward him. He also is a ladies man.
With Amelia, she was very shy and skittish, I could barely move on the couch without her going to hide when I first got her. When she was out of the cage on her own, she would just hide, but when Korr was out too she would be more willing to explore. I really do feel that he has helped her become more confident and outgoing.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Houdini helped Cinderella open up and be more adventurous as well. She's always one hop behind him now when they are exploring. Before she would just hide.

Houdini was 10 months and Cinderella 4 years when they bonded, pretty much instantly.

Becky bonded instantly with both her boys too, she's 4. Indy was 4 and Gary was 5 months. Gary also was not nutered yet, but Becky tollerated his bad manners because she was so lonely after loosing Indy.

I had originally tried to bond Becky and Cindi, but they just refused to bond at home and would fight any chance they got. Now that I understand bunny behavior better, I think the shelter people steared me towards Cindi during the dating because she had been at the shelter for 4 years. There were better signs with the boys, but there wasn't fighting at the shelter between the girls either. They probably just hoped for the best. Oh well, now I have my two happy pairs

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I think it depends on personality more than age. We've got some that are really mellow, and then there are ones like Commander Bun-Bun--now way you'd get her to bond with anything as she was our number one attack rabbit. She could have been the stunt double in Monty Python.

 

[LaylaLop]

I'm doing a "bunny date" on the 15th with Layla and a neutered boy.. He's an american fuzzy lop and here's a pic of him:

http://photos.petfinder.com/photos/US/WA/WA242/21616041/WA242.21616041-1-pn.jpg

Hopefully all works out between them since Layla is really outgoing and he's supposedly really laid back/timid. The last pairing I did that went really well was between two rabbits with the same variances in personality.

Layla will also be spayed soon after and then have a recovery period before being fully bonded. Hoping that since she's young and not too hormonal/territorial she takes to a companion well..