Tips for 2nd bun

[Christa79]

I already have 1 bun, who will be 6mths old late August. He is my first bunny. We've had him for 4mths. He is approx. about 4 pounds to give you an indication of his size.

I am looking at getting a 2nd one, (not sure of sex yet and she/he is only about 4wks old and not ready to be taken for another wk or two).

I'm just wondering if anyone has tips for deciding on whether to get a 2nd bunny, and tips for best ways to bond the two bunnies. There are ALOT of threads already going about bonding but it is so hard to bring it all together.

I haven't committed to getting this 2nd one yet. Are there any tips for bonding males/females?, size differences?, age differences?. Is it better to have two? Are they happier with another rabbit? Are they happy alone? Any help or tips will be greatly appreaciated.



Thanks,
Christa

 

[naturestee]

I have two pairs of bunnies, and I think most rabbits love having a friend. It does take a little work, sometimes a lot. Spay/neuter is very important. Also, baby bunnies will often bond really easily but the bond may break when their hormones increase during puberty. Fighting is not unusual, and it can get very bad in some cases. So it's usually best to wait until after they're all older or at least all spayed/neutered. Also, not all rabbits will be friends with each other. For example, my Mocha passionately hates Fey and Sprite but adores Loki.

When possible, it's best to try "bunny dates" by taking your bun to visit rabbits in rescues. Then you adopt the one that he gets along with the best.

There's a whole bunch of links here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12072&forum_id=17

And this is the site that has helped me the most.
http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

 

[Haley]

:yeahthat

Also, if you do take on a second rabbit, just make sure you are prepared in the event that they do not bond. If you do not feel that you are able to commit the time and effort to having two rabbits in separate rooms and/or cages, I would reconsider bringing in a second rabbit.

As Naturestee said, if you can set up a date to see how your little man reacts to this new rabbit, that would be ideal. However, make sure you are not introducing unaltered rabbits (you didnt say if your boy was neutered). If he isnt, I would definitely have him fixed before trying to bond him with another rabbit of either sex. You can always take in this second rabbit and house them separately until they are both altered and/or matured a bit.

That being said, I think bringing in a companion can bewonderful for yourrabbit. Now that my two are bonded, I cant imagine how they got along without one another.

Best Wishes!

-Haley, Basil,:rabbithopMax :dutchand Mr. Tumnus:bunny19 !!! :goodluck

PS. This sitewas the most helpful for me: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html

 

[Christa79]

I'm planning on getting Beans neutered in August, as he will be 6 mths old.

My neighbour has two rabbits and another friend has a rabbit and he gets along great with all three of them and we never had a hitch. Just laid them down next to each other and they started following each other around and grooming. Though the two males (Beans and one of the other buns) started humping each other, taking turns. LOL.

But I don't really think there will be an issue of Beans getting along with a new bun.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

You may think that now, I had 2 males that got along GREAT until abot 10 months of age. They were inseperable until one day (5 months after being neutered) they started fighting out of the blue. Had I not been home from school that day, I know I would have come home to either severely injured bunnies or even worse.

They are now 3.5 years old and still cannot be together yet they were never seen more than a few inches apart when they were younger. One of these males is now bonded to my 1 year old doe but the other buck is still impossible to bond, he does not like ANY rabbits in his territory -- male or female.

That just goes to show that things change and 6 months is too soon to tell what will happen with your bunny. So definitely be 100% prepared to house them seperably for life. Either way, you will need double of everything to get anew rabbit, you can't just bring a rabbit home and put it in the other rabbits cage and expect them to get along, you are asking for trouble by doing that.

By the way, you said the babies are 4 weeks old and not ready for another week or 2? That is WAY too young to get a rabbit. They should not go to homes until they are at least 8 weeks old.

I warn you to be prepared for anything and to think very hard before adding another rabbit. I commend you for doing your research before getting another though, too many people have things go wrong and then rush to find out how to fix it after.