Two bunnies in one cage????????

[mama24]

Hello. We are new to bunnies. Our twin girls each won one at a 4H show. We have the California bunny home with us and she is doing very well. The French lop is arriving soon. We have been researching cages and would like something that is cute, affordable, comfortable for the bunnies and preferably would house both of them. I would like feedback on how feasible it is to house both together. I am looking at a 3 level condo for the bunnies, thinking they each can have their own level with their own food, water and the liter would be on the bottom floor. I have a tendency to have high hopes, but am considered a DR. Doolittle by my family and friends as I have a gift of getting animals to get along that you would never expect to get along. Bunnies however are new to me so I may have met my challenge!! The California is getting along beautifully with our two boxer dogs and our two cats. Actually, the bunny is the boss when she is out of her cage.



Thank you!!

 

[Tatum]

Welcome! While I disagree with "winning a rabbit or any other animal", it sounds like these bunnies got lucky with you and your girls.

You can house them together and it is preferable, I never house just one by itself as they are very social animals. They should be spayed first though. I have a young male and a 6 month old spayed female that are bonded through the ex-pen wires. She grooms him through the bars quite often. A couple weeks or so after he is nuetered, i will begin putting them together in nueteral territory bonding sessions.

I prefer excersize pens vs cages, but if you do go with a cage, just make sure it is the largest one you can afford, lots of people on this site make their own. I am sure that you will hear from many bunny lovers soon, and good luck, I have learned so much on this very informative site.. Tatum

Ps. What did you have to do to win these bunnies? thanks

 

[mama24]

Thank you for your quick response. We are so excited to be parents to bunnies, Ruby (the California one) is so much fun to watch. I hear the Lops are even more personable than the California one. We are expecting the second one to also be a female as we do not want to raise them!! Do you think we should still consider spaying both?

We signed up for the bunnies at a 4-H event. We have four kids and each child had four chances to win. Mom said yes to the bunnies but no to the chicks, iguanas and hamsters.

 

[ilovetegocalderon]

Congrats on your new bunnies. Regarding spaying, absolutely you should spay both. Spaying solves a lot of problems such as reducing the risk of uterine cancer and hormonal aggression. In fact, if you plan on bonding the two girls, they DEFINITLY need to be spayed. Good luck!

 

[jordiwes]

Hi there!

Lots of people have bonded pairs housed together, I being one of them. However, the bonding process is sometimes long and hard.

You might want to start out slow with these two girls because they can injure each other very fast. Keep a close eye on them. Don't house them together until you are sure they get along perfectly.

Here are some articles on bonding:

http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html

As for the cage, you will want to get a verylarge cage. Californian and French lops get very big.

Here are some cage ideas from our members:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=1931&forum_id=1

and some "NIC Condo" links:

http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/nic.html

http://www.cavycages.com/

 

[naturestee]

Hi and welcome!

By 3 level condo, do you mean one made from wire storage grids? I love cages made out of these! I am assuming they will be inside, as they aren't good as outdoor hutches. The best thing about these is that you can rearrange and rebuild cages without too much trouble. So you could build a cage for each of your girls, and then combine them after they are bonded.

This is Bunny 101 thread on Cages. You'll find lots of info and links there.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17

Jordiwes is right about taking it slow and bonding them first. I have first hand experience of how dangerous rabbits can be together! Another thing to remember is that even if they like each other now, things can change once they hit puberty. The increased hormones can lead to increased territoriality. This can make bunnies who were best buddies turn into fur ripping enemies. It's best to wait to house them together until they are past puberty and preferably spayed.

One more note- sometimes young girl rabbits turn out to be boys several weeks later. Keep an eye out, and you might want to have a good rabbit savvy vet sex them.

I can't wait to hear more about Ruby and the new lop! Can you post pictures?