Question:

Hey!

I have a few questions regarding bonding rabbits and I thought you would be the best person to ask!
1. Is it easier to bond a male and female rabbit or two males (fixed of course!)
2. What is the average time it takes for two rabbits to bond?
3. How do you make sure each rabbit gets its proper amount of pellets and veggies?

I hope you can help and thanks for your time!

M.

Answer:

Hi M.

1) In the rabbit community it seems unanimous that a neutered male and a spayed female are the easiest to bond. Same sex pairs can work but tend to be more difficult. A pair of females is considered to be the most difficult however all rabbits just like humans have their own unique personalities. This means you could have the most amazing male rabbit and the sweetest female and they still won’t get along! Frustrating I know!

If you are able to rescue, some rescues will provide a bunny dating service. This is where they will try your rabbit out with different bunnies they think are suitable and bond your bunny for you. That way you’re saving a bunny in need and know that they will get along.

I also find a baby bunny with a fixed older bunny works well as the age difference makes it easy for them to distinguish who is the dominant one. The problem with this is they will start fighting once the baby reaches around 4-6 mos. of age (when they become sexually mature) and will have to be separated until approx. 6-8 weeks after the baby has been fixed. In the meantime they could completely forget about one another and it may not be a successful reintroduction. This is just something to keep in mind.

2) Unfortunately I can’t really give you a timeline on how long it takes to bond bunnies. It can be instant or it could take weeks or it could take months. It really just depends on your bunnies. Honey and Rocky bonded instantly and were sharing floor time together within a week. She was temporarily separated from Rocky when she reached sexual maturity (which caused a few minor disagreements between them) but when we reintroduced them after about 8 weeks post spay they were immediately inseparable.

3) The easiest way to ensure both rabbits who live together are getting enough food is to have a large condo with multiple levels and separate bowls for each bunny to eat out of. This way you can feed them both on different levels, ensuring that they both eat their food/veg when you give it to them. Since I give my rabbits their pellets in limited amounts, they are very eager when dinner time comes around and immediately dive in to their bowls to eat. Stay for a few minutes to watch and observe that both bunnies are eating their food. You can also check in on them periodically throughout the day to make sure you see both of them munching on their hay as well. Another important health check are weekly weigh-ins. Weigh-ins are an excellent way to determine illness but will also ensure neither’s weight is going up or down too much.

I hope that helps!!!!