Hi :wave:, I am new here although have read a lot of good advice whilst lurking! Have a few questions if anyone can help, sorry if this gets a bit long-winded.
Background is I had two pairs of rabbits, one brother/sister pair of giants, one bonded pair of dwarf (I think) bunnies. Sadly one of each pair has now died so I am left with two singles, a neutered male and an unspayed giant female. I wondered how these two would get on but when I first introduced them a few weeks ago they really went for each other so I separated them and didn' really make any serious attempt at bonding. Since then, the male has been in his pen in the garden with the female free range in the same garden most days, so they have obviously spent a lot of time near each other but separated by the pen.
Finally getting to the point! Today Dylan got out of his pen and was free in the garden with Jasmine! I didn't see them initially meet but there were a few bits of fur scattered about. By the time I found out, they were lying together so I watched to see how they were getting on. Every so often the little male seemed to startle and sprint off, and Jasmine would chase him until eventually he sat down somewhere then she sat with himn. she definitely seemed more friendly whilst he didn't seem as confident, but this may also because she is used to being free in the whole garden so the space might have been daunting for him. Anyway, I separated them but now wonder if it would be a good idea to pair them properly? Tonight I put them back together briefly and whilst they didn't look the best of friends, they tolerated each other well.
Here are all my questions/concerns, please offer any thoughts you might have!
Should I try to bond them, are all rabbits happiest in pairs if possible? If I do this then he will have to have free range access too as I don't want her to lose that. She is a big bun and a pen isn't much good for her, but whereas she is trained to come back to hutch at night, he isn't and could be difficult to catch!
They would have to move into her hutch, is this a problem as not neutral?
As they will be apart tonight, would it mean going back to square one with the bond as the earliest I could try would be next week?
Does the size difference and/or the fact that she is not spayed make any difference? I am concerned she might get too frisky and hurt him but don't want to spay her now due to age.
Is there another way to bond them rather than the all or nothing neutral territory thing? Could I continue putting them together a bit each day?
Finally (for now!), how do you know when rabbits are fully bonded enough to trust them in same hutch?
Background is I had two pairs of rabbits, one brother/sister pair of giants, one bonded pair of dwarf (I think) bunnies. Sadly one of each pair has now died so I am left with two singles, a neutered male and an unspayed giant female. I wondered how these two would get on but when I first introduced them a few weeks ago they really went for each other so I separated them and didn' really make any serious attempt at bonding. Since then, the male has been in his pen in the garden with the female free range in the same garden most days, so they have obviously spent a lot of time near each other but separated by the pen.
Finally getting to the point! Today Dylan got out of his pen and was free in the garden with Jasmine! I didn't see them initially meet but there were a few bits of fur scattered about. By the time I found out, they were lying together so I watched to see how they were getting on. Every so often the little male seemed to startle and sprint off, and Jasmine would chase him until eventually he sat down somewhere then she sat with himn. she definitely seemed more friendly whilst he didn't seem as confident, but this may also because she is used to being free in the whole garden so the space might have been daunting for him. Anyway, I separated them but now wonder if it would be a good idea to pair them properly? Tonight I put them back together briefly and whilst they didn't look the best of friends, they tolerated each other well.
Here are all my questions/concerns, please offer any thoughts you might have!
Should I try to bond them, are all rabbits happiest in pairs if possible? If I do this then he will have to have free range access too as I don't want her to lose that. She is a big bun and a pen isn't much good for her, but whereas she is trained to come back to hutch at night, he isn't and could be difficult to catch!
They would have to move into her hutch, is this a problem as not neutral?
As they will be apart tonight, would it mean going back to square one with the bond as the earliest I could try would be next week?
Does the size difference and/or the fact that she is not spayed make any difference? I am concerned she might get too frisky and hurt him but don't want to spay her now due to age.
Is there another way to bond them rather than the all or nothing neutral territory thing? Could I continue putting them together a bit each day?
Finally (for now!), how do you know when rabbits are fully bonded enough to trust them in same hutch?