Bonding visit ......advice please

On Friday we are taking our 4 yr old neutered female nethie cross to visit a prospective new hutch mate. If all goes well we will be bringing him home with us. It is about an hour's journey and we are taking her up in a pet carrier with a spare carrier to bring the new bunny back.
There will be time for a short bonding session (about an hour or two) at the new bunny's house before we bring him home and I would appreciate any advice regarding how would be the best way to go about introducing them. Both bunnies recently lost their mates, both are neutered and opposite sexes. If they don't get on during this visit should we forget it or bring him home anyway to try some more? My main concern is the bedding arrangements as I don't think Merry will take kindly to us just putting this new bunny in her hutch, she is very territorial. We have a large run with a sleeping area built in which we could use or alternatively the pet carrier within the run though it's a bit small really to spend much time in. We did successfully bond one of our males with a female from next door a few months back when he lost his mate, but she was able to go back home each night until they got used to each other.

When we have bonded these two, we then need to bond him with the other bonded pair that share the run.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

It usually takes longer than a couple of hours for bunnies to bond so if they dont get on straight away dont be put off. Neutral territory is essential so you cant put her in his hutch when you get there as he will see her as invading his space. If you are going to introduce them at the new buns place then I would leave them together and travel them together or wait until you get them both home to introduce them.

You are right in that you cant just put them in your current buns hutch it will need to be well scrubbed out with white vinegar and/or disinfectant to get rid of her smell. Try moving things around to how she normally has them too. Ideally start them off for a day or so somewhere completely different eg a bathroom or spare room where neither bun hes been before. Good luck

If you are going to introduce them at the new buns place then I would leave them together and travel them together or wait until you get them both home to introduce them.

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I ditto that. Bunnys tend to hate car journeys. By putting them both in the same carrier often they will look to each other for comfort and start off the bonding.

Thank you for your helpful replies and I will take your advice and try and bring them home together in the same carrier (will still take the spare though, just in case fur flies!).

Poor Merry looks so fed up again today on her own, though she has been out in the run for a while with the other pair. It will be so lovely if she takes to the new bun.

Actually there is another problem I need advice on and that is that both bonded pairs have always had separate hutches but shared the big run during the day, all four got on really well (for at least a year) up until about 2 months ago when the youngest of the two females suddenly started chasing and attacking Merry, the oldest female who had previously been "top bunny". It's like the young one has suddenly stolen the dominance crown away from Merry. As soon as I put both of them in the run now, Tia just chases her round and round and bites her fur out and Merry sits in a corner shaking. I have had to separate them and put the two out separately as Merry had all bite marks on her back. Merry gets on very well with Tia's mate, Simba, but she always did and there was no trouble before. I really want to try and get the two girls back on good terms so that they can both be out in the run all day like they used to, also of course we have to introduce the "newbie" to them all.

Any ideas anyone please as to why the two girls started fighting all of a sudden.

I have had exactly the same problem. I keep my rabbits in an enclosure. I started out with 2 rabbits (penny and buttons) . I got them both from the rspca. the man from the rspca that came round to see my enclosure loved it and told me it was big enough for 6 rabbits. I waited about 6 mounths before I took in a 1 year old rescue rabbit called moogle. The bonding was difficult. It didn't take long for buttons and moogle to bond but it was 3 weeks of 6-8 hours a day supervision before penny and moogle could be put together. I got my 4th rabbit (ellie) 5 mounths later from a pet shop. I wanted one from a baby as all the others were between 6 mounths and a year when I got them. The bonding was mutch easier than before but it still took 2 weeks of 6-8 hours a day supervision before I could put her in the enclosure. About 3 weeks later Penny (the dominant female) and moogle had a fight. It was lucky for me and the rabbits that I was cleaning them out at the time as this wasn't just hair pulling. Penny ended up with a big rip in her hind leg. I took her vet and it healed within 2 days but I couldn't get them back together after. I had to rehome moogle. My sister took her in for me but after all the effort the family put in and the fact it wasn't really moogles fault it was very upsetting. That was about a year ago. While my sister was looking after moogle she brought a lion head cross called Buster as a partner for her. Before she had the chance to have him neuterd Her young children let them both out one day and moogle got pregnant. I ended up taking moogle back and buster in around march this year. Buster was neuterd immediately and bonded in with penny, buttons and a now grown up ellie who was only too happy to have another buck around. The bonding it self was horrifying. Buttons did not like buster 1 bit. Buster on the other hand did his best to be accepted. It took 5 weeks of 6-8 hours a day supervision to get them all together. Penny got abscess on her leg and chest from a nip she got on her leg. and it took 6 week of antibiotics to clear them up. she was a verry poorly rabbit. While all that was going on moogle had 6 kits. 5 have been re homed and she now lives with her daughter hazel in a hutch and run next to the enclosure. I plan to try and bond moogle and hazel with the others in september when the new school term starts. I'm just hoping that its been long enough for them to have forgottonnen about it. Having said all that apart from the fight between penny and moogle, busters difficult bonding and penny getting sick over the last 3 years its been great. They all have a rank, a job and a mutch ritcher life for living in a big group in more or less there natural environment. good luck.

Wow! and i thought I had problems lol. You certainly displayed lots of patience with the bonding process, good luck for the final run!

lol, thank you although i did have help. Ellie looks just like the rabbit on the right of your avatar. http://i952.photobucket.com/albums/ae9/sy76uk/IMG_0191.jpg

I think your trouble is that as you keep seperating them at night therefore every time they meet they have to re-establish dominance. As you said your younger bun was probably not at an age before now where her hormones had kicked in so was submissive - now she wants to be boss. Could you not bond them properly and have them all live together full time?