Getting a husbun for Molly - bonding advice

As many of you know, Milly passed away last week. Her sister, Molly is now lonely and although she's coping well, we feel that she would be happier with a husbun. We are going to get a rescue bunny. The rescue do do a bonding service but I want to research bonding and see if I can do it myself. Does anyone have articles or advice about bonding please?

Before bonding, I read bonding threads on here until my eyes were sore :lol: some time afterwards I read this https://m.facebook.com/notes/the-rabbit-crossing/my-guide-to-how-i-bond-rabbits/463430373700695 and I thought it was fantastic :thumb: good luck with it all

As you will be introducing a male into your female's territory I would do the introductions as far away from her territory as you possibly can. This will give you a much higher chance of success. After a couple of weeks if they are getting along, you can then transfer them to the area where they will be living. Try to neutralise everything you can.

Thanks. We are going to try her with several males to see which one she likes best. She was also the submissive rabbit with Milly. We're going to put them in the same carrier in the car ride which should help.

I'm thinking of using the cage for my guinea pigs which Molly has never been in, although she has been in the same room. Does this matter? The cage is 5ft x 2ft, is this a good size? I'm keeping them in there for a week and then moving them to the hutch. They'll stay in there for a week before opening up the run for them. Is this a good plan? Should I buy new bottles, bowls, trays etc? I'll spray the whole hutch and run with simple solution too.

Sorry, just needed to ask, do you put them in the same carrier on the drive home? If so, the carrier won't be neutral so do I use a new carrier?

Will they be already bonded by the rescue? If not I would take them home in separate carriers and let the new rabbit settle in before you begin bonding. It could be rather stressful for him otherwise.

tulsi said:

Will they be already bonded by the rescue? If not I would take them home in separate carriers and let the new rabbit settle in before you begin bonding. It could be rather stressful for him otherwise.

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She'll be tried with several males so she'll have an introduction with the chosen male. We'll let her pick which male she likes best. How long can I leave him to settle in before I put them together in the bonding cage?

How will you know if she really likes one above another? I suppose the best indication would be she doesn't attack him, but runs away in submission. What if she doesn't react positively to any of them?

It might be dicey to put them in the same carrier on the way home unless someone can sit with them in readiness to intervene should they fall out.

Your female was submissive to her sister but she may act differently with another rabbit. He will be coming into her territory.

I agree with Tulsi, you should give him a few days to settle, then introduce them in a neutral space.

I hope you are lucky finding a friend for Molly. Let us know how it goes.

tonibun said:

How will you know if she really likes one above another? I suppose the best indication would be she doesn't attack him, but runs away in submission. What if she doesn't react positively to any of them?

It might be dicey to put them in the same carrier on the way home unless someone can sit with them in readiness to intervene should they fall out.

Your female was submissive to her sister but she may act differently with another rabbit. He will be coming into her territory.

I agree with Tulsi, you should give him a few days to settle, then introduce them in a neutral space.

I hope you are lucky finding a friend for Molly. Let us know how it goes.

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I'm hoping the rescue will help with choosing the male rabbit and what behaviours show the bond may work. I'll bring them home in different carriers but keep them side by side. I can have the male in a seperate cage for a week and keep the cages side by side so they get used to each other. I'll start a bonding diary when I get the male.

Oooo best of luck. Look forward to seeing the bonding diary.

It will depend on the individual rabbits. We were in a similar situation last year and took Will to a rescue to "speeddate" with some other rabbits after his sister Poppy died suddenly. The first one he was introduced to (another Nethie) was hate at first sight, but when he met Nancy, although I definitely wouldnt say it was love at first sight, they appeared to get on after a little bit of humping from Nancy. On the advice of the rescue they travelled home together in Will's carrier with absolutely no problems. OH drove and I sat with them keeping an eye on them ready to yell"stop the car" and put one in the back up box.

Obviously this was a little different as we were introducing a female to a male's set up. We thoroughly cleaned everything with a white vinegar solution and OH repainted the walls of the hutch and run to cover up any scent of poor Poppy. We did a "slow" bond and as we had no other housing we shut off the hutch and just divided the run into 2, seperated by mesh and kept swapping food bowls and litter boxes and they had their together time in a fenced off area of their lawn run. Took about a week but I think we just got lucky judging by some of the bonding threads I've read.

Best of luck.:wave:

Thank you.

My plan is to have them in seperate cages side by side for a week and during that time, allow them out together into the room for a date. Then I'll move them to the bonding cage for a week. Hopefully as its a slower progress, it'll reduce stress which I want to minimize.

What size should a bonding cage be? Does it have to be somewhere completely new or can it be somewhere that's been sprayed by odour removal?

Ideally the bonding pen should be somewhere completely new, then neither bun can claim the territory as his/her own. I started my bond in an xl dog crate, not ideal as if I had needed to intervene quickly it is more difficult than with something like a puppy pen, but luckily it was all fine. There's no one size fits all size for a bonding pen, some people don't do it in a forced small space but most seem to. The 5ftx2ft cage you mentioned would be fine for a start off, and then you can expand their space slowly after a couple of days of no chasing/humping/fur pulling. If you expand the space too quickly or have to move them it often causes things to kick off.