Advice Needed On Bonding 2 House Rabbits U/D

Miss Binky Bunny · Jan 12, 2015

For those of you who have bonded house rabbits, any answers or experience shared would be really appreciated.
I've edited down the post as Andie has kindly answered some of the questions already

Separate spaces:
1. If we found a suitable husbun through a Rescue and did the bonding there, will separate spaces still be needed at first on bringing them home, until the new bond is ensured to be secure and happy, & for how long if so?

2. Would a neutered house bun from an individual on an adoption site need quarantining first, if the rabbit seemed generally okay health-wise?

Neutralising space:
1. Is a steam cleaner okay to neutralise with and is it best to use white vinegar with it?

2. What proportion vinegar to water if so?

Housetraining & Territorial Behaviour
1. I read somewhere that bringing a buck into a does' home can be harder than the other way around. Has anyone experienced any truth to this?

2 General habits - does the dominant bun have any effect on the subordinate rabbits' behaviour? (Or vice versa?)
For example: If my bun is a digger and the new bun is more of a chewer, will one be likely to pick up the others' habit ( or lose theirs?)

Andie · Jan 12, 2015

Hi. I'm certainly no expert, I've only had my bunnies for a few weeks now, but I thought I could tell you what I found with mine, no idea if that's typical of course...

I had my girl bunny 2-3 weeks before I got the boy bunny, so her living area was no longer neutral. I bonded them in the kitchen which was neutral, I used a cardboard box as a temporary litter box and gave them only new toys in there. The rest of the time I separated them in 'her' area (one in the cage, one in the room) and swapped them around so that it would smell of both.

Once they seemed ok together I put them both in 'her' space together, but I took all 'her' toys out and disinfected the room, ie cleaned everything wipeable (at rabbit height

) with soap and water and then sprayed some disinfectant I got from the pet shop on it, I only vacuumed the carpet though. I left the regular litter boxes in there and put only the toys they had in the kitchen in there.

That seemed ok as well so one by one I put all 'her' toys and hiding places back in (without disinfecting everything) and that seemed fine as well, they didn't fight over anything. By now they've been in other non-neutralised rooms as well and there is no problem. I guess once they are bonded they will share even previous own space, but as I said I have no idea if my experience is typical.

Regarding litter training, the girl bun was already litter trained, the new boy bun wasn't it seems but he soon picked it up from her and it was much easier than I thought. He peed everywhere the first couple of days (there was no carpet luckily) but after that he was remarkably good. She never stopped doing it properly in the litter box.

Anyway, good luck, I hope it goes well!

Miss Binky Bunny · Jan 13, 2015

Andie said:
Hi. I'm certainly no expert, I've only had my bunnies for a few weeks now, but I thought I could tell you what I found with mine, no idea if that's typical of course...

I had my girl bunny 2-3 weeks before I got the boy bunny, so her living area was no longer neutral. I bonded them in the kitchen which was neutral, I used a cardboard box as a temporary litter box and gave them only new toys in there. The rest of the time I separated them in 'her' area (one in the cage, one in the room) and swapped them around so that it would smell of both.

Once they seemed ok together I put them both in 'her' space together, but I took all 'her' toys out and disinfected the room, ie cleaned everything wipeable (at rabbit height ) with soap and water and then sprayed some disinfectant I got from the pet shop on it, I only vacuumed the carpet though. I left the regular litter boxes in there and put only the toys they had in the kitchen in there.

That seemed ok as well so one by one I put all 'her' toys and hiding places back in (without disinfecting everything) and that seemed fine as well, they didn't fight over anything. By now they've been in other non-neutralised rooms as well and there is no problem. I guess once they are bonded they will share even previous own space, but as I said I have no idea if my experience is typical.

Regarding litter training, the girl bun was already litter trained, the new boy bun wasn't it seems but he soon picked it up from her and it was much easier than I thought. He peed everywhere the first couple of days (there was no carpet luckily) but after that he was remarkably good. She never stopped doing it properly in the litter box.

Anyway, good luck, I hope it goes well!

Thanks for your reply Andie. That really helps. I've no real space to keep two buns separate here so ideally hope that bonding at a Rescue would keep the need for that to a minimum. It's really useful knowing that once they seem happily bonded it'd be okay to reintroduce previous toys. I guess extending space to areas 1st bun has been in outside of the pen and base would equally apply?

Andie · Jan 13, 2015

Yes, at least I did that too, after they seem bonded I let them together into rooms that the 1st one had already been in before, without disinfecting anything first. That was fine as well, it seems to me that once bonded they consider everything shared between them. Apart from food maybe, they like to grab food from under each other's noses and then run away with it.

Miss Binky Bunny · Jan 15, 2015

Andie said:
Yes, at least I did that too, after they seem bonded I let them together into rooms that the 1st one had already been in before, without disinfecting anything first. That was fine as well, it seems to me that once bonded they consider everything shared between them. Apart from food maybe, they like to grab food from under each other's noses and then run away with it.

:lol: I can imagine that! Sounds like we'd need to invest in an extra kale ball and treat ball then when we get another bun. :lol:

Advice Needed On Bonding 2 House Rabbits U/D

Miss Binky Bunny

Alpha Buck

Andie

Young Bun

Miss Binky Bunny

Alpha Buck

Andie

Young Bun

Miss Binky Bunny

Alpha Buck

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