Bonding 2 bunnies

[Nikkibro91]

Hi. I was hoping for a bit of advice please. I have had my one bunny free roam since March. Last week I got another from the same breeder who is 7 weeks old. She has been in a large run in an area of the front room where my first didn’t spend a lot of time. The first few days they didn’t really pay attention to each other. We tried to bond a few minutes on each days but they kept circling and the last time ended with tuffs of fur. Since then my first bunny occasionally sniffs her. But he just turns his back to her cage and doesn’t want to know her. I wanted advice on bonding. I know it’s not a one size fits all. But am I doing something wrong. Should I be getting him to sleep in the same room as her too so they’re never apart. Is there more I can do. I don’t have anywhere I can take them neutral territory. I feel terrible as she has only been in one room so far and I feel as though I’m neglecting her not
Letting her be free roam. Maybe I’m just over thinking it I don’t know. You can tell she’s excited to play and that might be the problem for now. I keep getting nervous about us trying again but my partner said we need to as we can stop the fight quickly. The run is quite large but maybe not for the both of them and we need to do it in a bigger space. From my rambling here you can tell I have no clue (I thought I did) so any help would really be appreciated. Thanks

 

[InspectorMorse]

7 weeks is far too young for a kit to be taken from her Mum and litter mates

Any bond formed prior to puberty isn’t a true bond. Once hormones kick in a previously apparently successful bond can break down.

As the Doe should still be with her Mum and litter mates and her GI tract is at a critical transition stage I would wait at least 3 weeks before attempting to introduce her to your Buck. All the stress (taken from Mum too soon, moving to a new home, meeting a new Rabbit etc) could result in serious GI tract problems. Also, ideally any new Rabbit should be quarantined. She will need her vaccination too.


I assume your Buck is neutered ? You can’t attempt any bonding if he’s not.

As they have already met it’s too late to quarantine, so have them living side by side for now. Get the Doe Vet checked and vaccinated and then 3 weeks after vaccination you can attempt an introduction which must be in 100% neutral territory.

And always bear in mind that even if you get them together at first things could go downhill when the Doe reaches puberty. This usually occurs at about 16-20 weeks.That would mean separating them again and waiting until 6-8 weeks after her spay to start the bonding again from scratch.

 

[Shimmer]

A 7 week old is a very fragile baby bunny. I would leave them living in adjacent areas separated by wire mesh, so they can see and smell each other but not cause any damage. Make sure neither of them can get through / over to reach the other. She should be on whatever food she was used to before you got her (plus lots of hay), to minimise the stress on her gut. She's just had her whole life changed very suddenly - just give her time to settle in and get a bit bigger before attempting a bond.

She will need neutering at around 6 months old, but vaccinating ASAP. The buck also needs to be neutered before attempting to bond - so if he's not already done, he could be done now so that his hormones have levelled off in plenty of time.

 

[tonibun]

I agree with both the above comments. Also I would like to point out that Rabbits are very hard to sex at such a young age and you could have a baby boy, and maybe this is why they are circling.