House Bunny Bonding Advice

Hi,

We have a big dilemma and looking to anyone else that has been in a similar situation.

We have Benny The Bunny, a male house rabbit just over a year old, perfectly tame if not a little nervous, he doesn't chew, sometimes has a little accident here and there but nothing bad, just been nuetered to calm down his urges he sometimes gets with my foot.

Outside we have nine bunnies, all paired up with on exception but two of the Bunnies (Bertie and Lilly) have recently had seven little additions, they are of course seperated now and Bertie has been nuetered (he's just six months) and we don't want to let the seven babies go but can't really stretch to anymore and the only option is to pair Benny with a little girl, now thats where the dilemma starts.

Will this change Benny in anyway, as in will he be less interested in us etc? we don't really just want to keep one as they are so cute but want the best for Benny as he spends time during the day on his onw whilst we are at work and don't want him being lonely.

Any advice welcome.

Alex

I was replying to you about 2 hours ago and Windows shut down my computer!

Anyway, I thing Benny would love a friend and he will still remain friendly to you but maybe not as much.

You will have to wait until you can be sure you have a girl bun and when you introduce them it will need to be in neutral area, where Benny hasn't been. This is in case he is quite territorial and could attack her.

There is lots of bonding advice on the Forum.

Then she can b spayed between 5 and 6 months old to subdue hormonal behaviour and make it easier to litter train her. You have a moreharmonious relationship when both are neutered.

In addition to what tonibun said, I used to have Ashley as a single house bunny, I had never paired her up for a multitude of reasons (living situation, also she has lots of health problems and I was concerned she wouldn't live very long) but took the plunge and paired her with Bailey last year. Best decision I ever made. I no longer feel guilty about going out to work and leaving her for long periods, and we have them outside now because lack of space here. I have a very close bond with her and that hasn't changed, she still loves us but she's not so clingy/dependent on us for companionship.

I think having spent so much time with you and having bonded with you, it's likely not to make too big an impact. He knows you are the provider of treats and affection and it likely he'll teach her to follow suit. You will of course have to master the two handed nose rub.

Tonibun makes a good point about the intros - do make sure you do it somewhere neutral

Thank you for the replies, I think, but seriously it's kind of given me the nudge I need for a Benny friend, just hope the little grey and white baby is a girl!

Am fine with the bonding, done it many times with the current bunny family, the bath and a spray bottle always worked fine so far.