Hi, I currently have 2 rabbits living together in a shed+run setup outside. They are mother and daughter, both neutered, about 3 and 5 years old. They are friendly bunnies, and will come up and groom me. Lirael (mum) is less keen on fuss from me, and she is the dominant one in the pair. Kibeth (daughter) loves fuss and attention. She is always happy to have company and will get excited to see the neighborhood cats that come and sniff through the mesh and will play with other animals like magpies through the mesh, running up and down and sniffing them. She has company from her mum of course and my partner and I come out and play with them, but I think she would like more friends to interact with or more grooming partners. I'm also concerned that as her mum is older, she could be left very lonely if her mum were to die before her (of course if this were to happen I would try and find her a new friend) and this would be less of a problem if they were part of a group.
So, with this in mind, I'm considering adopting a second pair of rabbits from a rescue I volunteer at, potentially to bond with my pair or to live in a separate area within the existing enclosure. I'd prefer to try adding in another pair as I don't want a third wheel situation if two of the rabbits spend more time together and the other is left out. The rescue I volunteer at weren't too keen on the idea as they are rightly concerned the bonding could break either of the existing bonds, or fail completely. I'm trying to decide whether it is worth trying as I'd love to see Kibeth have more company and I think Lirael would enjoy being with more rabbits as she prefers the company of other rabbits to humans. However, if it's very likely that introducing them could break the bond between my existing pair, then I'm not sure it's worth the risk, as I want them to have more company and be happier, not end up with less company than they have now.
The pair I'm considering adopting are friendly and sweet; they were indoor rabbits previously so are quite comfortable around people and seem close to each other as well. They are a boy and girl pair, again both neutered, and around the same age as my existing pair. My other option instead of bonding them would be to keep them as two separate pairs, but within the same enclosure. The run area is 6x8ft, so I could potentially add a large hutch to it and pen off half the run for them. They would then be able to interact with my existing pair through the wires, which Kibeth would enjoy, but be kept mostly separate. I could begin by putting the hutch alongside the run to start with to see how both both pairs react.
The benefit of this would be that they'd have some more playmates/company, but again this could cause upset if being close to other bunnies stresses them out and my existing pair would lose some space in the run area. Has anyone got any advice or any experience of either bonding two pairs or having two pairs live side by side?
If there's a good chance they can bond with each other and form a group, then I think they would be very happy, but I don't know if it is worth the risk of causing a rift between either pair. What do you think? Do you have any experience of pairs falling out irreconcilably or of successfully bonding a group? Do you have un-bonded rabbits living close to each other and how do they respond to this?
Thanks for your help.
So, with this in mind, I'm considering adopting a second pair of rabbits from a rescue I volunteer at, potentially to bond with my pair or to live in a separate area within the existing enclosure. I'd prefer to try adding in another pair as I don't want a third wheel situation if two of the rabbits spend more time together and the other is left out. The rescue I volunteer at weren't too keen on the idea as they are rightly concerned the bonding could break either of the existing bonds, or fail completely. I'm trying to decide whether it is worth trying as I'd love to see Kibeth have more company and I think Lirael would enjoy being with more rabbits as she prefers the company of other rabbits to humans. However, if it's very likely that introducing them could break the bond between my existing pair, then I'm not sure it's worth the risk, as I want them to have more company and be happier, not end up with less company than they have now.
The pair I'm considering adopting are friendly and sweet; they were indoor rabbits previously so are quite comfortable around people and seem close to each other as well. They are a boy and girl pair, again both neutered, and around the same age as my existing pair. My other option instead of bonding them would be to keep them as two separate pairs, but within the same enclosure. The run area is 6x8ft, so I could potentially add a large hutch to it and pen off half the run for them. They would then be able to interact with my existing pair through the wires, which Kibeth would enjoy, but be kept mostly separate. I could begin by putting the hutch alongside the run to start with to see how both both pairs react.
The benefit of this would be that they'd have some more playmates/company, but again this could cause upset if being close to other bunnies stresses them out and my existing pair would lose some space in the run area. Has anyone got any advice or any experience of either bonding two pairs or having two pairs live side by side?
If there's a good chance they can bond with each other and form a group, then I think they would be very happy, but I don't know if it is worth the risk of causing a rift between either pair. What do you think? Do you have any experience of pairs falling out irreconcilably or of successfully bonding a group? Do you have un-bonded rabbits living close to each other and how do they respond to this?
Thanks for your help.
