Can my buns see each other across hutches before they're bonded?

My boy Ham is coming to his forever home today! But both him and Beatrice need to be fixed and vaccinated before they can be bonded. My question is, is it a bad idea for them to be able to see each other across hutches before they've been to the vet?

Bea's hutch is currently against the back wall of our house and we were going to put Ham's on a right angle to this across a tall privet where it is also sheltered. It is all temporary but I'm just wondering if it would be harmful for them to be able to see each other from afar before they can actually meet each other properly?

If so we'll have to think about a different place to put Ham's hutch.

There will be many different views on this.

My view is from someone who has never undertaken their own bonding, so it is not backed up with any experience

From what I understand, letting rabbits see each other, meet on opposite sides of wire etc might not help in the bonding process. It might in fact cause some preconceived aggressiveness between those rabbits. Remember all rabbits are different and bonding episodes will not always follow a set path. I would rather err on the side of caution and keep the rabbits where they cannot see each other. I would also make sure I didn't transfer smells from one to the other on my hands and clothing.

Good luck!

It should be fine, just keep an eye that neither is finding it too stressful and have a backup in place. Some people use this as part of a slow bond, though its not something I've done personally for bonding.

Its a bigger problem with pairs/groups as some bunnies will show what is called referred aggression - they get frustrated they can't get to the strange bunny and take it out on their existing partner.

My own rabbits have never shown any issues with stange bunnies, or other of my own groups being in full vision, so its very much an individual rabbit thing.

We have Blossom and Spud who are hopefully going to be bonded when they've had their ops.

Current they share an outside run, but obviously at different times (Spud lives inside and Blossom has a shed). It's a temporary situation, but I had heard that swapping litter trays etc can be good for bonding, so I didn't think this would do any harm. They haven't actually seen each other though x

Beapig said:

My boy Ham is coming to his forever home today! But both him and Beatrice need to be fixed and vaccinated before they can be bonded. My question is, is it a bad idea for them to be able to see each other across hutches before they've been to the vet?

Bea's hutch is currently against the back wall of our house and we were going to put Ham's on a right angle to this across a tall privet where it is also sheltered. It is all temporary but I'm just wondering if it would be harmful for them to be able to see each other from afar before they can actually meet each other properly?

If so we'll have to think about a different place to put Ham's hutch.

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I don't think this will be a problem

Your rabbits may get a bit worked up as neither of them have been fixed, but that's not a given. You may find they are just curious about one another.

So pleased you have Ham with you now

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice. We received Ham late evening last night and needed to get him set up before it was dark, so popped him in the run on the lawn while we scrubbed out his rather dirty hutch. Beatrice, who is usually quite timid and keeps to her sleeping area a lot of time, got very excited as soon as she noticed Ham and ran to the lower level of her hutch (which she hardly uses usually), then stood up against the mesh to try and get his attention. Ham was a lot less actively excited but was certainly looking at her a lot and not showing any signs of aggression. Their hutches are now in an L shape next to each other with a sizeable gap inbetween, so they can see each other from a distance but not too close. Seems like a really good arrangement for the time being because I know Ham has been really lonely in his old home and I think it's just nice for him to be able to look at another rabbit and know there's another one of his kind not too far away.

Beapig said:

Thank you everyone for the helpful advice. We received Ham late evening last night and needed to get him set up before it was dark, so popped him in the run on the lawn while we scrubbed out his rather dirty hutch. Beatrice, who is usually quite timid and keeps to her sleeping area a lot of time, got very excited as soon as she noticed Ham and ran to the lower level of her hutch (which she hardly uses usually), then stood up against the mesh to try and get his attention. Ham was a lot less actively excited but was certainly looking at her a lot and not showing any signs of aggression. Their hutches are now in an L shape next to each other with a sizeable gap inbetween, so they can see each other from a distance but not too close. Seems like a really good arrangement for the time being because I know Ham has been really lonely in his old home and I think it's just nice for him to be able to look at another rabbit and know there's another one of his kind not too far away.

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Aww, that's lovely! I hope they can settle down and be nice to each other before they meet

Thank you Monty's Human I'm very much looking forward to properly introducing them once they've both been fixed (next week!) and have had their recovery time. Something tells me they're going to be the best of friends