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New owner

CraigGB1

New Kit
Hi
I've just become the owner of a very sweet baby rabbit. She's 10 weeks old we're told.
We purchased a large hutch, the 2 level kind.
Although we are interacting with her regularly, and trying to introduce ourselves to her slowly, we're worried she seems a bit lonely. Is it advisable to get her a friend? The hutch is plenty big enough.
If so, is it an issue that another rabbit would be from a different litter?
Thanks in advance

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Hello there and welcome. As long as you interact with your bunny regularly she will be fine. I expect she is missing her Mum and siblings but she will get used to being on her own. We always advise people to have 2 rabbits as opposed to one so this so if it were me I would wait until bunny is old enough to be spayed, then you can look out for a male rabbit, possibly one from a Rescue - hewill already be neutered. Then, when he is healed you would have to introduce the 2 bunnies in a neutral space,

The other way is to find a neutered buck now and introduce them before she gets spayed.

If you were to get a young unneutered male, you would be worried about him getting her pregnant (possibly at 4 months) so they would need to live separately until after they were both neutered.


The best pairing for your bunny would be to a male rabbit, not another female. It all takes time but it is worth it when you have 2 very happy bunnies in the end.
 
Hi
I've just become the owner of a very sweet baby rabbit. She's 10 weeks old we're told.
We purchased a large hutch, the 2 level kind.
Although we are interacting with her regularly, and trying to introduce ourselves to her slowly, we're worried she seems a bit lonely. Is it advisable to get her a friend? The hutch is plenty big enough.
If so, is it an issue that another rabbit would be from a different litter?
Thanks in advance

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Why don't you contact a rescue centre after she is spayed? You normally have to wait about 6 weeks after the op, but they'll be able to find her a friend and bond them together for you :) think that's probably the best option personally, because introducing a new rabbit into her space, she's likely to get territorial and rabbits are vicious [emoji38] so you'd have to get another bun, house it somewhere else, have them both neutered then bond them after 6 weeks had passed. Whereas from a rescue they'll already have had the operation, and be ready to bond with another bunny, and some rescues will bond them for you x

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My wife beat me too it. She's purchased another 10 week old doe.
Advice taken from the breeder before going through with it.

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Hi, and welcome to the forum :thumb: 2 does are normally the most difficult pairing to bond and keep together harmoniously I’m afraid. Years ago I had 2 sisters, who started chasing and fur pulling when they started to hit puberty. Fortunately I was able to have them spayed more or less straight away and that meant that once their hormones subsided they lived together happily.

You will need to bond in a small neutral area where neither of them have been before, and if they are happy together for a couple of days you should be able to move them to your hutch and run. If they fight then you will need to split them up There’s lots of bonding threads, feel free to post if you need advice.
 
Since I have 2 pairs of intact does I think 2 males is definitly by far more problematic, but that's beside the point here.

Females can get along fine - it really, really depends on the individual characters. Mine are mother/daughter pairs, which made selecting which doe to keep easier. It's not always sunshine, they have their hormonell swings, and at times there is some humping, chasing and tufts of fur flying, but contrary to bucks does don't go for all out war from one second to the next. Well, some do when another doe they don't know or like gets into their territory, that's why neutral ground is important when bonding mature rabbits. Does have proceedures on how to establish hierachy, imho there's a good chance that they get along. Seeing what pigheads mine can be at times, I think neutering them sure helps a lot.

As yours are fairly young chances are that they get used to each other before puberty hits, and I would neuter them asap. They do mark their territory when intact, and false pregnancies are no fun to watch. Mine have enough space to get out of sight the whole day if they feel like it, but most of the time it's not an issue.

Anyway, you'll need to watch them closly. It's not only aggressions, I had to sell one doe that got really depressed besides her dominant room mate.
 
After the initial day they seem to have bonded really well. Both taking themselves away for periods when they fancy.
My next concern is vaccinating. I took the 1st one for Myxa vaccination yesterday. she was fine in the vets, if a little stressed.
She also seemed fine when I got her home.
Today she seems, really lethargic. Not seen her eat anything yet. Is this a normal reaction to a vaccination?

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After the initial day they seem to have bonded really well. Both taking themselves away for periods when they fancy.
My next concern is vaccinating. I took the 1st one for Myxa vaccination yesterday. she was fine in the vets, if a little stressed.
She also seemed fine when I got her home.
Today she seems, really lethargic. Not seen her eat anything yet. Is this a normal reaction to a vaccination?

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Yes, it can be. I'm glad to see your update in that your bunny is now fine, however. Next year she shouldn't have any adverse reaction, she may be a little sleepy though not as bad as she was today.

She may also react to the RVHD-2 vaccine as well, so keep your eye on her for that - but she may not. Thumper reacted very badly to hers, nearly had to go to the emergency vet but snapped herself out of it at the last second, but her sister Coco didn't react at all. They're funny little characters (a.k.a. pains in the butt :lol:).
 
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Yes, it can be. I'm glad to see your update in that your bunny is now fine, however. Next year she shouldn't have any adverse reaction, she may be a little sleepy though not as bad as she was today.

She may also react to the RVHD-2 vaccine as well, so keep your eye on her for that - but she may not. Thumper reacted very badly to hers, nearly had to go to the emergency vet but snapped herself out of it at the last second, but her sister Coco didn't react at all. They're funny little characters (a.k.a. pains in the butt [emoji38]).
It's really hard to know what's right or wrong.
They are amazing creatures though

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