| Bonding |
| Bonding two rabbits is not something that should be taken lightly. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. Hap-hazzardly "tossing" them together could result in severe injury to one or both rabbits, or even death. By following a specific process the chances of something that caliber happening greatly decreases. However, after going through this entire process, the end results are beautiful (see above photo)! Here is a brief summary of the steps involved in bonding two rabbits: 1. Quarentine any new rabbit for at least 3 weeks before keeping both the new and old rabbit in the same room. 2. After three weeks, place the cages side-by-side each other. 3. Allow each rabbit to sniff the other through the cage to gradually become accustomed to each other. 4. Spay and/or neuter both rabbits before introducing them face to face. 5. Introduce rabbits face to face for the first time in neutral territory (bathtub, car, laundry room . . . an area where neither has spent any amount of time in) for about 10-15 minutes depending on how things seem to be progressing. 6. Separate immediately if a fight begins or one is much more aggressive than the other (there will be a dominant and submissive bun, however over-dominance can be life threatening to the submissive rabbit and therefore requires intervention by you). 7. Gradually increase the time they spend together each day for about 3 weeks to a month, depending on how they act around one another. 8. When you feel that they can both be trusted to not fight with each other (wait until after about a month before coming to this conclusion) you may try housing them in the same cage together. If one rabbit is 2lbs and the other is 4lbs it adds up to 6lbs of rabbit total, which means a 24"x36" cage will be sufficient for the two of them. Buy a completely new cage (new litterboxes, etc.) so that there is no chance of one becoming territorial. Bonded rabbits can be one of the cutest sights you'll ever see. But if you rush the process, serious issues can give rise. For instance, on one of the rabbit forums I visit there is one extremely friendly person who has a cute little trio of bunnies. Cinnabun, Snickerdoodle, and Opie. Cinnabun is a Holland Lop, "Snickie" is a Mini Rex, and Opie is a giant French Lop. Cinnabun and Snickie are in the process of being bonded (so far so good, I think!), but Opie seems to be more of a "people rabbit," craving companionship from her humans more than her fellow bunnies. One time while Clara was on vacation, Opie managed to get loose only to get into a horrible fight with poor little Cinnabun. Thankfully Cinnabun is doing fantastic now (thanks to a "Bunny Power Shake"....more on that later), but for a while there, things didn't look too good. In the photos below you can see how he holds his head at a distinct tilt and how his eyes are swollen. Click to go to the next page . . . . . . . . |
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