Bonding Your Pet Bunnies

Rabbits are social animals and generally enjoy the company of other rabbits. However, there are some rabbits that would prefer to have their human all to themselves.

To determine if your bunny is the former, you can set up a meeting with another rabbit. The staff at many rescues will know the personalities of their available rabbits and may suggest one that would make a good bonding candidate.

Neutered/spayed rabbits are less aggressive and make better candidates for bonding. Male/female bonding is usually the easiest to achieve, and in this case, being fixed is a must.

Rabbits can be can be aggressive. They can bite, claw or swat at another rabbit potentially inflicting great harm. For this reason, all bonding must be supervised. Under no circumstances should you just place the rabbits together outright. They need to be slowly introduced, again in a supervised setting.

A good way to have your rabbits become acquainted is to place their cages next to each other. By keeping a bit of space between the cages you can avoid fighting. We kept our rabbits in separate rooms during the bonding process. During their introductions we placed a baby gate in the doorway and enticed them over with veggies. The holes in the gate were small enough that they couldn't get their mouths through to nip. It is also useful to swap litter boxes, toys and food dishes every few days to help get the the rabbits used to each other's scent.

After a while the rabbits may become tolerant of each other. (It may be a long while.) In some cases it may be love at first sight. They may just ignore each other. They may try grooming through the cages or lay as near each other as much as possible. All of these are good signs. Conversely, in some rare cases the rabbits never tolerate the others presence.

When deciding to make a face to face meeting you need to choose a neutral location. Bunnies can be territorial, so a place where neither bunny feels it is their space is best. This can be on a slippery kitchen floor, a hallway or the bathroom. It should be a fairly small space. It helps keep the rabbits together. The area should have no places where one bunny can be cornered. We began with a puppy pen placed on the linoleum floor of the kitchen. It was a small area where neither bunny had ever spent time. The linoleum decreased their mobility so they couldn't chase each other.

It is absolutely crucial that you are pay close attention to your rabbits when placing them together. Rabbits can get very aggressive. Arm yourself with a spray bottle of water to break up fights. An old tennis racquet can be useful for the same purpose. Protect yourself as well. Make sure your arms and legs are covered. You may even elect to wear gloves.

Common actions between rabbits in a bonding session can include: chasing, nipping, swatting, spraying or mounting. Flattened ears or a lifted tail are both signs of impending attack. Both males and females will mount in an attempt to show their dominance. Beware of nipping on the nose or ears of the rabbits. Expect some fur to fly. If the aggressive acts get to be too much or one bunny is injured stop the session immediately.

Bonding sessions can begin at ten to fifteen minute intervals. That time can be increased or decreased depending on the rabbits' interactions. These sessions may be repeated many times before the rabbits feel comfortable with each other. Be prepared to be in it for a long haul. After each session be sure to check both rabbits for any injuries.

When the rabbits have come to accept each other, it is time to move on to the next step. Some people like to bring the rabbits to a place of semi-neutrality. Others prefer to skip straight to the spot where they will be spending the most time.

Territorial feelings may take over again. It is best to use a small area in the familiar zone for a while, again making sure there isn't any place where one bunny can be cornered by the other. You can place their food and water dishes close together and feed them greens together. Watch for aggressive behavior and don't let the bunnies out of your sight. Some people even prefer to sleep with the rabbits as a further precaution.

There can be a regression in the bonding at this point. You may want to return to an entirely neutral area and build back up to this point. However, if you've made it this far it's a good sign that your bunnies will become bonded.

The keys to bonding are patience and vigilance. There will be times that you find yourself exasperated and at your wits end, but know that it is not a lost cause.