Bringing home new bunny/bonding questions

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lily2521

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Hi! I've been on these boards a lot lately, as we're planning to add a second bunny to our home. We currently have a 2 year old female (spayed) Holland Lop names Gizmo.


We went on a round of speed dates, and had a successful first date with a lionhead that we absolutely love. She groomed Gizmo, and also presented herself to Gizmo for grooming...Gizmo just sat there and allowed this to happen, didn't show any signs of aggression, but didn't really groom back either.


We have a second date scheduled for next weekend and if that goes well we'll bring the lionhead home. This is where I have some questions...
*Do we bring them home in the same carrier, or should I plan on having a second one with me? I will have someone with me for the ride home.


I've been reading lots about bonding but am a bit confused about the way to do things and timing
*Do you suggest 'pre-bonding' for a week or two, where they're in cages, close together (but not too close) and swap out items from each others cages for a week or so before starting neutral territory sessions? Or can we start the neutral territory sessions sooner?
*When we do start neutral territory bonding sessions, do they still live in the same room with separate cages (I know not to put them into the same cage together), where they can still see each other outside of bonding sessions, and have separate free range time until bonded?


I'm sure I'll have more questions as we go, but these are the questions I have before we start. Thanks!
 
I can't answer most of the questions (no experience with bonding...yet)
But as for the carrier, I would bring two, you never know. They could end up fighting on the way home and you'd have to separate them. If it were me I would bring them home in two separate carriers just to be safe.
 
Rabbits are a lot like people, no two will necessarily get along, and even the ones who get along sometimes take a while to work all the bugs out. My advice would be to let your rabbits decide how slow or fast they get to know each other. Watch their behaviour and that will be your guide.

What I did the first time I bonded rabbits was to start by putting their cages within sight of each other and watch their behaviour. If things seem to go well (usually that means they ignore each other and/or groom themselves) move the cages closer together gradually. When you can put them side by side without any issues, you could try a meeting in a place that's unfamiliar to both, like a bathtub. It's normal for them to chase each other a bit but if things get out of hand, separate and try again. But sometimes you will luck out and they'll get along from the start. That's what happened with my two, a bit of chasing and then they settled down and it was as if they'd been together forever.

It's a good idea to study up on body language if you haven't already. At the least you need to be familiar with aggressive body language so you can hopefully stop any fights before they happen.
 
Bonding can be a complicated process and how you go about it depends a lot on the individual rabbits. There is the slow method, where you do dates and gradually get them used to each other, then there is the fast method where you put them together in a bonding pen and don't separate while you supervise. There are benefits and downfalls to both. The slow method can be good for more timid rabbits that need more time to get used to their new partner, the downfall is that for some rabbits when you separate each day, it can put the bonding process back to square one and the next day is like you are starting the bonding process all over again. For these rabbits the fast method is usually better. This is the good point of the fast method, but the downfall can be that rabbits that need more time to get to know each other can get too tense and agitated to be stuck bonding without a break.

So it's really just reading your rabbits body language and their reactions, to decide what is going to work best. And don't be afraid to change course if you find what you are doing isn't working out.

http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
https://www.thebunnychick.com/2013/06/17/4-rabbit-bonding-beliefs-that-arent-always-true/
 

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