Bunny Bonding?

[Daenerys]

I know a lot of bunnies do great with a friend, but is bonding between bunnies better when they're male to female rather than male to male or female to female? I saw an ad on criagslist about a male holland lop needing a home and I would LOVE to get my male mix, Basil, a friend but I don't know if the fact that they're both males would make it not work out...

 

[elrohwen]

Typically the easiest bonds are male-female, then male-male, then female-female.

Are both bunnies neutered? This needs to be done before any bonding can take place as two unfixed males will most likely fight.

If they're both neutered I would see if you can take your boy to meet him and see how it goes.

 

[Daenerys]

No, my boy is not neutered but I was hoping to get him neutered soon...(my friend did want to breed him with her bun but I am beginning to rethink this....don't think I want to.). Its my birthday soon so I will be getting birthday money and I wanted to use this money to get Basil neutered.

 

[elrohwen]

Then I would wait until he's been neutered for about 4-6 weeks, then introduce him to spayed females or neutered males to see who he likes. That's your best bet of getting another bunny that he gets along with.

 

[Daenerys]

Alright....the bun on craigslist is beautiful, a holland lop, but I suppose its for the best I pass him up....besides I don't think my parents would be happy if I came home with two buns instead of the one I told them about. Lol.

 

[elrohwen]

Yeah, don't want to make the parents mad ;-) Just work on bonding with the bunny you have, and a few months down the road you can start looking for the perfect companion bunny for him.

 

[Daenerys]

Its just that this person is looking to give up her bun because her dog keeps trying to eat it >.> Thats why I contacted her to begin with. I don't want him to get eaten!

 

[elrohwen]

That's very sad! And that's the reason I don't go on Craigslist - too many sad stories and I want to help them all. Most people there just make up sensational stories hoping to get an animal lover to adopt their bunny faster.

 

[Daenerys]

Thats true but I worry if it really is the reason she wants to give up her bun...

 

[tonyshuman]

I can't take any more bunnies but when I go onto CL and see an ad like that where the bunny really needs help, I try to link them to the Humane Society's website, as well as the websites for a couple of local rescue groups. That way you know that they at least have an idea of where they can take the bunny so it doesn't get hurt by the dog or set free into the wild.

I also would recommend looking at a shelter for a buddy for Basil once he's neutered because you will probably find that neutering is very expensive, and bunnies from shelters are much cheaper and already fixed, for the most part.

 

[Daenerys]

Yeah I do want to adopt Basil's new friend...

I wouldn't link them to the HSUS, I really don't like them. They have the same agenda as PETA which I also disagree with. I may link them to a local rescue, though. Thats a good idea.