New rabbit... Don't know what to do or how to bond! Help please?

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Katielovesleo3

Katielovesleo3

Katie
Joined
Dec 23, 2012
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Crosby, TX
My dad went to a FFA auction and bought rabbits but he kept one and brought It home to me, I looked and I THINK it's a girl. I will include a picture. Now, I am sitting here with her in my lap. Buster is in the other room. Do I need to cage her in a separate room for now? Any help is greatly appreciated!


Ps I'm sorry the picture is bad, it was taken by my brothet

image.jpg
 
OKay! I pulled Buster's cage into the kitchen and put her in it. Gave her some hay and she LOVES it! She pooped. And she's checking everything out. She has tiny nails so she must be very young. (I say she because I still think that she is a she, and I am hoping that she is, because female and male bonds are easier I hear) Oh and she drank water out of the bottle so at least she knows how to do that... AWWW now she is bathing herself! AHHH SHES SO CUTE!!!! My mind is exploded with the cuteness of all my furbabies!!!! :D I wonder how old she is.....hmmmm.... My dad should have found out more information.
 
The picture isn't really clear enough to tell. Would you be able to snap another one? Sometimes if you take the pic from a little further back, the camera will focus better. Then you can crop if needed once it's on the computer. If you have a picture of the whole bunny too, we may be able to estimate age for you. :)
 
Okay, it is a girl. I had my step dad come over and look because he used to have rabbits. So I guess she's a Californian right?

image.jpg
 
You'll need to wait until she's spayed to begin bonding. Below are 2 completely different methods of bonding. The first seems to be the most popular but can take time. Key elements regardless are 1. rabbits are fixed and had sufficient time to heal and for hormones to dissipate, and 2. neutral territory for bonding sessions (place where neither rabbit has ever been).

[FONT=&quot]http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml


[/FONT] http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/matchups.asp
 
Okay thank you. What I did was I put her in Busters cage and wrapped this big piece of puppy gate around it and put her in the corner of Busters room. I am going to find another cage for Buster. And then put them in another room. I have very limited space. I am asking an FFA staff from the auction how old she is, then I have to find a vet that can spay her.
 
You need to talk to Agnes and Archies mom. I know she has posted a link for the article she followed for bonding her two buns several times for other people. I do know you don't just bring home a new bun and throw them together. You first need to let the new bun settle into her new home and let her bond with you first. Also, both buns must be spayed/neutered first or they cannot truly bond due to the hormones. If you bond before the spay/neuter you will risk pregnancy because buns can mate at a very young age. Also, the bond can be broken when they are separated due to the surgery.

Also, I would be leery of putting them together due to any possible illness the new bun could have and pass on to your original bun.
 
AH good I will give it a look. Buster is already neutered. Miss Bunbun is next. I don't want to go to the same vet because theyre a rip off. I am searching for a cage right now but it looks like I would be better off building my own *rolls eyes*

Yeah, Leo is like, well are you going to introduce them and I was like NO! I don't know how to bond but that's one thing I do know is you have to take a LOT of time and have patience! and he says "No you don't. I want to see some action." so I said yeah that's why im the owner and youre not lol
 
If you don't want to build a new cage that (you hope) you'll only need temporarily, you could just get an x-pen. I bought an x-pen to use as a temp cage while bonding my buns. Now I've made good use of it for other purposes now that they are bonded.
k2q14.jpg
 
So should I put them in another room now. Right now they're both in the dining room, Busters room. I don't have a lot of options. I could put them upstairs. It's carpeted and very different. Or is it okay that she's in her cage and has a big gate wrapped around it so theres no biting. Does Buster need to be put in his cage all the time or just at night? So many questions, I need Lisa lol
 
I just saw your blog and got updated on your new girl. Yay a new RO bun :) congrats she is a doll.

You've gotten some really good advice so far not much I can add to. The article Chris gave you i posted on your blog too. It's my favorite and I referenced it all the time bonding. It covers alot.

Spay definitely needs to be in your future of you want to bond them. And the she'll need some healing time so their first bonding session is probably a month or two down the road depending on when you get her spayed.

I would be a bit nervous about not quarantining her. You might want to house them in different rooms until she can get s clean bill of health so she doesn't give anything to Buster.

But once that's a go yes cage them seperately but next to each other so they can get used to smells and scents. Alternate free run time. They both need to see each other out and about. One can't always get time out because he or she will consider themselves the winner and it can bring out territorialness.

And then in the meantime bond with your new girl. She needs to feel secure in her new environment in order to except Buster as her guy :).

You have a long road ahead and it's lots of work but worth it in the end! Obviously you'll keep us updated with the progress and I'll be more than happy to help you along the way :)
 
Definitely mix their scents a lot.
I wouldn't recommend my method of bonding unless you know their personalities well enough, neither of mine are territorial so I didn't use the neutral territory-working up to shared territory method. But that seems to work very well for others. It also seemed to help that I alternated their run times so the one that was out could observe the other, that way they could get comfortable with the other being around.

Just take it at the speed you need to, your buns will let you know what's up!
Grats on the new baby, she's gorgeous!
 
Not trying to be pessimistic here- just realistic...
If 2 bunnies are not destined to be together, even mixing scents won't help.

With my Sapphire and Sam, their neutral bonding sessions weren't great, but neither were they bad. I then began trading them out between cages to mix scents and it backfired. After that, their sessions got increasingly antagonistic until they become irreconcilable. I understand the concept behind mixing scents, I'm just giving caution that if 2 bunnies aren't going to get along, they just aren't going to get along. :(
 
Thank you guys for the help. Yeah, I think its too late to quarantine her....but I am calling three vets tomorrow and see when I can get her checked out and spayed. I will keep yall updated on my blog :) THANKS AGAIN!!! I LOVE RO!!!
 
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