Two bunnies, what do I do?

[FoggyForest]

I have one bunny, Bandit. He is free range, with toys, a water bottle, food dish, and litterbox. he goes where he pleases- but now we are planning to bond him w/ a new bun. Can two buns share a litterbox? what is the recommended living space for bonded buns- is it a pen, free-range, cube grids, something made out of furniture... im clueless plz help!! also, is litter-training different if you are bonding a non-trained bun with a trained bun??

 

[FuzzyBunny ph]

Okay wait! Before you get Bandit a friend, is he neutered already? Because if not, you might have a hard time bonding him with his new friend. If he is, I'd suggest to make him pick his friend and maybe arrange a playdate in your local bunny shelter. They can also tell you if the bunny is litter train and/or fixed already

With regards to the set up, once both bunnies are fixed, you'll have to bond them first, this might take some time so it would be best to have separate enclosures and supplies first. Once you're sure they're fully bonded (no fighting for 48hrs straight), then you can combine their spaces.

- A bigger litterbox is needed for two or more bunnies. I have 3 bunnies who share one litterbox which is an old "large" rabbit cage
- if possible, use a waterbowl as its more natural for them and they can drink more compared to a bottle
- food dish hmm I personally dont use a food dish as I use enrichment toys and to encourage foraging. you can make them share a bowl but it might be hard for them
- enclosure would depend on your living condition, if you can get a pen that would fit the minimum size requirement for two bunnies (minimum requirement for 1bun is 6ft x 2ft x 3ft), that would be good! If you can afford to free roam them and get the place bunny proofed, thats great!

 

[FoggyForest]

Okay wait! Before you get Bandit a friend, is he neutered already? Because if not, you might have a hard time bonding him with his new friend. If he is, I'd suggest to make him pick his friend and maybe arrange a playdate in your local bunny shelter. They can also tell you if the bunny is litter train and/or fixed already

With regards to the set up, once both bunnies are fixed, you'll have to bond them first, this might take some time so it would be best to have separate enclosures and supplies first. Once you're sure they're fully bonded (no fighting for 48hrs straight), then you can combine their spaces.

- A bigger litterbox is needed for two or more bunnies. I have 3 bunnies who share one litterbox which is an old "large" rabbit cage
- if possible, use a waterbowl as its more natural for them and they can drink more compared to a bottle
- food dish hmm I personally dont use a food dish as I use enrichment toys and to encourage foraging. you can make them share a bowl but it might be hard for them
- enclosure would depend on your living condition, if you can get a pen that would fit the minimum size requirement for two bunnies (minimum requirement for 1bun is 6ft x 2ft x 3ft), that would be good! If you can afford to free roam them and get the place bunny proofed, thats great!

Thanks so much!! yes, Bandy is neutered, and we are planning to spay the girl that we are trying to bond him with, Havyn. We let them see each other once, and he immediately began to groom her/lick her head. We definitely will spay Havyn though, because she kept trying to hump bandit thanks for the info!

 

[JBun]

Area for two rabbits is pretty much the same as for one. They don't necessarily need extra space if the one rabbit has a good roomy enclosure. The other bun may pick up litter box training on her own or learn from your male once they are bonded. There's no way to know until it's tried. The size of the litter box can be the same as for one bun if you have a large enough one. It needs to be roomy enough for them to sit in and move around comfortably in.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/litter-training.html
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
https://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/

 

[odyssey~]

I usually recommend having more than one litterbox in the enclosure for two bunnies since I've known some to get territorial over their boxes during the beginning stages of living together.
I'd recommend at the bare minimum an xpen for two bunnies but ideally a bunny room or free roam would be awesome!
I'd also say to litter train the other bunny first.
Also, for bonding I'll just give a very bried overview of the process I would use- when you first bring the other bunny home, have them housed side by side in pens so they can get used to each others scent and precense. when you feel okay with this then you can put them in a neutural playtime area and let them be and seperate fights if needed. you can slowly extend the length of playtime together each day if it goes well, and you can also swap their toys/blankets/etc to get them more used to each other's scent. once you get multiple successful playtimes with them being comfortable together (eg grooming each other, lying down, etc) then you can try putting them together in a pen for a longer time, and then eventually you can have them full time together!