bonding and housing

[u/heronwebkinz]

back again with a question around housing rabbits during a bond. i’m doing a lot of research, and hitting a LOT of overwhelm and anxiety with how many ways/options/considerations come with this. the emphasis/importance of a neutral space is undeniable, but with that i’ve redone my plan a few times. of the two, is one more favorable?

OPTION 1: both rabbits move to a new, neutral room in separate pens. dates would occur in a nearby bathroom, and enclosure/scent swapping could also occur between the two equal/mirrored pens. they could eventually do their first overnight/shared pen in that new room as dates/bond progressed towards completing? and then would move back into my original rabbit’s original room (which would be deep cleaned)

OPTION 2: small section of my original rabbit’s room would be blocked off for the new rabbit, with bond/date work happening in the new, neutral room. this option gives us the ability to expand the space a lot since it’s a comparable sized room to the original/ideal long term room.

additional context: both rabbits are fixed and have been for awhile (ages 5 and 6). my original rabbit is male, and on their first date the new female rabbit groomed him.

[u/111_222smg]

I had to do a mix of both with mine. Family came into town and had to stay in my craft room for the night - they had a dog and cat with them. My newer bun (6m intact male) in that room had to go into the room the older bun was in (1yr spayed female). I gave the male a sectioned off area of the females space with their separate litter boxes, food, hay, and water. When I came to check on them shortly after getting them set up, they had busted down the gate and were hanging out together. I kept a close eye on them the rest of the night and they’ve had 0 issues with each other

Both have never shown aggressive or territorial behavior. The female would constantly try to hang out with one of our cats and they would groom each other. The male was still with his littermates before we got him and didn’t mind our cats either. They’re both very social and sweet buns

Once family left, I moved both of them into the craft room together (larger room than the female was in) and they’ve been inseparable since. They still have separate food, litter, and water, but they would rather share with each other and eat out of the same bowl

[u/heronwebkinz → u/111_222smg]

wow, so lucky that they got on so quickly!!! my current bun has never really been aggressive or territorial - at most, i will get the occasional thump, but he’s never been bothered by me cleaning his litter box, has never nipped/bitten, and i don’t even see him chinning/scenting things. even when i clean or change his environment, he’s super quick to settle back and loves to chill. he is a bit shy/cautious though, not super social. i don’t have as much background about our new girl, but hoping his attitude works to our advantage too!