Bonding bunnies

[eicg]

We have a female bunny who we don't really know much about and we've had her for two years. We rescued this bunny after her old owners released her into the wild so we don't know her age, history with other bunnies, or if she's fixed. She's a very good bunny who lives inside and is the sweetest thing. We were told she made a wild bunny friend in the 6 months it took us to catch her. Recently one of my family members brought home another female rabbit while her owners house is being renovated. She's a very agressive rabbit with a lot of behavioral problems. We were planning to keep her if they bonded but the bunny we are watching attacks our rabbit even though the cage. My rabbit makes a sound whenever the other one gets close to the cage but I can't tell if it's a friendly noise or an angry noise no matter how many YouTube videos I watch. Is there a way to tell if she wants to be friends? When she was free ranging she would also go sleep by the other rabbits cage. Would a young, fixed male get along better? The other rabbit has to go back home so we wouldn't be getting rid of her and buying a "better" rabbit.

 

[br0nc0]

Well, in my experience with rabbits, they get along quite well when they are young, regardless of the gender. Once they grow up though, it can be very tricky, especially in confined areas. As far as I've observed in the past 15 years of breeding rabbits, any kind of noise is angry noise, so I'd keep them apart, because things can get nasty pretty fast. Rabbits, by nature, are animals that live in smaller groups, but domesticated rabbits aren't usually kept in groups and they mostly don't know how to behave, so it can be a challenge to find two that get along, especially in a smaller confined area where they can't run away if things get tough.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

X2 on what @br0nc0 said...the grunts/growls you're hearing from your rabbit probably aren't friendly. When I hear a grunt from one of mine (like a pregnant doe), it gets my attention.

I raise rabbits, and find that unspayed females will usually only get along while they're young and the hormones haven't kicked in yet; even then, sometimes they start fighting at early ages. You may have better luck with your doe bonding with a buck.

Here are a couple of links that may be helpful - the second one has suggestions for successful rabbit bonding approaches:

• Info on rabbit language: http://language.rabbitspeak.com/why-you-fiend/

• Info on bonding: http://www.allearssac.org/bonding.html

Good luck!

 

[Bunnylady]

Even if your rabbit is willing to be friends, the other rabbit isn't, and that could get really ugly really fast if you risk putting them together. The wild groups that brOncO mentioned are made up of relatively mild-mannered individuals; wild rabbits that are really territorial live alone. Even the House Rabbit Society, which ardently believes in bonding rabbits, admits that there are some individuals that are just too "alpha" to live comfortably with other rabbits.

Lots of people (myself included) have managed to put older rabbits, particularly does, together in colonies. The trick is to watch them, and remove any rabbit that behaves too aggressively toward the other rabbits. The most likely combination to become friends is a buck and a doe, though be warned, even if both are altered, they most likely will display sexual behavior.

As to the noise your rabbit is making, if the other rabbit is threatening, it's probably a scared noise.