Runny Babbits

[samuelellis]

Mine would kill me if i considered trying to pose them in bowls

[moorx]

Here are my gang....

Winston and Blossom (mini rexes):


Myrtle (mini rex) and Hartley (lop x):


Boddington and Guinness (mini rexes):

[axgizmo]

Would love an Otter Rex.
Rex's are beautiful

[moorx]

axgizmo said:

Would love an Otter Rex.
Rex's are beautiful

Thank you, I love them! They are all rescues, apart from Blossom. The lady who runs the rescue Winston, Hartley, Boddington and Guinness came from loves Rexes as much as me - she finds it quite hard to let them go

[axgizmo]

I had a Chocolate orange mini Rex called Terri (obviously), miss her loads, she was a lovely bun. Got her from a breeder in Warrington.

[willld]

This is our two, Lola who is an English Lop and Ace (of mixed parentage)

[RemyMartin]

willld said:

This is our two, Lola who is an English Lop and Ace (of mixed parentage)

I love it when my two sit next to each other and an ear rests on the other. Makes it look like they are hugging #soppy.

[richatnort]

Just a quick question. We're looking at getting a female friend for Charlie our 1 year old mini lop. He's a house rabbit so I was wondering if anyone else has had experience bonding two rabbits together and any real life advice on how to do it?

Reading various sites they say it's good to have two cages side by side for a while so they can get used to each other but that would mean i'd have to buy another cage.

Any suggestions would be really helpful!

Thanks

[Trailhead]

richatnort said:

Just a quick question. We're looking at getting a female friend for Charlie our 1 year old mini lop. He's a house rabbit so I was wondering if anyone else has had experience bonding two rabbits together and any real life advice on how to do it?

Reading various sites they say it's good to have two cages side by side for a while so they can get used to each other but that would mean i'd have to buy another cage.

Any suggestions would be really helpful!

Thanks

Two cages side by side like you said, and frequent but often bonding sessions in neutral territory that neither has been in before.

[rj1986]

richatnort said:

Just a quick question. We're looking at getting a female friend for Charlie our 1 year old mini lop. He's a house rabbit so I was wondering if anyone else has had experience bonding two rabbits together and any real life advice on how to do it?

Reading various sites they say it's good to have two cages side by side for a while so they can get used to each other but that would mean i'd have to buy another cage.

Any suggestions would be really helpful!

Thanks

We did the 2 cage thing - one in the proper cage, and one in a pop up playpen thingy in another room. Stayed like this for a few days whilst the new one got used to sights and smells.

Then one got runabouts in the others room with the other caged, and vice versa.
Then we put a lot of towels in the bath, armed ourselves with a spray bottle and oven mitts, and let them bond in there for 3-4 hours, 2-3 times a day for a week.
When they both flopped out next to each other and started grooming, we cleaned out the old cage, covered it in baking powder for a day, then let them both move in together.

[richatnort]

rj1986 said:

We did the 2 cage thing - one in the proper cage, and one in a pop up playpen thingy in another room. Stayed like this for a few days whilst the new one got used to sights and smells.

Then one got runabouts in the others room with the other caged, and vice versa.
Then we put a lot of towels in the bath, armed ourselves with a spray bottle and oven mitts, and let them bond in there for 3-4 hours, 2-3 times a day for a week.
When they both flopped out next to each other and started grooming, we cleaned out the old cage, covered it in baking powder for a day, then let them both move in together.

ah right ok! We're thinking of giving charlie to one of the rescue centres for a couple of days for them to do the bonding. The last thing i want to do adopt a female and then they hate each other. Did you put the new rabbit in the cage and your normal one in the play pen?

Is it a good idea to put baking powder down? I'm guessing this gets rid of the scent of the other rabbit?

[rj1986]

richatnort said:

ah right ok! We're thinking of giving charlie to one of the rescue centres for a couple of days for them to do the bonding. The last thing i want to do adopt a female and then they hate each other. Did you put the new rabbit in the cage and your normal one in the play pen?

Is it a good idea to put baking powder down? I'm guessing this gets rid of the scent of the other rabbit?

The new one had the playpen as she was smaller.
We suggested bringing our rabbit down and the centre was very against it (in case it brought lurgy with it or something I guess)

The baking powder was, as you said, to try and de-scent some of it. They were only in it for a few weeks, as i bought them a bigger one. Which is now being replaced by a custom-built double story hutch with adjoining overhead run.

Plus, i wouldn't say the rabbits will "hate" each other. There may be some bickering but rabbits are very much companion orientated animals. The male was a bit of a dick on his own, a he got bored. As soon as he got a friend, he stopped being so much of a dick, and now as he's a bit older has mellowed quite a lot.

[moorx]

rj1986 said:

We did the 2 cage thing - one in the proper cage, and one in a pop up playpen thingy in another room. Stayed like this for a few days whilst the new one got used to sights and smells.

Then one got runabouts in the others room with the other caged, and vice versa.
Then we put a lot of towels in the bath, armed ourselves with a spray bottle and oven mitts, and let them bond in there for 3-4 hours, 2-3 times a day for a week.
When they both flopped out next to each other and started grooming, we cleaned out the old cage, covered it in baking powder for a day, then let them both move in together.

I've bonded three pairs of rabbits now (and had one pair bonded by a rescue). When I did it myself, it was basically using the method described above, but mine were outdoor rabbits. I would say that if the rescue are willing to offer a bonding service, use it! Whilst all of my bondings have been successful, it can be quite stressful (for the owner)

You can also use pet-friendly disinfectant to 'neutralise' pens/hutches.

Good luck - in my experience, rabbits definitely benefit from having a companion of their own species.

[Benjy911]

Wibble and Quigle (I think that's how it's spelt?!) relaxing on their bench!

[axgizmo]

Benjy911 - theyre adorable

moorx said:

rj1986 said:

We did the 2 cage thing - one in the proper cage, and one in a pop up playpen thingy in another room. Stayed like this for a few days whilst the new one got used to sights and smells.

Then one got runabouts in the others room with the other caged, and vice versa.
Then we put a lot of towels in the bath, armed ourselves with a spray bottle and oven mitts, and let them bond in there for 3-4 hours, 2-3 times a day for a week.
When they both flopped out next to each other and started grooming, we cleaned out the old cage, covered it in baking powder for a day, then let them both move in together.

I've bonded three pairs of rabbits now (and had one pair bonded by a rescue). When I did it myself, it was basically using the method described above, but mine were outdoor rabbits. I would say that if the rescue are willing to offer a bonding service, use it! Whilst all of my bondings have been successful, it can be quite stressful (for the owner)

You can also use pet-friendly disinfectant to 'neutralise' pens/hutches.

Good luck - in my experience, rabbits definitely benefit from having a companion of their own species.

As above, I bonded at home with Gareth & Terri, when Terri died I handed Gareth over to a rescue, I told them which rabbits I liked the look of and they said they would try him with those three and if he didn't get on would keep going until they found "the one".
They put him with the first bun (Cinder) and it was love at first site, no more bunny speed dating required. I got them both back a week or so later

[richatnort]

axgizmo said:

As above, I bonded at home with Gareth & Terri, when Terri died I handed Gareth over to a rescue, I told them which rabbits I liked the look of and they said they would try him with those three and if he didn't get on would keep going until they found "the one".
They put him with the first bun (Cinder) and it was love at first site, no more bunny speed dating required. I got them both back a week or so later

Cool! this sounds like the best plan to me! I don't mind giving him up for a week as long as they're bonded well.

[moorx]

richatnort said:

axgizmo said:

As above, I bonded at home with Gareth & Terri, when Terri died I handed Gareth over to a rescue, I told them which rabbits I liked the look of and they said they would try him with those three and if he didn't get on would keep going until they found "the one".
They put him with the first bun (Cinder) and it was love at first site, no more bunny speed dating required. I got them both back a week or so later

Cool! this sounds like the best plan to me! I don't mind giving him up for a week as long as they're bonded well.

Yes, this was the method that the rescue used for Winston and Blossom. It has a major advantage in that it is easier for a rescue to find a 'neutral' environment for the bonding. You will still need to 'neutralise' your rabbit's environment though (including any toys, etc).

[richatnort]

moorx said:

Yes, this was the method that the rescue used for Winston and Blossom. It has a major advantage in that it is easier for a rescue to find a 'neutral' environment for the bonding. You will still need to 'neutralise' your rabbit's environment though (including any toys, etc).

How do we neutralise the toys?

[moorx]

Depends what they're made of really. Hard plastics you can use animal safe disinfectants or a white vinegar/water solution. Anything soft, washing should do it. Basically you need to remove your rabbit's scent (they scent mark with a gland under their chin) from as much as possible to avoid him being territorial.

[richatnort]

moorx said:

Depends what they're made of really. Hard plastics you can use animal safe disinfectants or a white vinegar/water solution. Anything soft, washing should do it. Basically you need to remove your rabbit's scent (they scent mark with a gland under their chin) from as much as possible to avoid him being territorial.

oh god i'm glad it's just the toys! He's scented the entire house pretty much!