Last summer, I became concerned my rabbit (neutered male, pictured) was getting lonely since I have to be away for long hours during the day for school. He is 9, going on 10 soon, and he mostly sits around during the day. He’s free roam in my room (I’m an adult living at home with my parents because the housing economy is ass where I live) and usually comes to me for attention in the morning and snuggles up to me like another bunny when I’m in bed. I adopted him as a single rabbit from the humane society at 3 years old in 2014 (at least, that’s what age they told me he was) and I doubt he had been bonded before. There was a spayed female rabbit, who’s at least 4 years old (unknown age, but she was found as an adult and had been waiting to be adopted since 2021) who I wanted to adopt to bond with him. Last summer, my family was not in support of letting me get more animals (mostly on principle), but have since come around and have given me their blessing to bring home a second rabbit.
Shockingly, that same bunny I wanted to adopt last year is STILL waiting for her forever home! All that backstory to say, I’ve never bonded rabbits before and want to give them the best chance of getting along, and see if anyone’s had issues with bonding rabbits of different ages, or with bonding older rabbits in general.
Is my old man too old to be bonded with another bunny, especially one that is a few years younger than him? For context, he’s doing great, no health problems at all, so I expect he’ll be alive for a number of years still. If his age/ their age difference isn’t an issue, what tips would you have for introducing a new rabbit in this situation? Anything else I should consider, other than the obvious ones like introducting them in a neutral territory and removing my current bunny’s scent from the room? How long did it take to bond your bunnies?
If it’s helpful, I used to keep my current rabbit in a large dog crate enclosure, which now is open 24/7 as a home base for food and a place to go when he wants to be left alone. Would it be a good idea to use this to allow them to get used to each other during the process? Should I bring him along for the ride to get her? Any other information would be greatly appreciated!
by Corporal_Fire
