r/Rabbits • u/lulu_bug72 • May 03 '26
Bonding Getting Woody a friend
This is Wormwood. Wormwood is about a year old and he is a very sweet boy. The only problem is that he hates toys. He either is entirely disinterested in them or he gets angry at them being in his space. I have tried literally every type of toy (seriously, we’ve tried everything). This always makes me sad because it makes me feel like his life is boring and lonely when I’m not home. Because of this I have decided to get him a friend.
I have never bonded rabbits before and Im a little nervous. I’ve been seeing posts of people saying their rabbits never bonded or that when they did the buns only liked each other and got aggressive with or scared of humans. How true are these notions? Also would this really be the best thing for Woody? He is neutered and the bunny we are getting is too young to be fixed, so we will have to wait a while before we can even start bonding them. I kind of did this on purpose because I want to have time to bond with her (we think she’s a girl but its hard to say right now) first so that she isn’t too skittish.
Anyways, Id appreciate any advice about bonding and such!
EDIT: For everyone suggesting to check out rescues, the bun we are looking at is from a rescue. Mom was pregnant when she was surrendered and they are desperately trying to get the babies adopted!
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u/Der_Dampfhammer May 03 '26
Sorry that I am unable to contribute anything here, but those ears! Lovely bnuuy.
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u/Towpillah I bunnies May 03 '26
Indeed. What a little darling. I didn't even read what the post was about. Came here to enjoy those ears.
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u/nanoraptor May 04 '26
Oh yes, came here to post this. woody has the most fantastic ears - I hope he has all the adoration for those ears read out to him.
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u/TimeLog1940 May 03 '26
First of all it’s been a very long time for since I have seen an English lop bunny. Second bunnies aren’t like dogs that they have to be playing with toys all the time. I have 3 bunnies, bonded with me not with each other. They refuse to bond so they live in separate room and happy/content. My only recommendation is always a speed dating. Let the bunny pick up their partner at a rescue. Getting a young bunny, waiting to get fixed and another 2 months for hormones to fully disappear is a lot of work. Chances are either they instantly bond or it could be a gruesome experience.
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u/Parsnip_bun May 03 '26
My English lop isn’t into toys either, except for tunnels if that even counts! In similar place deciding if we take in a baby that a friend of a friend can’t keep and attempt to bond. Good luck, Wormwood is precious!
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u/TrickyRipper May 03 '26
Make sure they arent too loud! The echo in those bad boys must be substantial. Lmfao
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u/bunmiiya May 03 '26
it would be really hard to tell if they can bond until a few weeks after the new rabbit can be fixed. ideally you could bring your rabbit to the shelter to speed date. some rabbits will never bond no matter what, just like some people will never be friends. so to prevent this it’s best to let rabbits sort of choose each other or get a vibe before coming home. i wouldn’t worry too much about rabbits not bonding with you. yes, rabbits will generally be more bonded to their rabbit companion than you, but that’s natural. their bond with you is determined by how much time you spend with them and understanding their language. spend a lot of time on the floor in their space, letting them choose when to approach you for pets. just be near them as much as possible! Woody will still love you, but they will have a new priority. Just like kids grow up and find their life partners, our rabbits will do the same. the relationship might look different but this is not a bad thing. it gives you more freedom to spend time out of the home without worrying that Woody is alone for several hours a day. check out House Rabbit Society for resources on bonding! they also have a series of youtube videos that can be very helpful. good luck!
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u/Moths_wings May 03 '26
Absolutely this!!! Please reach out to a nearby rabbit shelter and they can help you w the process.
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u/BuyUpbeat613 May 03 '26
If you are able to keep the new bunny completely separated until he/she can be fixed, that’d probably be best. Our bonding took a good 3-4 months until they were together unsupervised. It was a pretty rough bond, but they are so happy together now. It was definitely worth it to be able to give our only bun a friend. I’d just say don’t get discouraged if they end up not hitting it off right away, or if there’s bumps in the process. Just take baby steps and most likely it’ll work out!
Edit: I’d also agree with others that if you’re not committed to the baby rabbit yet, a rescue could help you find a good mate for your bunny, as one around his age would be more developed in his/her personality, and would be an easier bond.
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u/kragzazet May 03 '26
There's no guarantee they're a good match. It's normal to need to try him with multiple rabbits before you find a good partner. Don't buy a baby when you can go through a rescue that will help you with that part of the bonding process. Otherwise you could sink all this time and money into a baby only for them to hate each other's guts
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u/megaannn_ May 03 '26
First, Wormwood is so adorable!! Look at those ears! Second, I initially had a solo female bun, Queenie, for just over a year. We thought it would be a good idea to get her a friend since we were afraid she was lonely. Sadly Queenie was NOT a fan of our new bun Peach. We tried a few different ways of bonding them (we took them outside in a neutral location, separated them with a gate) but sadly Queenie was aggressive towards her.
I ended up moving out a few months later (we just kept Queenie and Peach separated, one upstairs and one downstairs. I did not know that female rabbits tend to be more territorial/aggressive to new bunnies.
We did have success with bonding Peach and Pluto, a younger male rabbit. They got along immediately and are inseparable. Queenie is doing great by herself, and I think it’s going so well because my mom is at home majority of the time since she’s not able to work, so Queenie is never alone.
Every bun is different with the bonding process, and it can take some time, but always try to get a good read on their reactions/habits. They will let you know if they are happy or not! Good luck with your two!!
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u/DisobedientSwitch May 04 '26
Have you tested how Woody reacts to the scent of another rabbit?
We weren't sure if we should add a second one, because our girl was so social and confident with just us. So we visited a potential bond and I made sure to cuddle him against my clothes and skin (huge sacrifice on my part, just awful). When we came home, I got down on her level and she practically smothered me in sniffs and kisses, looking for that other rabbit. So we knew, she needed a friend, and we haven't regretted it.
She didn't change much. She's still too busy to snuggle unless she has decided it's time, and she still won't sit on our laps. Biggest difference is that she has someone to clean her ears everyday, and divert our attention while she steals food.
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u/LillyAmongTheThorns May 03 '26
Oh my goodness those ears! What a beauty of a bunny!
Hope your search for a friend goes well, no advice to offer, just praise for your cutie.
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u/Double_Collar_9821 May 03 '26
I was nervous about bonding as well, but it went ok in the end. Not instant though, I spent a lot of evenings supervising them with a barrier between them. I followed a guide from the UK based RWAF (Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund). My backup plan was to use a bonding service if I couldn’t get them to bond.
My rabbits usually mounted each other’s heads rather than backs so I had to separate them a lot and generally erred on the side of it being better to separate them if I wasn’t sure if chasing etc was a normal or concerning level.
Woody has magnificent ears!
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u/dontdomeanyfrightens May 03 '26
Another shameless plug for bunny speed dating. If it's available in your area, it's wonderful. Makes bonding so much easier.
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u/Feisty-Bluebird-5277 May 03 '26
My goodness, those ears! What a very distinguished and very handsome gentleman. He is spectacular! I adore his ears!
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u/paulaorozco_ May 03 '26
Es exactamente igual que mi coneja Brownie, pero con las orejas más largas 😍
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u/galacticgumbo May 03 '26
I have nothing of value to add, other than your bunny’s hound dog ears made my toddler’s day. 🤗
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u/Lazy_Function_7172 May 04 '26
Best to go to a rescue to speed date if it doesn’t work out with the single litter of babies.
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u/little__boxes May 05 '26
Just remember if the new rabbit is female and isn't fixed, don't just put a grated gate in between them-- they can still get pregnant. Literally will need impenetrable walls between them.
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u/pixiedust5448 28d ago
Make sure all bunnies are fixed and healed before introducing them to each other that’s the most important thing.
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u/nope205 May 03 '26
My opinion is to keep new bunny not fixed/spayed as far away from wormwood. I tried this once and my bunny could smell the other one and saw it as a territorial issue. She tore up everything and was more aggressive (she was fixed) unfortunately the other bunny passed suddenly. She was given to me cause the other family was going to release her in the woods. She was perfectly fine one day and gone the next. I haven’t tried to bond since my bunny is extremely territorial and is nothing but ANGRY when another pet is involved. She’s 9 now and very set in her ways and now losing her sight so I haven’t tried kept her as a single bunny. Your first best step is getting new bunny fixed/spayed. And give a few weeks/months for hormones to level out afterwards. Then small introductions like a blanket with the small of other bun. Do that’s for a while until reactions stop. Then move to small meetings in a VERY SMALL neutral space.
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u/societiesoddball May 03 '26
No advice for bonding but have you tried getting edible toys? I got my bun so many toys and pinecones and she hated them but chew sticks shoving pellets into things and making a dig pit and sprinkling pellets into it made a big difference. Im thinking of getting my bun a friend soon too though because she seems lonely throughout the day and treats humans like a nuisance unless we have food or shes sleepy
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u/Thelawisrabbit May 03 '26
I have had 5 bunnies in my life. 3 different pair bonds, and one trio. I have never been unsuccessful in bonding my bunnies— it takes time and patience. One of my pairs took 4 months to bond. Others were instant. My current trio required about a month of bonding. It all depends on your bunny’s personality. My trio mainly worked because my two boys are very docile, so introducing a feisty girl to them both was easier than expected.
Neutral territory is most important for bonding, in my opinion.
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u/arnforpresident May 03 '26
Just got my bunny Ginger a new friend. And it was a wild ride.
We always work through a shelter that does Speeddating. So they put Ginger with some others, to check out the initial reaction, and they decided to try with Witje. The shelter than keeps them together for 1-2 weeks. Their honeymoon went okayish and we brought them home. When we picked them up, we immediately noticed some negative behavior and it didn't get better at home. Ginger got super territorial and was chasing Witje nonstop. I tried different tactics but one morning we found that Witje escaped the pen and was now relaxing where Ginger couldn't get him.
So we decided to bring them back. They tried pairing Ginger with another bunny, but it wasn't going very well. Until Ginger managed to jump over the hedge and met the neighbor. Immediately she started cuddling with the girl next door. We kept them at the animal shelter for two weeks and brought them home last week.
Now we're still keeping them in a relatively small area so they'd keep interacting. But we see a lot of good signs. Soon we'll release them so they can enjoy our entire (enclosed) yard together.
So a happy ending it seems. But it takes quite a lot of work and stress, especially if you do the process yourself. My advice: find a shelter that offers the service.
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u/SkyrimSlag May 03 '26
I’m not a rabbit expert so I don’t know how common it is, but my boy definitely got more skittish and less tolerant of people after we got him a girlfriend. But, he was skittish and shy around people since we first adopted him (we think he was abused), he did start warming up to me and would even give me kisses and grew to like me petting him over the course of a year, but all of that went away after we bonded them. She loves pets and doesn’t mind being picked up, but now even though he grew to like being petted, he hops away from you and if you try to stroke his back he lowers himself to get away from you and runs off. He still runs out when he hears the treat jar, but otherwise he doesn’t care for human interaction anymore at all. Kind of sad really, I loved my kisses and being able to pet him until he dozed off.
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u/TheCatIsOnTheCounter May 03 '26
I literally said “omg” out loud when I saw these pics. 😻 I have no advice but I wish you the best. My situation won’t allow for another bunny as much as I want to give mine a friend. Thankfully I don’t work so I can spend as much time as possible with him. I know it’s no substitute for the real thing. Im so happy reading this knowing your bun will have a bun friend soon and you’re saving a bunny! Another bunny will be able to take that buns place at the rescue so essentially you saved two bunnies 😍 okay I’m just verbal diarrhea now k thx bye
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u/letosazure May 03 '26
Got my rabbit a friend. Wouldn't say they're bonded, they just live together without fighting. My OG bun tends to avoid the other one although the new bun does groom OG bun and sometimes they snuggle together. I learned after getting the new bun that the OG bun is more of an independent bun that seems to just wanna be alone. The new bun loves the OG bun (follows around and grooms OG bun) but the OG bun just tolerates the new one. Just a warning that this might happen.
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u/Financial-Media1534 May 03 '26
wow it feels rare to see English lop plus Cinnamon coat! He's so cute!
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u/ConsciousAd7594 May 03 '26
Congratulations! I bonded my rabbits about a year ago now, and it was a PROCESS, I’ve also watched my sister bond her rabbits and it was instant.
I have a few tips from being exactly in your shoes last year. The most important difference between mine and my sister’s experience I think, was the way we chose our second bunny. She found a young stray male domesticated bunny, and introduced it to her older, (huge) dominant female bunny (both fixed). She introduced them on hardwood in the kitchen so they didn’t have good traction, and fenced them off for the first week despite them both being free roam.
I took my bunny “speed dating” and let her pick out her own partner, she chose a rabbit similar in size and personality to her, but once they came home, I let them live separate for overnight before reintroducing and they HATED each other. It took about 3 months of studying and changing the attempts (bonding was my full time job for the last few weeks) but the second it truly clicked, you could tell, and they haven’t had an issue since.
I would say: 1.) Try to pick a bunny that is obviously less dominant then yours (maybe significantly smaller), or obviously more dominant (larger) depending on your buns personality.
2.) once you introduce, DO NOT separate. Even if your bun is free roam, create a playpen that you can make larger or smaller. If they fight, make the enclosure so small that they have no room to move. I didn’t implement this step until the last weeks of my bonding experience and it was the missing piece.
3.) stress bonding. This is controversial but it’s been a year since I bonded my rabbits (took about 3 months but I made many mistakes at the beginning) and I’m not sure I could’ve done it without introducing this step at the end. There’s many techniques, but I would put them both into a small carrier and walk around my backyard for 10-30 minutes a day, once they started grooming eachother I would put them back in their tiny space together.
4.) Learn rabbit communication behaviours, you probably know him well, but it is so helpful when you know how they interact with eachother. There’s tons of videos and websites that are easily accessible:)
Good luck! And be easy on yourself, I researched for months and months and had trouble, whereas my sister just picked up another bunny of the street and her bunny accepted him and never looked back. Every bunny is different, but I do believe most need a partner to have the happiest life possible, so you’re doing the right thing!
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u/trekrabbit May 03 '26
Your bunny is gorgeous and I love those ears!!!When it comes to bonding, be patient. Keep them close together, but with a barrier that allows them to still groom each other. Have play dates in neutral territory. Swap blankets, tunnels, beds, and boxes routinely so they get used to sharing those things.
If it seems like they’re not ready, don’t push it, but don’t give up. Just be patient. It took my Peanut and Butter quite a while to cohabitate 100% but it was so worth it! They love each other so much.
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u/Murky-Courage2477 May 04 '26
I bonded my rabbits. They’re brothers I hot at 8wks old and then their hormones kicked in so they were separated from 3ish months old until they were a little over a year and had been neutered for a while. I found a bonding group on Facebook that had great advice and steps on how to do it. It worked for me. The bathtub, car ride, “trauma bonding” advice don’t help at all and kind of made them not want to be together. Mine have been bonded about 5 years now and love each other. The kidding process wasn’t fun, and I slept by their setup and sat next to them and binged shows until it was done. It took a couple of months, I think.
Wormwood should have a friend if you think he needs it. He is so adorable. 🥰
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u/unoverseangel May 04 '26
ngl it’s been stressful. my bunnies wouldn’t bond and now i’m afraid it’s gonna happen again. i barely have time to take care of 2 bunnies that have to be separated. one of my bunnies really wants a friend tho but i cant deal with the possibility of having a 3rd that has to be separated
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u/No_Muffin_5411 28d ago
I have never seen a bun with ears like this. he’s so cute is he a sassy boy because he looks like he might be
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u/A_Wild_Hare 🌈big gay hay bag🌈 May 03 '26
Why a baby? Adopt an adult who is already vetted and fixed. Nobody "needs" a baby rabbit and especially not from a disgusting breeder or a pet store.
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u/Interesting_Fish309 May 03 '26
I had a single bunny. But I had 2-3 cats and 2 dogs. Cats used to sleep over in the hutch. Also rabbits dont do great under anesthetic. Especially as they get older. So to get them both fixed may be a worry. 2 boys will fight. Male and female and you'll have the whole of watership down in your house.
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u/Masala-Dosage May 03 '26
I don’t believe buns have to have toys. Does he nibble on things & keep his teeth (sorry I nearly wrote ‘ears’) in check?
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u/RabbitsModBot May 03 '26
Some important factors before obtaining any additional rabbits:
While rabbits are considered social animals, they will most likely be very territorial with any new rabbit entering the space, which is why rabbits must be properly bonded. This process may take a couple weeks to months before the rabbits can co-exist peacefully. Both rabbits should be spayed/neutered to maximize the likelihood of bond success and stability.
If you are able to comfortably support additional pets, finding a suitable bunny friend for your single rabbit is rarely a bad idea. Please keep in mind that not all rabbits may be compatible enough to bond without serious work over a long period of time, if ever - as a result, we highly recommend speed dating adult neutered rabbits before bringing them home. However, rabbits will still benefit from the mental stimulation of seeing or smelling another rabbit nearby as long as they are safely separated to prevent injuries.
Please also check out the resources in our Bonding guide and Binkybunny's Bonding overview for more tips.