I am often asked if it's better to adopt two bunnies or if having one is ok. Also if two of the same gendered or opposite would be better companions. Is two better than one?There isn't a simple yes or no answer to this question. Rabbits are not like goats who need a companion. An only goat is a lonely goat and they don't do well by themselves. Rabbits are independent and can be happy in a loving social home with their humans with no need of another rabbit as a companion. Every situation is unique on it's own though so lets run through a few scenarios. If you adopt a baby bunny at 8 weeks by itself and raise him or her for lets say a year with no other buns, it may be a little tricky to bond them to another rabbit depending on personalty. It isn't impossible and some families have done it without any problems from day one of bringing home bunny #2. Every bunny will react differently because they each have their own personalities. I am asked a lot to pair or match one of our bunnies to their bunnies personality, but the thing is, I adopt baby bunnies. I cannot guarantee any kind of personality trait because they are still very young and aren't fully developed yet. Plus baby bunnies will bond to anything because they are still young and not usually hormonal yet at 8 weeks old. That being said, I cannot match one of our babies to best pair with someone else's fully developed rabbit. It will be a matter of bringing one home and taking it day by day to see how well your older bun will respond to a new baby bun. There are a lot of tips and tricks to bonding fully grown buns to baby buns so don't be afraid of the idea of bringing home a new baby to your older rabbit! Tons of people have great success! Adopting two babies together is the easiest way to bond them. It doesn't matter if they are from the same litter or even the same place. As long as they are both under 12-ish weeks they should get along together and create a relationship with one another. The reason I say 12-ish weeks is because some bunnies can start to get hormonal as early as 8 weeks and dominant behavior could arise. They wouldn't likely fight that young of age but it's good to get them together as soon as possible to create that bond before their hormone levels rise. As they mature together, one will usually be more dominant than the other and this is completely normal. Rarely you may have issues during the hormonal stage where fighting could take place as both are very dominant personalities and one doesn't want to be submissive. It's best to get them fixed as soon as possible to help reduce their hormone levels. If your rabbits ever start fighting aggressively, it's best to separate them until they are fixed and then slowly bring them back together after recovery. They may even just take to each other right away again. You will just have to test and see how they react to one another. Don't leave them unsupervised without feeling confident they are bonded together again. If your rabbits are fighting I suggest separating them in different pens but in the same room so they can see and smell each other still. Slowly move their pens closer and closer until they share a pen wall. For some they can do this within days and others may take months. You will have to experiment and see what works best for your buns. If you've adopted a baby bun and soon after decide you want to add another baby bun to the mix, you should have a pretty high chance of them still being able to bond easily and quickly. Every rabbit is different so take precautions when you bring the new baby home. Slowly introduce them and make sure your older bun doesn't aggressively attack the new bun. Mounting is completely normal and it is a way of showing dominance so that is ok behavior. Every rabbit pairing will have a dominant one. Does gender matter?Even though rabbits aren't herd animals and don't require another rabbit companion, most do very well and thrive with a little friend. I can't stress enough that gender does not play a huge roll in personality! You will read online that opposite genders make better pairs but it really comes down to personality and not gender. Online you read that females are sassier and males are sweeter. I am here to say throw that stereotype out! I have had dozens of unaltered (un-spayed) females that have been extremely sweet and snuggly. I've also had boys that have been aggressive and also sweet. So it all comes down to personality. When you are getting a baby bun, they are not fully developed yet and therefore no one can guarantee any kind of personality trait because they can change so much after their hormonal stage kicks in. I've seen super calm mellow babies turn into super high energy buns and vise versa. For the most part rabbits will eventually bond to one another but there are some instances where they won't bond and you will have to keep them separated and potentially try again when they are older.
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