Introducing a New Rabbit to the Herd

1. Introducing a new
Rabbit to the Herd
By Fantastic Furries

2. The Run
Get a run of substantial size to hold two rabbits. These can be found
in any local Pet shop. Then proceed with the following instructions
…

3. The current residents
Use this run to put the current residents in and let them settle and
graze for a while before …

4. Introducing the residents to the
newcomer
Get a partician to separate the current resident(s) and the new
rabbit. Let them sniff for a while and get to know each other. If one
starts snorting with aggression then definitely delay the next step …

5. Taking away the partition
Make sure all kinds of suspicious or aggressive behaviour has died
down before taking the partician away. Keep a very close eye on
them just in case and look out for …

6. Supervising the meeting
Look out for …
• Aggressive behaviour
• A male rabbit being rough and trying to mate with the female(or
another male).
• Snorting in aggression
• A high pitched squealing in fear, pain or panic.(You definitely
won`t miss this if it happens which is very rare occasion).
Rabbits only make this noise in very extreme situations.
•

7. What do I have handy?
• Wooden Stick (not to hit them just to separate them).
• Tool Gloves ( So no-one gets bitten in case you have to intervene
if things get a bit fierce).
• Someone handy (if possible another “rabbit friendly” person who
can help separate the two).
• A newspaper (also not to hit but to unroll and block the view of
the two rabbits so that they do not proceed to attack).

8. What do I do? They are
attacking each other
Use the previous resources to either …
• Block their view between them so that they can`t see each other
so as not to provoke them to attack.
• Separate them.
• Put a partition between them.
• Calm them down.
• Remove them or one from the run.

9. They are getting along, how do I
proceed?
Proceed to continue the bonding process until they are perfectly
OK together.
Then completely disinfect the entire hutch so that there is no smell
of the former rabbit (or new one).
Put them both in together so that the hutch will have an equal
amount of smell from both of them and their smells will both meld
together. The smell may not be apparent to you but rabbits have a
great sense of smell.

10. They are getting along, how do I
proceed?
Proceed to continue the bonding process until they are perfectly
OK together.
Then completely disinfect the entire hutch so that there is no smell
of the former rabbit (or new one).
Put them both in together so that the hutch will have an equal
amount of smell from both of them and their smells will both meld
together. The smell may not be apparent to you but rabbits have a
great sense of smell.