Anyone that has been following my Melbourne journey for a little while will know that in June last year – we added a little lop eared bunny called Billie Jean to our family. Billie was such a fabulous little addition – that in January 2018 I managed to convince (/slightly trick) my boyfriend into adopting another bunny from the RSPCA. As rabbits live in big groups in the wild, it’s the general consensus that rabbits do better, and are happier in pairs.
We picked up Robin Williams (best name ever, chosen by the RSPCA) on Australia Day after a quick rabbit date with Billie to see if they got on. As they are both males, this typically can make bonding more difficult – but they seemed to get on well without any territorial behaviour so we deemed them a good fit.
Rabbit bonding is notoriously very difficult. Rabbits are extremely territorial – so introducing two rabbits needs to be a very slow process as fights are vicious and common. That said, even rabbits that fight aggressively can still be bonded – provided the correct measures are taken. We found that for the first 2 days that our rabbits were introduced things went swimmingly and they seemed like the best of friends, but we rushed it too quickly and they soon turned on each other – and for 3 months afterwards we had to keep them separated as they fought so badly. It was a pretty terrible time, we tried all the bonding advice we could, but ultimately we weren’t able to bond them. So, we lived in a rabbit obstacle course, climbing over various barriers to get about our home.
In March, we moved house – and so I decided to send the rabbits to be boarded so they wouldn’t get stressed/in the way during the move. The boarders also specialised in rabbit bonding (love school if you will), so Robin and Billie were sent away to fall in love for 2 weeks – and came back the best of friends. They now live in perfect harmony, sharing an enclosure, eating together and grooming and snuggling. Not only is it a huge relief to finally have them happy together, but moving house meant we were able to create them a lovely space that also didn’t impact our ability to move around our home.
Billie Jean and Robin Williams’ adventures can be followed on Instagram – @billiejeanbunny. For anyone thinking of getting a house rabbit, I wrote a post last year that may be helpful.
Rabbit Love
Best buddies
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