HRS Article:   A Guide to Match - Making
 
The road to true matchmaking between rabbits isn’t always smooth, but it is worth the effort. Bunnies are social animals and no one talks "rabbit" better than one of their own species. Also, two rabbits will keep each other occupied, which means less trouble for everyone. And two are little or no more work than one - - really! The only significant change is a commitment to medical care for two.
 
Before Beginning

• Both rabbits should be spayed or neutered. By definition, this means you are only trying to pair adults.  Baby bunnies will probably undergo a personality change as they mature, which means - contrary to some people’s beliefs - sibling buns won’t remain close friends.
• You must be willing to spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day working with the rabbits. Except for cases of love-at-first-sight, pairings need human supervision, intervention, coaxing and - occasionally - old-fashioned manipulation of the situation.

 
The Eye of the Beholder

• Age, size and breed don’t matter to the rabbits. Dwarfs can fall in love with big lops. And a senior citizen may be attracted to some wild young thing. Remember: You can provide the opportunity for them to get acquainted safely. But, the final decision is always the rabbits’ choice.
• Male/female pairings tend to be the easiest.
• Male/male pairings can work, but usually take more time to establish.
• Female/female pairings are the hardest since female rabbits tend to be more territorial.

 
These are only guidelines. For every "rule" of conventional wisdom, there are two rabbits who have proved that rules are for humans, not buns.
 
Looking for Love in All the Right Places

• You need two cages or two separate areas for the rabbits to live until they have worked out their relationship
• Plus, a neutral territory for their first series of meeting. This means any room that has been off limits to your first bun: bathroom, laundry room, hallway. It should be large enough to allow a little distance between the two but not so large that they can forget each other’s existence: 10 x 12 maximum, bathtub-size, minimum. Don’t pick a bedroom (or any other room) where the bun can hide underneath or behind something, eluding your reach. If your rabbit has inhabited every nook and cranny of the place, try using a car as a neutral territory.

 
You Also Need

• A spray bottle of water to break up fights.
• Heavy duty gloves or some other kind of hand protectors; in case the fighting gets down and dirty, you cannot hesitate to reach in and separate the rabbits.
• Patience, patience, patience.

 
Resources

• House Rabbit Handbook, third edition, has a step-by-step article called "When Rabbits Meet." (Drollery Press, $13.00) Check your local bookstore or order it through this chapter.
• Several back issues of House Rabbit Journal, the national newsletter, have detailed articles on this subject:

-- "Will They Ever Be Friends?"  HRJ vol. II, no. 5
-- "Can this Marriage Be Saved?" HRJ vol III, no. 4
-- "When a Bunny Meets a Bunny" HRJ vol III, no. 4
-- "the Case for Rabbits in the Plural" HRJ vol III, no. 8

 
You can also download these articles off HRJ’s website at www.rabbit.org.

• Send for "Introducing Rabbits," an HRS video, c/o House Rabbit Society, P.O. Box 1201, Alameda, CA 94501. Cost is $23.95, including shipping and handling.

 
Your Love Connection
Find your rabbit a friend through the Chicago House Rabbit Society. You’ll begin with a spayed/neutered bun whose personality is already known by his or her fosterer. You’ll get the benefit and back-up of our Adoption Team’s experience. And all our pairings start off on a "foster only" basis; you don’t commit to the new bunny until your rabbit does. But if that attempt at love is a dud, we find a new companion for you and your rabbit to meet. Call (847) 266-0068, press 1 to leave a message for an adoption volunteer.
 
By: Marcia Coburn

Originally published in Chicago Rabbit News - Spring 1997