No they dont.I think they bond better with people if theres no other rabbit.chances are very good they wont get along after they go through sexual maturaty.That myth just helps the too many mixed breed rabbits issue.because often the rabbits are sexed wrong at the petstore.

I would tell them "OK, but there's a good chance they will hurt and/or kill each other when they mature if you don't get them fixed."

The companion rabbit thing has been perpetuated among the House Rabbit people, if I'm not mistaken. Seems they often place bonded altered pairs. I got the info to the local SPCA that will neuter a buck for $65 and I am going to make sure this info is in all of my pet rabbit paperwork.

I think I might also experiment with neutering or banding bucks myself and see if I can offer that service to pet buyers in the future.

My first rabbit was a beautiful harlequin Rex I had named Chester. He came with a mini rex/netherland dwarf mix My Daughter named Lightning. They were best buds. Till little lightning practically chewed Chester's male parts off. I knew it wouldn't heal & he would get sick so he became the first rabbit I ever butchered. I did a fine job but he was such a handsome boy. I stick to the keep the rabbits in their own pen policy now.

Edited by MaggieJ to remove material unsuited to pet rabbit sections. Lady Karli, any information or discussion pertaining to meat rabbits must be posted in the Meat Rabbits forum. If you wish to post the video, please start a new thread for it there. Thanks!

Oh no,
I just cannot agree!
All of my Bucks have a companion Rabbit
to keep them company,
For at least five minutes every now and then!
Ottersatin.

Sometimes... people will not belive the fact that a rabbit is alright by itself... until they actually experience the above for themselves. It is a horrible lesson to have to go thru... for both people And the rabbits !

I have a 'couple' rabbits that will happily share space with another rabbit-- One rabbit will only share space with aspecific related rabbit. I am also watching the two Rex boys for any signs that are are going to stop getting along! They are just hitting 12 weeks of age-- I have no problem caging a rabbit alone-- but I know that making sure they have a 'companion' is very risky business! MArsha and Wilma get along fine as long as there is wire between them-- but put them on a living room floor, all sorts of room and hiding places== and just watch the fur fly!!!

In the colony, so far, my rabbits have had no problems getting along up to butchering age of 16-18 weeks. But... I have a strain of very laid-back mutts and they are all related, which I think helps.

My rabbits and guinea pigs get along well with one of each in a cage.

I find with Holland lop does i can often leave the daughters in the cage till they are fulll grown.i take them out too rebreed.

I have two does who share a cage. Fluffy is (probably) a NZW, and Nibbles is some sort of black dwarf or other small bunny. They were raised together and given to us together, and I have kept them together partly because I don't have the space not to.

I was very worried at first that I was going to have to find the space to separate them somehow, especially after I bred Fluffy. But rather than turning on Fluffy or killing her kits, Nibbles became the overprotective aunt, even nipping me once when I was checking the kits. Fluffy couldn't have cared less what I was doing with the kits, but I had to keep my eye on Nibbles.

They do have their spats. Occasionally, they will chase each other around the cage or mount each other in a dominance display. Mostly, though, they get along very well. I usually find them snuggled up together.

I would not have chosen to have them together, because this sort of arrangement does not usually work out very well at all. I'm glad it seems to mostly work, because I really was not sure how I would separate them.

This does not normally work once they reach maturity.

There are exceptions to every rule- when I was a teen I had a cat and a parakeet that were best friends. The parakeet was not confined to its cage, and often when I came home from school, China would be sitting on my bed with Carver peeking out from the fat fold on her tummy like a little penguin chick! I also had cockatiels at one time, and they would clean my American Eskimo's teeth!

I think sometimes people have exceptional situations with their animals and believe that since it worked for them, with a little effort everyone should be able to do it. So... I dare ya... go buy your kitty a parakeet of its very own!

I didn't read quite everything but I do agree that 95% of the time they do better penned alone.With the only exceptions being does with litters, fresh weaned kits under 3 months, and those cases of bonded open does. I have a pair of littermate does that I bought for breeding that have never been apart but now one's bred and the other kepps riding the other around so they're coming apart next week when I finnish my new pens. I may let them share a cage when they're both open but I'm not risking a litter on the arangement.

I read most of the responses, and have to agree that it's got to be a very certain circumstance for two bunnies to live in harmony. Unless like Maggie stated, live in a colony. And you still have to watch.

I'm one of those people when first getting bunnies as pets wanted two. The breeder was very forthright and told me that there could be fights when horomones hit and that rabbits can be very nasty to each other. My Rabbit Savvy Vet also informed me as well. Did I have a problem? Yes I did and thankfully only fur flew. Now all my bunnies live in separate crates and have separate run time.

I've since have gotten two lion heads that I want to breed. They are pedigreed. I will be just like that breeder and inform those who purchase exactly what I had to find out the hard way.

I've been posting on a "pet" forum and the "adage" there is "Bunny Dating" and bunnies need companionship too. All that I've read of their experiences is that it is very stressful for both bunnies and owners. And that most of the time, the bonding does not work and then left with two separate rabbits, and one always needs to be rehomed. Bonding does happen but it takes several months to do so.

Will you stop this kind of thinking? No you won't. But you can educate those who do purchase and then it's on them. I'm grateful for the breeders words (at the time I was shocked and didn't know much about bunnies) but it did give me a heads up on when problems could arise and I was able to stop anything really bad happening.

Just my thoughts from someone who started out as "rabbits need companions" and know better now.

K

I've read (not sure if it is true) that the mothers milk imprints the young with a scent that allows rabbits to recognize siblings even if they are from another litter.

Hoodat, that would certainly explain how wild European rabbits manage to get along in their warrens, as well as the calm atmosphere in my colony. I will have to try to research this a little more.