2 new rabbits

Question
Hello! Thank's in advance for your time. I have a couple questions for you. I bought a rabbit this past weekend. She's about 3 months old. Yesterday, a lady at worked begged me to take her rabbit because she is moving and she talked me into it. The one I bought, (CoCo), is a 2 pound female. The one she gave me, (Frosty), is an 11 pound male (neutered thank goodness!) She also gave me his enormous cage with him. My first question is, once they have gotten to know each other good, should it be OK to put them both in the same cage, although Frosty is so large compared to CoCo? Someone else at work said he may eat her. I don't want either getting hurt or killed. 2nd question, what kind of bedding should I use for them? She was using pine shavings but I heard that wasn't good because of the fumes or something. I think that's my main things for now. But feel free to let me know if you know of any other info I should know. I want to be the best mommy in the world to them! Thanks so much!
-Heather

Answer
Hi Heather,

congrats on your new bunnies.  Thanks for deciding to take care of your neighbor's rabbit too.

Don't try to introduce them to each other yet.  Never put rabbits together that do not know each other well.

Right now there's too much stuff changing in both of their lives.  Give them time to get used to you, your routines, and your house first.

Do not let them be together in the same space where they can touch each other.

They can have both of their houses (cages) in the same room, so that they can see each other when they are in their houses, and get used to the other rabbits' smell and shape.  But no direct interaction.

I would not recommend even trying to bond them until one month after your female gal is spayed.  You should not mix intact rabbits with fixed rabbits.  One is turbocharged and very hormonally driven, the other is much less so.

She will hit sexual maturity anywhere from 6 to 2 weeks from now.  You will probably notice she gets a little more cage aggressive when you put your hands in her cage.

You will need a goo RABBIT vet.  If you don't go to:

www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

and find a House Rabbit Society-recommended vet near you.

It takes a month or so for hormones to drop to their new lower levels.  Don't bond until after 4-5 weeks.

Bonding exercises are critical. Rabbits pick their friends and one or both may not like the other.  They may need to stay in separate cages, and separate play areas.  They may only need separate houses, but may do well enough to play together for short periods of time.  It depends on what they want.

I would suggest reading up on bonding at www.rabbit.org.  Their article search engine is at the top of this page. Search on "bonding", "diet", "nutrition", "housing", "litter", "bedding" and "exercise".

Do not use pine shavings for litter or bedding.  They give off phenols which can irritate rabbits' lungs.  Good choices are Yesterdays News (recycled paper pellets), wood stove fuel pellets (excellent and inexpensive), or care fresh pet litter (recycled paper bedding, not pelleted).  The pelleted litter is easier to clean up than carefresh.

Write back anytime.  I hope you enjoy your rabbits.  Thanks again for adopting your ex-neighbors rabbit.  

Lee