New rabbit in the home

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

How very kind of you to take in the extra bunny.  With time and patience they should be able to get along.  The neutered male should be very passive unless he had been abused.  After you properly bond them you can keep them together.  It may take some time in neutral territory for them to get used to each other but after you are assured that they aren't going to fight they should be fine.  Honestly I would be more worried about the little doe being aggressive.  Doe's are usually more aggressive to begin with plus she sounds like she could be a dwarf breed.  Dwarfs and smaller rabbits are so feisty.  Usually adoring personalities but can just be down right moody at times.  The buck who is fixed should be much more docile.  When you go to neutral territory you will probably find the little doe trying to mount the big buck.  He will either say ok fine.. your the boss lady!!! or you will have to work with them.  Keep a spray bottle handy and if they get to rough give them a small spray in the face.  This will cause them to take a time out to groom themselves.  Another trick is after they have been introduced a few times if they still aren't getting along very well try taking them for a car ride.  The car ride will scare them and they will usually turn to each other for comfort.

I am attaching a website for bonding rabbits.  It should help you to get them acquainted.  

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html
http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/bonding-tips.html

It is really easy to find other bonding articles.  Just type in bonding rabbits in the search area and you should get many articles.

Ok pine shavings are said to be bad for their kidneys.  I personally use pine shavings on some of my rabbits but they are brood stock and not pets.  I have never had a problem other than one doe was allergic to them.  Cedar is very bad because of the urine and fumes can cause very bad irritation and again kidney problems.

I recently took my doe who was allergic to pine to see one of my co-workers.  He told me to use aspen chips and she has not had one sign of allergic reaction since.  I recommend to my patients that they be put in cages with wire bottoms.  They have huge and beautiful hutches with wire bottoms and trays right underneath.  If you use those you don't need any bedding.  You just have to make sure that they have a really big perch to sit on.  I have a friend make me perches out of untreated plywood.  He cuts them out like spindling but thicker that way if the bunny poops on them it will fall right through.  They have to be taken out about once a week to be cleaned with a vanodine solution.  If you already have a huge pen that has a bottom and needs bedding you can try a couple things.  A few of my indoor rabbits use those kind of pens.  I actually don't put any bedding in them at all.  Instead I put a big huge litter box in there with non-clumping cat litter.  They don't want their pen dirty so they use the litter box.  Then I put a big towel that doesn't have lose strings so they can lay on it.  If the rabbit tries to eat the towel you will have to take it away and try something else.  If you do have to use bedding I would use aspen.  It is really expensive but just put enough in to line the bottom of the tray.  Even if you keep them without bedding just long enough to train them to use the potty it will help cut costs tremendously.

I don't want to overwhelm you all at once but I have a few other things I would like to let you know.  The baby that is under 6 month old should not receive any veggies until she turns 6 months old.  Then you can introduce them a little bit at a time.  If you want to give the older one some veggies I would still start a little at a time since you aren't familiar with him.  Give him a few bites while he is away from the little one.  If he tolerates them he can have 1/2 cup a day along with his pellets.  You also want to make sure they both get as much timothy or grass hay as they want.  Stay away from alfalfa because the pellets have enough alfalfa in them.  

You want to give their toe-nails a trim about once a month.  Keep an eye on them and if they need it more often that is fine.  If they have light colored toe-nails you can see the blood line.  If you can see it just take regular people toe-nail clippers and snip them just above the blood line.  If they have dark toe-nails and you can't see the blood line then you have to guess.  Trim just a little bit at a time and if you accidently get blood you can put the foot right in a bar of soap or dip it in flour and hold pressure on it until it stops bleeding.

You will also want to find a vet in your area that will treat rabbits.  It is good to have a wellness check-up once a year but even if you don't do that, you want someone to trust incase of emergency.  It is better to have someone lined up ahead of time than to scramble looking for someone when your bunny is in bad shape.

If you need anything else Heather you can ask me anytime.  I will do the best I can to help you be the best mommy in the world.  The fact that you care is all those little ones need to know.  Just give them lots of love every day and tell them you love them.  They will appreciate it more than you know.

Goodluck

Pam