New Bunny Meeting Old Bunny

Question
Hi, I have a 4 year old rabbit at home. I recently purchased another bunny...she's a dwarf around 9 weeks old. The two bunnies have met and they seemed to be doing ok, until the younger bunny wanted to snuggle, then the older one growled and hopped away. The older one also tends to stay away from the younger one, but she does hop over to her and smells her.  Both rabbits are females.  Do you have any suggestions or advice?

Thanks!

Answer
Older rabbits don't tend to be keen on bunnies. You can think of older rabbits as curmudgeonly in that aspect. It's good there has been no fur flying.

Is the older rabbit spayed? If not, now is a good time to consider having that done. Two unspayed females are very unlikely to share the same space happily. For now things will probably be fairly mellow, but once the young one hit puberty, watch out. I would recommend having her spayed as soon as she is ready, for a dwarf that's probably 5 months old (smaller breeds tend to mature more quickly). And spaying eliminates several common health problems in mature rabbits such as uterine cancer and chronic uterine infections.

I hope you already have a good veterinarian. If you have not taken your bunny to the vet before, please try to find one who is experienced with rabbits. Many vets who are very good with dogs and cats are not knowledgeable about rabbits, especially the latest information. The page http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.html has suggestions on how to find one. There is a list of some vets at http://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html and another organization's list at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

You can also contact a nearby House Rabbit Society chapter or other rabbit group for suggestions on good local vets. HRS has a page listing contacts for their own chapters. If there is not one near you, you can look for a nearby independent group using the HRS contacts page http://www.rabbit.org/links/index.html

For more about the risks and benefits of spaying, see http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

I hope you have separate housing for both animals in case things "heat up." Females can be VERY territorial! They can also get snuggly too. After all the spays are completed and the hormones die down, you may need to do some formal introductory techniques. See http://rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html for a host of tips.

Best of luck to everyone!

Gina