A few weeks ago I had asked my family if they would consider allowing me to get my own rabbit. We have Mariska, but she is a family pet. They agreed that we had the space and time for two buns and yesterday I brought a new baby Holland Lop home 
We got the new baby from the same place we got Mariska, since she has been such an amazing bunny. My first concern is that the new baby is very shy. She doesn't mind being held, but when anyone tries to pet her she runs and hides. This is something we never had a problem with when we brought Mariska home. She was a very social bunny. I know that things take time when it comes to shy animals, but I have read that the first few weeks of socialization are crucial for bunnies and I certainly don't want to miss my chance to get her more confident. I know that I should open her cage and let her come out when she is ready, but should I keep her igloo in her cage or will she get more comfortable with people if she doesn't have the option to hide? And should I be picking her up and taking her out of her cage for playtime or should I let her decide when to come out? I would hate for her to be cooped up in her cage all day because she is scared
My second question is about bonding a pair of female rabbits. We were told it was okay to introduce two babies right away, so last night after we gave the baby a few hours to settle in we introduced them. Things went very well! We took them to the bathroom since Mariska had never been there. They were pretty much ignoring each other for about 6 minutes, but then Mariska went up to the baby and sniffed her for a few minutes. The baby followed her around for a while, too. Mariska even gave baby a few licks! The baby bunny acted pretty submissive, but relaxed. They sat a few inches apart and groomed themselves, which I took as being comfortable with each other's presence or maybe it meant nothing? There was a bump in the road though: Mariska mounted the baby and the baby got scared and tried to get away, but Mariska was a little rough with her and caught her (Mariska never touched her teeth to baby though). Of course I had a squirt bottle handy, so I squirted Mariska and she got off baby. I put them both back in their seperate cages. I know that the mounting and humping is normal and should be allowed, but I'm scared for baby bunny as she is so much smaller than Mariska! If something like that happens again what should I do? The vet has said that Mariska is still a few months away from being the right age to spay, and I have been told that as bunnies get older they should be spayed to bond better (and for health reasons of course). So, should we wait until baby bunny is older to try bonding them? Should we wait until they are spayed? I know introducing babies is easier (not that Mariska is much of a baby. She's two months old now). I have read that it helps the bonding process if we took both bunnies for a car ride, but of course Mariska loves to ride in the car, haha. One of the things we talked about before getting a 2nd bun is whether or not we have the room for them to be totally seperate, if need be (Mariska has her own room, and baby bunny would live in my room). And we definitely do, so if they can't get along it's not a problem at all, but of course it would be nice if they were friends
We got the new baby from the same place we got Mariska, since she has been such an amazing bunny. My first concern is that the new baby is very shy. She doesn't mind being held, but when anyone tries to pet her she runs and hides. This is something we never had a problem with when we brought Mariska home. She was a very social bunny. I know that things take time when it comes to shy animals, but I have read that the first few weeks of socialization are crucial for bunnies and I certainly don't want to miss my chance to get her more confident. I know that I should open her cage and let her come out when she is ready, but should I keep her igloo in her cage or will she get more comfortable with people if she doesn't have the option to hide? And should I be picking her up and taking her out of her cage for playtime or should I let her decide when to come out? I would hate for her to be cooped up in her cage all day because she is scared
My second question is about bonding a pair of female rabbits. We were told it was okay to introduce two babies right away, so last night after we gave the baby a few hours to settle in we introduced them. Things went very well! We took them to the bathroom since Mariska had never been there. They were pretty much ignoring each other for about 6 minutes, but then Mariska went up to the baby and sniffed her for a few minutes. The baby followed her around for a while, too. Mariska even gave baby a few licks! The baby bunny acted pretty submissive, but relaxed. They sat a few inches apart and groomed themselves, which I took as being comfortable with each other's presence or maybe it meant nothing? There was a bump in the road though: Mariska mounted the baby and the baby got scared and tried to get away, but Mariska was a little rough with her and caught her (Mariska never touched her teeth to baby though). Of course I had a squirt bottle handy, so I squirted Mariska and she got off baby. I put them both back in their seperate cages. I know that the mounting and humping is normal and should be allowed, but I'm scared for baby bunny as she is so much smaller than Mariska! If something like that happens again what should I do? The vet has said that Mariska is still a few months away from being the right age to spay, and I have been told that as bunnies get older they should be spayed to bond better (and for health reasons of course). So, should we wait until baby bunny is older to try bonding them? Should we wait until they are spayed? I know introducing babies is easier (not that Mariska is much of a baby. She's two months old now). I have read that it helps the bonding process if we took both bunnies for a car ride, but of course Mariska loves to ride in the car, haha. One of the things we talked about before getting a 2nd bun is whether or not we have the room for them to be totally seperate, if need be (Mariska has her own room, and baby bunny would live in my room). And we definitely do, so if they can't get along it's not a problem at all, but of course it would be nice if they were friends