Matchmaking & bonding for bunnies
Sunshine Rabbit Center offers matchmaking and bonding services! Whether you’re looking for a new friend for your rabbit or you already have two rabbits you are trying to bond, we are here to help.
Read more about matchmaking and bonding and learn about the Sunshine process (including next steps and cost) so you can see whether working with Sunshine is right for you and your bunny.
Matchmaking & bonding are a chance to find a new best friend for your single rabbit. Why find a friend for your bunny?
Rabbits are social creatures and most of them prefer to live in pairs (or even trios or groups). Usually, once they bond, they bond for life. Watching two bonded bunnies together, it’s easy to see how happy they are with companionship. They snuggle together, groom each other, play together, and comfort each other with they feel stressed.
If you’re adopting for the first time, taking home an already bonded pair is a great option. It saves you the work and expense of finding your bunny a bond mate later on. Plus, bonded pairs wait the longest at rescues and shelters. When you adopt a pair, you are truly rescuing them!
If you already have a single bunny though, it’s good to consider getting them a partner. Especially if your bunny spends a lot of time alone - for example, if you work outside of the home or have a busy schedule - getting your bunny a bond mate can improve their mood and help them live a fuller life.
How do I find a new friend for my bunny?
We don’t recommend simply selecting a new bunny friend for your rabbit. It can be tempting to visit a rescue or shelter (or breeder) to adopt a second bunny based on the things that you, as a human owner, enjoy about a new rabbit friend. Maybe it’s how the bunny looks, or whether they’re sweet with humans. But the truth is that it’s your bunny who has to do the choosing!
Even though bunnies are social, they are very picky about their friends. The chemistry in a new bond has to be just right. Bunnies who don’t like each other become territorial and aggressive. They often fight and can cause each other serious harm.
Instead of adopting a second bunny and hoping they’ll get along, we strongly recommend using a matchmaking service. Matchmaking is offered at some shelters and adoption events, but usually the most thorough and careful matchmaking is usually done at rescue organizations (like Sunshine Rabbit Center) with expert matchmakers.
What is matchmaking for bunnies?
Matchmaking is like speed dating for rabbits - though, when it’s done right, it’s not actually that speedy! It lets your bunny choose their own partner, based on the match they feel most comfortable with.
Every organization that offers matchmaking takes a slightly different approach. The overall goal is to present your bunny with multiple options for possible bond mates and to observe which partner works best for them.
Often, a matchmaker can tell within ten minutes or so whether a possible bond is a no-go (for example, if we see instant fighting) or has potential. Sometimes, we see an instant match. Those are exciting but rare! Even pairs that have the potential to be strong need the right conditions to feel comfortable and become close.
What makes two bunnies good potential matches?
There’s no perfect formula for picking two bunnies who will get along. However, there are some factors that affect whether one bunny is a good fit for another:
Biological sex. Most matchmakers believe that male and female rabbits pair best, though there are instances where bunnies prefer bond mates of the same sex.
Age and energy. Often (but not always) bunnies pair best when they are in roughly the same stage of life. A very young bunny and a very old bunny may not be a strong match because they have different energy levels and are interested in different activities.
Dominance. Rabbits have social hierarchies, and typically one bunny in a pair will be the more dominant and the other the more submissive. A very sassy single bunny often does best with a more submissive bond mate—though sometimes an even sassier bond mate will help the first bunny become more mellow.
Past experiences. Rabbits who have experienced stress, injury, or trauma in the past can be particularly challenging to match. They are sometimes skittish or fearful, which makes them more prone to chase and fight. These rabbits may need especially gentle partners, or may even prefer the company of humans.
Caution: Watch out for matchmaking that moves too fast
We’ve heard from a number of community members who have had worrisome experiences with organizations that rush through the matchmaking process. Matchmaking takes time and care; it shouldn’t be rushed. It’s not possible to get a true read on the dynamic between two bunnies in an instant.
Often, when matchmaking gets rushed, it leads to owners taking home a second bunny who actually isn’t a good match for their first bunny. Then they’re stuck with two bunnies who don’t get along—and the hard decision whether to return one, keep them separate forever, or pay for a professional bonding service (which still may not be successful).
If it feels like your matchmaker is moving too quickly (for example, by trying two bunnies together for only a few moments, then telling you they will be fine to go home together), or if you feel pressured to adopt, it’s ok to ask to slow down or get a second opinion. No one should feel pressured into a match, not you or your bunny!
Why do matchmaking at Sunshine Rabbit Center?
Sunshine Rabbit Center offers matchmaking services with appointments typically available all year round. Our matchmakers have an excellent track record of pairing new bunny best friends whose bonds are loving and strong. Between June and December 2025 alone, we performed matchmaking and bonding for twenty-nine rabbit pairs! We are conveniently located in Long Beach with easy access to Los Angeles and Orange County.
All of our rabbits available for matchmaking are adoptable rescue bunnies who have been spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and seen by a rabbit vet. Because our staff works with all of our rabbits closely, we know their personalities and histories well and can choose the best fits for your bunny.
Our process is thoughtful, gentle, and full of care. We schedule long matchmaking sessions (roughly 60 minutes) to ensure we have enough time to get to know you and your bunny. We want what is best for you and your bunny, so we only make matches that we believe will be safe and long-lasting.
We are educators at heart and we believe in offering communication and information throughout the matchmaking process. We are eager to answer your questions and help take the stress and mystery out of matchmaking!
Interested in matchmaking at Sunshine? Here are the next steps
If you want to explore matchmaking at Sunshine, here are your next steps and a breakdown of the process:
Begin by filling out our matchmaking interest form - or email or call us to learn more. We’ll contact you via email after you fill our your form to walk you through next steps.
Schedule a time to meet with our matchmakers, usually available late afternoons Thursday - Sunday. Appointments last approximately 60 minutes. There is no charge for the appointment.
Bring your bunny for their matchmaking session. Our matchmaker will introduce your bunny to possible matches and talk you through the matchmaking process.
If your bunny has found a successful match, your bunny and their new bond mate will stay at Sunshine for six nights for the bonding process (read more below).
There’s no cost for the session with our matchmaker. If we don’t find you the right match for your bunny or you choose not to move forward with bonding your bunny to their new friend, there’s no charge!
What happens after matchmaking? What is bonding for bunnies?
Matchmaking helps you find the right bond mate for your bunny — but the process of getting your bunny a new best friend doesn’t stop there! Now your rabbit and their new friend have to be bonded together.
Even though rabbits are social and love living in pairs, they need the right conditions to form their bond. There are many different ways to approach bonding and you may read different (or even contradictory) advice from different sources. One thing is for sure: Except in those rare cases when bunnies love each other instantly, bonding isn’t easy!
Bonding can take anywhere from a few weeks to months, depending on whether you work with a professional bonding service or do your bonding at home. Whatever approach you take, bonding usually involves some combination of techniques to:
Introduce the rabbits to one another slowly
Allow them to become used to each other’s scents
Minimize their territorial instincts, such as by bonding them in a neutral place
Observe them and intervene in scuffles to avoid significant fighting
Even after two rabbits are bonded, it is important to take ongoing precautions to ensure that their bond remains strong. Some examples include always taking the rabbits together in the same carrier when they leave the house (for example, when they visit the vet) and using items like foraging mats and large litter boxes to avoid triggering territorial behavior around food. Bonding is very rewarding but it’s also a long-term commitment.
What if you already have two bunnies and you want to bond them?
Bonding isn’t just for new matches. It’s also for bunny owners who already have two (or more rabbits) and who want to bond them together. However these rabbits came into your life, the bonding process can help them live happily together.
Bonding two bunnies you already can be trickier than bonding after matchmaking, since your bunnies may not have gotten the chance to choose one another. If you’ve tried bonding them at home, they may already have had challenging experiences (like fights) that makes bonding harder in the future. All the more reason to use a professional bonding service, like Sunshine Rabbit Center!
If you’re interested in bonding your two existing rabbits together at Sunshine, the next steps are very similar to those for matchmaking:
Begin by filling out our matchmaking interest form - or email or call us to learn more.
Schedule a time to meet with our bonding experts, usually available late afternoons Friday - Sunday. Appointments last approximately 60 minutes. At this appointment, our bonder will observe the dynamic between your rabbits and give you an honest assessment of whether it is safe to try to bond them.
If your bunnies seem bondable, they will enter the same six-night, in-house process described below.
There’s no cost for the session with our bonder. If we don’t feel that it’s safe to bond your rabbits and they don’t enter the bonding process at Sunshine, there’s no charge for this assessment.
Why use a professional bonder instead of bonding at home?
Just like picking a new bond mate for your bunny, bonding two bunnies together is a lot harder than it sounds!
Bonding at home can be very stressful and time-consuming for bunny owners. As compared to bonding with a professional, bonding at home usually involves a very slow, gradual process of introducing the bunnies through techniques like supervised “dates,” swapping litter boxes, and moving the bunnies’ enclosures incrementally closer.
But it’s when fights break out that the at-home process gets really tough. Owners who aren’t experienced with bonding may not know the signs to watch for before a scuffle turns into a full-blown fight. Once bunnies start fighting, it can be very challenging to separate them. They may seriously hurt one another or injure the human who is intervening, such as by biting or scratching.
Many bunny owners who face challenges bonding at home worry that they’ve failed; they feel embarrassed and sometimes ashamed that they’re considering returning one of their rabbits if they can’t make the bonding process work. The truth is that the process is simply hard, and it’s frankly hardest when it’s done in an owner’s home.
If you’ve tried to bond at home and the process hasn’t worked for you, you haven’t failed. You’ve learned helpful information and gained valuable experience. Now it’s time to try a different approach to bonding - working with a professional bonder!
What is the bonding process at Sunshine?
Once your bunny has found a match, it’s time to bond them together! Bonding at Sunshine is done in-house. That means that the bunnies — your bunny and their new best friend — stay with us at our center (located in Long Beach, CA, near Los Angeles and Orange County) for the first stage of their bonding.
Bonding pairs stay an average of six nights and are typically ready for pickup after one week. While your bunnies are at Sunshine, they are observed each day by trained staff who work with them to strengthen their bond.
You can expect daily updates from our staff, including photos to show you the progress of your bonding. You’ll also get detailed instructions on how to prepare your living space for when your bunnies go home and how interact with the new pair in the coming weeks to ensure their bond stays strong.
Why use an organization that bonds in-house?
The fact that Sunshine bonds in-house makes us different from most other professional groups or individuals in the greater Los Angeles area who do bonding. Many of these groups send bunnies home with their owners for bonding or they send the bunnies home with a volunteer to be bonded in their volunteer’s home. Sometimes they require that the owners of the bonding pair take in temporary foster bunnies while their bunnies are being bonded with a volunteer.
There are many benefits to bonding in-house at the Sunshine facility:
Your bunnies stay in a facility that is professional, permitted, and open to the public. That means you can see the space where they’ll be staying and feel comfortable knowing they’re well cared for.
Bonding bunnies are observed and cared for daily by trained staff who are at the center seven days a week. These staff members have worked on dozens of bondings.
Our space and timing are flexible, so it’s easy to extend your bunnies’ stay if need be. We’re here for the bunnies every day, rain or shine!
We conduct daily health checks on all bunnies. Though we are not a medical facility, we have staff and materials on site to address most medical concerns that may arise.
What does it cost to bond at Sunshine & what does it include?
We take pride in our matchmaking and bonding services - and we love finding new best friends for the bunnies in our community! But bonding is a labor intensive process that includes extra staff hours for observations, interactions, and cleaning, so we do need to charge more per night to bond than we do for regular boarding.
Bonding can feel pricey, and it’s certainly an investment. But it’s helpful to know that our cost is actually about half (or, in some cases, even a third!) of what other professional bonders charge in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Orange County.
Matchmaking & bonding with one of our adoptable rabbits:
If you match your bunny (or bunnies) with one of our adoptable rescue rabbits, we charge the following rates per night. These bondings tend to be smoother than bondings between two rabbits that families already own, and we’re always excited to encourage adoptions. We also waive the adoption fee for the rescue rabbit you add to your bond - a savings of $90!
$300 for a pair ($50 per night, for an average of 6 nights)
$420 for a trio ($70 per night, for an average of 6 nights)
$20 additional per night per rabbit for groups of 4+
Adoption fee waived with bonding - savings of $90!
Bonding cost for two or more rabbits you already own:
$420 for a pair ($70 per night, for an average of 6 nights)
$540 for a trio ($90 per night, for an average of 6 nights)
$20 additional per night per rabbit for groups of 4+
Bonding fees includes:
Initial matchmaking/bonding assessment session
Daily observations and bonding steps by on-site staff
Daily communications and photos regarding the bonding
All materials for bunny care during the bonding, including hay, food, veggies, etc.
Daily cleaning for the bonding pair during stay
Information about maintaining the bond at home
Ongoing support and education after the on-site bonding
Have more questions about matchmaking or bonding? Get in touch!
You’re also welcome to email or call us with questions! Feel free to reach out!