Choosing your rabbit's companion: age gap matters, a study finds
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
Adopting a second rabbit to keep the first one company sounds like a good idea on paper, but not every pairing works equally well. A Danish study observed companion rabbits in their owners' homes to understand what separates a pair that thrives from one that merely gets by. Our enrichment ideas are gathered in the rabbit toys and enrichment section.
Contents · 5 sections
Rabbits observed at home, not in a lab
Cecilie Ravn Skovlund, Niels Munch Corneliussen, Laura Benoni Kofod, Isabella Thybo Mejlstrup, Peter Sandøe and Björn Forkman published a study in 2025, in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, comparing companion rabbits housed alone or in groups directly in their owners' homes. For pairs and groups, the researchers built a "Friendship Index," combining the frequency of positive contact and the absence of aggressive behaviour, to measure the real quality of the bond rather than just its existence.
Frequent contact, rare aggression — but an uneven bond
Group-housed rabbits spent 21% of observed scans in direct contact with a companion and 75% in close proximity, with aggressive behaviour rare. By contrast, solitary rabbits showed a significantly poorer behavioural repertoire and spent more time awake but inactive — a sign of understimulation already documented in solitary rabbits.
Age gap, a factor that weighs on the bond
The finding most directly useful for choosing a companion concerns the Friendship Index between the two members of a pair: a larger age gap between two rabbits was significantly associated with a lower Friendship Index. A young kit paired with a much older rabbit doesn't necessarily form as strong a bond as a pair of similar ages, even though pairing still stays possible with careful, gradual bonding — our guide on adopting one rabbit or two covers the method.
The study's limits
The study stays observational: it measures a statistical association between age gap and bond quality, without isolating that factor from each rabbit's personality, neuter status or prior social experience, which likely all interact with age at the time they meet. It can't establish that a large age gap always condemns a pair to a poor bond.
Frequently asked questions
Should you avoid pairing an older rabbit with a young kit?
Not necessarily: age gap is only one factor among others, but it warrants a more gradual introduction and closer attention to early signs of a bond forming, rather than ruling it out automatically.
Is a solitary rabbit necessarily unhappy?
Not necessarily if it gets plenty of human attention and enrichment, but this study confirms that a group-housed rabbit keeps a richer behavioural repertoire on average. Find all our guides on the rabbit hub.
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This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Rabbits universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.
