Where to keep bunny after neutering?

[Irina]

Hello all! I am looking for advice regarding where to house Butterscotch. He is a three month old who was neutered Sep 9. He had some gastric stasis and seizures after surgery, so he has been living in a cage in my bedroom so I could syringe feed, and keep an eye on his cracks and food/hay/water intake. He started eating on his own September 12, inducing pellets, water and treats. He had had a few impressive flops and even some binkies! Prior to surgery, he lived in a pen with his litter mate Shadow. (their brother Tofu had a neighboring pen in an effort to keep the peace until neuters were done. I have separated the ex pens so that each bunny has their own. I want to know when I should put Butterscotch down there next to his playmates? I know he is comfortable and feels safe where he is, and it us easier for me to give him his medicine, but the cage is only 2ftx3ft… Not a lot of room to move around. I have read that having familiar company is soothing for bunnies- especially if they have been sick. But I am afraid he may get stressed out if I move him. ( I brought him outside today to an outdoor grassy run in my yard, thinking he would get some fresh air and stretch his legs, and he seemed terrified. Other than hearing a few cries around, (which he had geard lots before), I do not know what could have spooked him. I thought bringing Shadow out would help, but it didn’t really. Butterscotch and Shadow got along fine, even exchanged a few licks, but butterscotch was still really scared, south do that I brought him back inside. Now I am wondering if my plan to move him back downstairs is premature. I am working tomorrow and will be gone all day. Would he be better off alone upstairs in the smaller space, or would he be more comfortable downstairs hear his friends? Suggestions?

[tanlover14]

As long as his incision is fine – I believe it’s safe for you to move him back downstairs. I only say that the incision is fine as you don’t want him being too active while the incision is still free. But it should definitely be fine now. But I would double-check the incision to make sure there is no problems (not sure if you have done this already or not).

How are his seizures? Has he had any recently? If so, I would keep him upstairs so you can monitor him easier since it sounds like it might be. BUT if he’s getting closer to being back to normal, I would let him go back. I’m a little confused though – does he share an x-pen with someone else or will he be going back by himself? I was a little confused about the set-up of all three. Have they all been neutered as of now? I wouldn’t suggest putting any two rabbits together unless they are both neutered for various reasons. Especially if Shadow is a female, then definitely no as the males can impregnate for up to a month after their neuter. Are any of these three bonded? I would also hold off on putting him back with Shadow unless they are bonded as buns that have been neutered can come back smelling completely different so you’ll want to make sure you re-introduce in a safe (neutral) area to ensure their bond hasn’t been severed.

[Irina]

Ok- so, they would each have their own pen downstairs. He has not had a seizure for 4 days. His incision looks good. I don’t really think I know what “bonded” means. I mean, shadow (girl- not spayed yet- too young), and butterscotch (male, neutered) and tofu (male, neutered) are litter mates that we have had since 3 weeks of age. They all lived together until a few weeks ago, when Tofu started “aggressively loving” Butterscotch and Shadow. At that point I thought Tofu was the only boy, so I put the other (girls, or so I thought) into a separate own. Everything was great. Shadow and butterscotch were perfect together. Grooming, kissing and cuddling all the time. They were together until the neuter, when i found out butterscotch is a boy.I understand they cannot be in the same cage now, which is why u separated them all. But I don’t know why butterscotch was so freaked out in the run today. He has been there every day until his surgery, and always lived it- doing bunny 500s and binkies and all. I am just wondering if the stress if surgery, force feeding, seizures ect has left him a little scared. And I don’t know if being close to his little buddy will make him feel better or worse….

[tanlover14]

I had three buns all from the same litter also! It’s quite common for them to kind of start quarreling and arguing as they begin to get older.. it’s just their hormones and territorial behaviors beginning to kick in. However, they should all be separated when this begins to happen. (Even younger because of the possibility of impregnation) but as we are only discussing behaviors I won’t bother to go into that as they are all separated now anyways. As they begin to quarrel and fight, they no longer can remain together unless they are bonded. You can google rabbit bonding and you’ll get a ton of articles on bonding, how to go about it, and so forth. Instead of overwhelming you with info though – bonding is a process you go through with your bunnies to get them all to learn to trust each other. For my group of three litter mates, it was very easy once they were all neutered/spayed. Bonding is when they can live together successfully as buddies without fighting. It only took my three litter mates a few days after everyone healed from their spays and neuters but when I added a fourth bunny into the bunch it took about a month, and then when I added in a fifth it took about a week. So as you can see the process can vary considerably from bunny to bunny. I would wait until you have the third neutered and then begin introducing (if you plan on keeping them all together once neutered/spayed).

As he is used to his buddies being close by – I would put him back with them all. My buns have always taken great comfort in having the others close by so I think if anything it will be positive for him. A lot of things could cause that – he simply may have noticed something different in the room, was hearing an odd noise that you couldn’t hear, ect. all of which can cause him to be nervous and on alert – especially if he’s been so sick lately. I would try putting him back and seeing how he takes it – you can always bring him back with you if he seems to be nervous and freaked out about it.

[Irina]

Thank you. I think I will bring him down tomorrow afternoon when I can watch and see how he reacts. As a learning point, would I consider Shadow and Butterscotch ‘bonded’ given that they did live together happily and peacefully up until I had to take Butterscotch for surgery?

[tanlover14]

I would go through the first steps of the process of bonding just to make sure they don’t react negatively to each other. So bring them into an area neither has been before, stick them together and see how they react. If there are no problems, then they are probably fine. It’s a very fine line to tread when determining when it comes to babies. For example, up until a few months they can be separated with no damage done. But once officially bonded, they can never be separated. They can go into deep, deep depression if they are. As I said, when I put my three back together they had about one scuffle with my girl being the culprit and they’ve been insanely bonded ever sense. They sound like they were VERY close… which also may accompany the odd behaviors of Butterscotch. He may just miss his bonded mate. I just realized Shadow is the one not spayed (do you plan on doing her soon?). I would wait until she is spayed to bond because she may become hormonal and aggressive to him before being spayed which can really cause problems with bonding in the future. BUT then comes along with the issue if he WAS bonded to her, separating him may be doing more harm to his health than good at this point so if I personally were in your position, I may try putting them back together (if she is getting spayed soon and has shown no aggression). It’s really a judgment call in my opinion. If being separated has created some depression and that is what is making healing for him more difficult, then putting him back with her would be better for his health. You could also try putting him and Tofu together since both are now neutered they may go easily together. In which case, you can bond in Shadow when she is done. I honestly think you will get different opinions ranging from definitely not adding shadow in until she is done to putting them back together. So I really think it’s a judgment call on what you feel is best for Butterscotch and his health at this point. Just make sure you monitor them for a bit to know there is no aggression between the two if you do decide to try them back together.

[Irina]

It is a tough call. Shadow can only be spayed at 6 months according to my vet, so she has just over two months to go. She has never been aggressive to Butterscotch. As for Tofu, he stressed Butterscotch a lot when he was trying to mount him- he has scars in his sides from the “love”. They have since played well together, but Butterscotch still gets nervous around Tofu, and often needs to get away. I think it will be harder to put the two boys together.

I will bring him down tomorrow into separate pens, and them do a supervised visit on neutral ground. It is probably best to keep them in desperate pens where They can still lie next to each other (thru the pen), give kisses, and then have lots of play time together. Can do the same with Tofu and Butterscotch. Perhaps they will be better together since the neuter.

If you have any other tips, please tell me, otherwise I will post progress.

Thx.

[Irina]

Update: Butterscotch has moved downstairs next to Shadow. They come out to play together when I can watch and seem to be getting along well. Tofu still scares Butterscotch- so they will be kept separated for now. Moving him close to his friends was the right thing to do. He is much more bouncy, active and alert. Thanks for the advice!

[tanlover14]

I’m glad to hear it is going well for you and your buns! Hope your boy continues to recover nicely!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Yay for Butterscotch!

[Author]

Messages