Three days after spaying – too soon for a “date”?

[Quartz]

My local shelter has a 4 month old bun girl who came in with a lot of brothers, and she was inspected and spayed soon after. Today she was listed for adoption, and I’m curious if I can bring in my neutered two-year old boy tomorrow for a date at the shelter.

Is it too soon for the girl? It will be day 4 post surgery. She’s on the docile side today, very slightly wary–i met her myself today.

What do you think, us she a good potential candidate to try with my boy?

For reference, my bun is quite laid back, not terribly social or ever demanding attention, but very comfortable around humans.

[Mikey]

Poor little girl! All bunnies should be given atleast a month to recover before being put with other bunnies to avoid infections and opening of the wounds. Plus, spays are even harder on females than neuters are on males. Knowing that, i personally wouldnt bring any bun in to bond with her to avoid causing her added pain

[Quartz]

This wouldn’t be pairing, it would just be a date to see how the two get along.  Then of course she’d have her own enclosure at home for a while until she settles.

Should tell them I think it’s too early for an introduction then? It’s unfortunate, there aren’t many already spayed females in my shelters with buns that seem suitable for my guy. Quite a few are spayed only after adoption forms are signed, which doesn’t help with the “dating” plan

[Q8bunny]

She just had a hysterectomy. Please tell the shelter to let her be for at least four weeks before attempting ANY sort of date, bonding, playpen encounter, etc. Poor darling…

[Mikey]

But if they would meet face to face and she gets nervous or reacts badly, or your bun decides to try to mount her for dominance during the meeting, it could all cause her a lot of pain/discomfort. If you feel like they would listen to you if you told them to wait before trying to adopt her out, it would be for her well being. But if you dont feel comfortable about asking them or dont think they will listen, its ok not to ask

You can always risk taking her home without a bunny date and having her heal first, then work on seeing if they will bond. Perhaps the shelter is willing to let you foster her? You will take care of her until she is healed up and feeling better, then give her back to the shelter or adopt her if bonding goes well. I know cat/dog shelters usually allow this, but im not sure if bunny shelters do too

I agree. It is not very smart of them to spay/neuter only after the bun is adopted out. But if they dont have enough money to fix their buns before adopting them, it is understandable

[Quartz]

I can try, but she’s already listed for adoption. So anyone can come in and take her home the same day. Hopefully they won’t be pairing her right away. I’ll see about waiting a bit, but I’m afraid since she’s young and pretty cute, she’ll go home with someone pretty quickly, before it’s safe to do a date with my rabbit.

[Mikey]

Thats always very possible, which is another reason i suggested fostering. With fostering, you would be caring for her out of pocket (unless the shelter says otherwise) until you or someone else adopts her. With fostering, youd also be able to see how she handles being in a new place (your home versus being at the shelter). I wish you, your bun, and her the best of luck with whatever you feel is best to do

[tobyluv]

I have bonded 5 pairs of rabbits over the years, and none had dates beforehand to see if they were compatible. I know that a lot of people take their rabbits to a rescue or shelter for dating, but I’m not sure how accurate that will be as a measure of their compatibility. The rabbit being taken to the rescue or shelter will probably be stressed, by the ride there and by being in an unfamiliar setting, with all the smells and noise and strangeness that brings. I think it would be hard to get a true reading of the rabbits’ feelings for each other in a situation like that, but I certainly could be wrong.  When one of my bunnies needed a new companion, I went to the shelter and adopted one, then preceded with the bonding after the new rabbit had settled in for a couple of weeks. All of my bondings went quickly and easily, which I know isn’t always the case, of course.

I have seen some people post here that they took their rabbit for speed dating, found a rabbit that seemed to be a good companion, and adopted it, but later found that the rabbits weren’t so compatible after all. If you are really interested in this female, think about going ahead and adopting her. It would certainly be better for her to recuperate in your home, than in a shelter.

[MrBun&Daisy]

just my 2 cents… take that baby home! my buns were bonded without a date first. I’m not saying this works for all buns but If she is up for adoption someone else could very well come in and take her and not know how to handle a newly spayed bun. from experience with my shelter, if I were to ask to wait a bit they’d laugh and say “sure, if nobody takes her while you’re waiting”

so If I were you I would take her home and allow her to safely recover THEN bond her with your boy. i also think you may not see her true personality until she is fully healed and feeling herself again anyway so a date right now would not be accurate. i agree with toby- if you’ve fallen for her go for it! take her home, give her a small stuffed animal to snuggle with for a few days then give that to your male. that way he will be introduced to her scent before they meet and will be less likely to react badly. You would essentially be starting the bonding process while she is still recovering by letting them get used to each other’s scent. then once she is safely healed and can meet they will feel like they already know each other!

[Quartz]

Unfortunately they said no to fostering. They are going to be closed next Monday and Tuesday, so I’m going to hope no one adopts the girl over the weekend, so she has more time to heal in the meantime. Then next Wednesday it will probably be a much more reasonable time to visit her. The vet at the adoption center said she’s doing very well, her operation was uncomplicated, and she is good to go home now.

[Q8bunny]

In that case, I’m with the other posters: adopt the little darling, let her recover fully at your house, and then introduce her to your bunbun for bonding.

[MrBun&Daisy]

please take her home! that adoption center sounds like bad news! I think you will be fine with bonding them after she is recovered. I’ve even heard of people who had buns react badly to each other so they separated them for a while then tried again and they did great!

[Quartz]

I’m not ready to take her immediately anyway–would be next week at the earliest, as I have an extra xpen still on the way. I live in a 1-bedroom apartment, which my rabbit free-roams, so getting a 2nd rabbit without any dating is risky. I can’t have 2 rabbits who don’t like each other share the apartment, because that means I will be limiting their out time a lot and also they’ll still have to be in the same living room. Which would end up getting covered with 2 huge xpens, without much remaining room for the humans. Dating is what seems to be recommended as some indicator of how much two rabbits initially like each other. I realize that it might take 2 months for 2 rabbits to decide that they love each other, but if in those two months they decide that they don’t, I’ll be attached to both and in trouble with the space restrictions. Can’t take that risk.

[Paradigm]

I agree with TobyLuv.

I had one love at first sight and one very tricky bond which I marathoned and completed in two weeks. The trio are still happily together nearly a year later. A date would never have shown them as compatible because they fought at every opportunity at first. 

I also think lots of people anthropomorphise their bunnies. Almost all rabbits will bond given time, effort and a few tricks up your sleeve.

If you want the bun, take the bun.

[Vienna Blue in France]

LOL Paradigm – I can see Joey from Friends saying that in his very passionate way “If you want the bun, TAKE the bun !!!”

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