Bonding baby female to fixed adult male?

[Shawn]

Hello,

I am new to the house bunny scene.  I actually raised over 32 bunnies as a kid but those were crazy outdoor bunnies in their own separate hutches with 1/2 an acre to run about.  We adopted a neutered male bunny about 3 months ago from our local shelter, he’s about a year old.  I feel I have bonded pretty well with him as he runs to me when I call him and just about leaps out of his cage into my lap for affection.  I felt bad since he does look lonely since we can’t have him out all the time (he’s really destructive with carpet).  I have him set up in our giant dog crate until I build his new habitat since we’re moving in 4 months.  I have looked for other rescue bunnies but could only find males.  We went ahead and picked up a 10 week old female yesterday from a local breeder.  She seems pretty sweet and inquisitive and they have had a lot of make out session between their cages.  Everything I have read says not to introduce them until they BOTH are fixed.  I have also read we’ll have to wait until she’s 6 months to fix her.  Do I really need to keep them separated until then since he is fixed and has been fixed for quite a while?  When I let her run around while he’s in his cage she lays right up against the cage where he is and he grooms her through the cage.  I think she might be lonely after being separated from her litter but I don’t want to rush things either.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

[Bunnybuzz]

You don’t have to wait but its better that way. Also I would suggest to do it at 4 months not 6. You could try to introduce them out of the cage. See how it goes and then go from there. It’s just better to get her fixed first
Let me know how it goes

[Mikey]

Do not introduce her until she is fixed. It is so much safer. If you put them together beforehand, you are risking serious injury or even death. Hormonal rabbits are not nice. Him being neutered wont stop him from acting hormonally, as rabbits can also feed off of the smell of unfixed rabbits. Youll have to talk to your rabbit savvy vet about when to have her spayed. You can start bonding a month or two after she has been spayed, but be aware it can take a female up to six months to fully drain their hormones. When you go to bond them after shes healed and has drained her hormones, you have to start bonding in a neutral area. Please do not just place rabbits together, as even fixed rabbits can be territorial about new friends in their spaces

You can start prebonding, though. Keep their cages about 10 inches apart so they can see and smell one another, but cannot reach. You can supervise them as they have alternate play times, like it seems you are doing now. After she has lived with you for about a month, start swapping their items (litter boxes, toys, water/food dishes, ect). Do this until they are ready for bonding sessions

[Stargirl]

Hi, we adopted 2 8 week old babies last October. A boy and a girl from the same litter. Sadly, the baby girl died and our boy (Lettuce) was left on his own. He would sleep inside in a house cage at night, go into a large outdoor run with enclosed bedroom space during the day (if not too cold) and spend some evenings in the lounge with us, or in the house with us during the day. He is very affectionate and will hop onto the sofa for strokes and then groom us. Although he is not a massive fan of being picked up and can get very scrabbly. Lettuce was desexed at 6 months old. Lettuce also appears to be bonded with our small maltese girl dog (desexed), although they are never together without me present, they sniff each other affectionately and Lettuce will hop into the dog’s bed with her.

However, I felt that Lettuce was lonely and after much thought, and reading about what gender would best bond with our boy, we adopted an 8 week old baby girl who is related to Lettuce (grand-niece I think!). We have built a large bunny condo for the bunnies to share, however at the moment we have moved Lettuce into the condo and placed Blackberry nextdoor in the (cleaned out) indoor cage. Outside we have 2 enclosures set up side by side. They seemed quietly interested in each other and were sniffing each other through the bars so I let them both roam together last night in the lounge and again tonight. They seem to really love each other. There is lots of grooming and binkies. Although it is mostly the baby girl who is grooming Lettuce, he loves it and lies down so she can do it. The only cause for concern I have is that on occasion Lettuce sniffs her bum and she runs off. Sometimes he gives chase. But there has been no aggressive behaviour.
I had hoped to move them in together in a couple of weeks, all going to plan. Having read some posts on the forum, I get the impression there may be trouble ahead before Blackberry is desexed and that perhaps they should be separated around that time. My question is, do I keep them separate until she is desexed or can they live together beforehand, given that they seem to be bonding well.
xx

[Bunnybuzz]

Hi, so I would suggest to keep them separate until fixed but keep doing playdates and runs with them so they don’t brake that bond. Once you get her fixed she is going to have to be separated for about a week before you put her with him. So then if they were living together Lettuce may not miss her as much. Get what i’m saying?

Let me know how it goes

[vanessa]

Id do it a bit differently. 1 week is enough to just barely heal from the surgury. You should wait at least 1 month. It still takes a while for the hormones to go down. I would not do play dates until then. You dont know how she will react once her hormones kick in. Id keep them seperate but close.

[Bunnybuzz]

Did I say 1 week? Whoops haha I meant 3) That’s how long I did it.

Yeah keep them close I agree

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