Adopting 2-year-old female rabbit and spaying

[Hoppety]

<g class="gr_ gr_2635 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="2635" data-gr-id="2635">Hi</g>&nbsp;bunny lovers!</p>

I’ve got a burning question and I’m hoping your rabbit knowledge will help me decide what to do. I’ve got the cutest 7-month-old lionhead rabbit (who’s being neutered as we speak) and had been thinking of giving him a companion for a while. I came across a registered breeder who was giving one of his female Netherland Dwarves up for adoption for the simple reason that due to the narrowness of her pelvic bones she can’t be bred. He tells me he had been looking for the right adopting candidate for a year and wasn’t convinced someone else wouldn’t try to breed her (another pregnancy could kill her) irresponsibly just because she was of show quality. After hearing my story and exchanging photos of my bunny and his excellent living conditions, he has free run of the garden and is out of his cage most of the day (together with the fact that he’s now being neutered so <g class="gr_ gr_2653 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_inline_cards gr_run_anim Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="2653" data-gr-id="2653">breeding</g>&nbsp;not an option I would ever be contemplating), he is keen on rehousing her precious female dwarf with me.</p>

Now, I have an issue with the fact that she is 2 years old and intact, as I’m worried her hormonal behaviour will be irreversible when spayed this late. Years ago, I had a female dwarf who at the turn of 4 months turned into a little biting, growling monster and whose skittish, shy and aggressive behaviour didn’t change even after her spay (which was somewhere between 7 and 8 months). I’m concerned something similar may happen here with late spaying. The breeder has assured me that his bunny is very docile and sweet and only gets hormonal every once in a while (as she can smell the bucks nearby that he also keeps) but that this is temporary behaviour dictated by hormones and she is otherwise very sweet. He has also recommended a good vet for her spaying and put me in touch with her.

What do you think? What should I do? Do you think at 2 years old is too late for a female Netherland Dwarf to be spayed in a way that calms down hormonal behaviour? Do you think after spaying she will be sweet as pie or will retain some of her crazy hormonal twists? Anyone with experience, I would really truly be indebted to you for any help sent this way!

If you’ve made it this far, many thanks for reading!

[Meesh]

Also put into account that those hormonal bursts are when she smells an unaltered male…. Your bun would smell different after being neutered, and may not have the same effect on her. I think it would be worth a try, to get her spayed and bond them… However there is always a chance they will not like each other… If the breeder could get her spayed beforehand and then have your bunny be able to check her out on a bunny date, that would probably be ideal. However if you did get them to bond, they would be best friends for life.

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