BunBuns and Mugs-- too early?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 10sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 5 months ago by KatnipCrzy.

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- 07/02/2011 at 12:53 PM
  OhMommaButterGrits
  Participant
  79 posts
  Okay so I have a couple questions…
  
  I just got BunBuns spayed about 5 days ago…honestly you would never know anything was different about her she is completely herself (except maybe even better?). I also adopted a male rabbit (neutered) at the same time…Mugs. Now my question is I was talking to the woman who was fostering our new boy and she said I should introduce them this Sunday or Monday? But after looking at this site it looks like everyone feels a month after the spay is how long I should wait and that’s what I was thinking myself, but she said it should be fine this sunday or monday… She really is a great lady and she had lots of awesome information otherwise sooo I don’t know?
  
  The other question I have is if it ends up that the month is the better road to take are there things I should do before? They already lick eachother through the cages (I let one out at a time for mommy and play time) and when one is out they go to the other cage and will only eat hay out of the others cage. (The hay rack I have is on the outside so they can get from in and out of the cage) They also love to flop and bunloaf next to the cage the other is in.
  
  I read about switching cages or litterboxes or the stunt doubles…is it too early to be thinking about doing some of those things before actual bun on bun contact in a neutral place?
  
  I want them to be friends as soon as possible, but I also know I need to be safe.
  
  Thanks!
- 07/02/2011 at 12:55 PM
  LoveChaCha
  Participant
  6634 posts
  I’ve done a lot of reading, and I would wait a month or so before the bonding I’ve seen that after spays and neuters, hormones are still very high.
  
  YES! You can switch cages, or stunt doubles It is a good thing for them to let them know about each other’s scents. Just baby steps are good until your girl is all healed up and ready
- 07/02/2011 at 1:06 PM
  OhMommaButterGrits
  Participant
  79 posts
  That’s what I was thinking too… The only thing I found that contradicted that was someone that said that in a shelter situation they wait at LEAST 10 days, but advised that it was really soon that early and that if it’s in the home a month is suggested.
  
  Buns was always free roaming so the whole in and out of cage thing is not her favorite situation, but the vet even suggested she should be in her cage while she heals. A month won’t kill her though and she flops just as much in the cage as out sooo it can’t be that bad lol
  
  Thanks for the speedy response I think I’ll try the switching cages thing and see how that goes. Is there any signs I should look for when I do it? Good or bad?
- 07/02/2011 at 6:58 PM
  lynnbunn
  Participant
  46 posts
  Hi there!
  I agree with LoveChaCha, you should wait. How old are the buns?
  
  For the mean time you should do the switching thing (like you said) and stunt doubles if you want. Please ignore this if it’s repetitive but you should also put their cages side by side, with a few inches space in between. This way they can see each other and get the bonding process started but also not be able to hurt one another. You might also want to give them their greens and whatever other food in their cages so that they can be face to face when eating (but in their cages of course.) Eating is like a social event for rabbits. : )
  
  Also to answer your question, they may start marking their cage (pee or droppings, obviously preferably droppings) once they detect another rabbits smell. If they do just know that it’s normal and their litter box habits should go back to normal after bonded.
  
  Good luck. : )
- 07/02/2011 at 7:31 PM
  OhMommaButterGrits
  Participant
  79 posts
  BunBuns is about 10 months now…so still pretty young. And with Mugs the foster mama didn’t know his exact age, but she said he was a young adult. Apparently a publix employee found him in a dumpster behind the store and contacted a shelter so they can’t be sure of the exact age.
  
  I switched their cages earlier today and neither of them really seemed to mind much…BunBuns did completely redecorate Mugs cage, but other than that nothing really screamed out like they had a problem with it.
  
  I have the cages across the room from one another, but like I said they always run over to the others cage as soon as one is out…and they always seem to be eating hay together since you can get to the hay from inside and outside the cage.
  
  I’m gonna try and put the cages next to each other and feed them in the cages and see what happens, thanks for the idea.
  
  Oh! the other thing the first couple days BunBuns would mark around Mugs cage but it’s completely stopped now so I’m taking that as a good sign?
- 07/02/2011 at 8:17 PM
  lynnbunn
  Participant
  46 posts
  Yes that’s great! It means he’s used to her. : )
  Also since they’re bunloafing together it means they’re pretty comfortable around each other. Even grooming within each other’s sight is a good sign! It all just means that they’re chilling and not scared~
  
  So at 10 months it’s a good idea to wait! I am currently experiencing and paying for bonding my 10-month old rabbits too early! Because they’re teenagers they will have changing character and are not stable. Many bonded teenagers will break their bond at some point in teenager-dom and decide they don’t like each other after all. I live by the Richmond HRS and I boarded my used-to-be-bonded rabbits there awhile ago. After 4 months of happiness they had a fight for some reason and they hate each other now. The volunteers at HRS said it was due to their age. Fail, fail, and more fail. : (
  
  Basically you’ll want to let them mature. You’ll have to wait for BunBuns to heal anyways so I would wait at least a month, better to wait two. I’m glad they like each other already! Hopefully you will have a love at first sight bond like my rabbits did!
  Bonding can be *very* stressful but just know that at the worst of times the end is always more than worth it!
  
  As for my two poor little rabbits, I will have to re-bond them once they grow into little bunny adults. : )
  
  Lots of good vibes going your way, good luck again!!
- 07/02/2011 at 8:37 PM
  OhMommaButterGrits
  Participant
  79 posts
  Okay sooo this might be a bit of a stupid question when is a rabbit an “adult”? A year?
  
  Hahaha I like how you say “not stable” about teenage bunnies…but hey as an early teen I’m sure I wasn’t all that stable myself lol
  
  My heart sank for you when you said your bunnies broke their bond, but I’m glad you still are gonna try again once they get not all teenagey and moody.
  
  Thanks for all your wealth of knowledge on the subject!
- 07/02/2011 at 8:56 PM
  lynnbunn
  Participant
  46 posts
  That’s not stupid at all! They’re considered adults at a year old so you’re right~
  
  Haha wellllll I still am a teen. : ) But yeah, I mean that their personalities are not set and they are still affected by hormones, even if they’re fixed. My rabbits were fixed really young so they’re not too teenage-y but they still broke their bond. Even adults can break a bond but it’s just much, much, more common with younger rabbits.
  
  I know. My heart is still underwater. : ( I couldn’t even think about them for the first few days without getting super depressed. They were such a happy couple and now all they want to do is kill each other.
  
  The funny thing is that my male rabbit, Romeo, still has a huge loving heart he wants to show the world so he’s been grooming his little polar bear stuffed animal like crazy. I gave the plushie to Tigerlily, too, and she truly, truly, thinks it’s a rabbit. She kept on asking it for kisses and biting it when it didn’t groom her, haha. Anyways, keeping them separate is probably for the best.
  
  No problem~ I had to go through a loooottttt of bonding troubles so I hope your bonding is much easier!
- 07/02/2011 at 9:06 PM
  OhMommaButterGrits
  Participant
  79 posts
  Haha…It’s my first year officially not a teen so I’m not really all that out of the woods on the being crazy part lol
  
  I just read your post about them breaking up and I think that just being under the stress and having all those other rabbits around played a big part in it… I’m glad you are such a good mommy though and raised such little lovey bunnys! I’m sure it’ll be easier to bond them once you try again, plus they say absence makes the heart grow fonder…not sure if that applies to bunnies but you never know?
  
  I’m gonna send lots of romantic lovey cupidesque vibes to Tigerlily and Romeo, I mean with names like that they are destined to be together!
- 07/02/2011 at 9:33 PM
  lynnbunn
  Participant
  46 posts
  Haha~
  
  Yeah, I think so too. For Romeo, he’s just a little awkward bunny who doesn’t know how to act around other bunnies. Tigerlily is motherly but has a terrible temper and is kind of territorial. The other bunnies definitely influenced them but HRS also mentioned they have seen many teenager bunny couples who just broke up totally out of the blue after a few months.
  
  It’s so scary in a rabbit world. : (
  
  Haha thank you very much! Keep us posted on BunBuns and Mugs’ progress~
- 07/02/2011 at 9:44 PM
  KatnipCrzy
  Participant
  2981 posts
  There is about a 2 week healing period from a spay. There are layers of muscle and tissue in the abdomen that were cut and sutured- so healing is important. And bonding can go from calm to all out war in less than 2 seconds- so you can’t predict that she won’t try any sudden moves or twists that will strain the incision.
  As others have suggested for the first month I would work on the bonding techniques of switching pens and litterboxed. It is easier to bond slowly than to have one of the bunnies have a bad experience (being attacked) and have that negative association in the bonding.
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