When can my rabbits live together?

Forum

OUR FORUM IS UP BUT WE ARE STILL IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING AND FIXING THINGS. SOME THINGS WILL LOOK WEIRD AND/OR NOT BE CORRECT. YOUR PATIENCE IS APPRECIATED. We are not fully ready to answer questions in a timely manner as we are not officially open, but we will do our best.

You may have received a 2-factor authentication (2FA) email from us on 4/21/2020. That was from us, but was premature as the login was not working at that time.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 10sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 11 months ago by lifeasweknowit.

Viewing 10 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 12/17/2012 at 11:55 AM
  lifeasweknowit
  Participant
  147 posts
  I have begun to bond my rabbits – taking it slow. I don’t know if this is normal but none of them seem to really care for each other? In the first session which lasted 15 minutes they were in the bathtub, but in the second one they were in both the bathtub and bathroom (outside of the tub cause my older one kept on jumping out) and they were pretty normal – they would both do their own thing, sometimes they would sniff each other – but in the second session I was petting my older male rabbit and he was very relaxed and laying down and his eyes were half closed but out of no where my younger rabbit comes sliding in cause the floor is vinyl and she was running around and he instantly got up (in a sharp jerky motion) and kind of lunged at her? He didn’t attack he just put his head really close to her and didn’t move after that – he was kind of frozen he didn’t nip her or anything he just got close to her and froze up.
  
  I offered treats so whatever tension there was would end. I let them play around for another 5 minutes before putting them back in their cages. There is no mounting, grooming (although they have groomed each other through the cages like once or twice – or it seemed like it LOL) so I don’t know if this is a good thing? Because they aren’t really acknowledging each other when out in the open? I will do 3-4 more sessions in the bathroom and then move to my room (outside of their cages) just in the open space in my room – which both of my rabbits have been in/ same room cages are in) and have at least 10 sessions in my room.
  
  How long until I can house them together? My female is NOT spayed but this is because she is only 3 months old – I will be contacting a rabbit savvy vet about when I should spay her – this is not her usual vet but that is because she is on maternity leave she will be back later this month. My older rabbit (neutered) has seen her and she is great. She is also the official spay/ neuter vet for at least 2 rescues that I know of (including the one I adopted my older rabbit from) – meaning she gets in rabbits regularly and is probably aware/ used to having bonded rabbits come in.
  
  I was planning on going to home depot today and buying the things needed for their new cage, all I need are some wooden dowels and plywood/ wood and stick on vinyl tile, the reason why I am buying this early is because the stick on tiles will “bubble up” if there isn’t something heavy on them for a long time. When is the earliest I can house them together? How am I supposed to know that they are able to live together? They often brush by each other and neither of them get tense or anything they just ignore them – sometimes even move out of the other rabbit’s way. They do live side by side and will often flop next to each other through the cages. I don’t want to rush them, but I would like to speed things a bit since there doesn’t seem to be any irritation or aggression.
  
  Also the cage is 56″W x 84″L x 42″H with a 56″W x 48″L second level, is that big enough for 2 medium sized rabbits? (4-7lbs?)
- 12/17/2012 at 3:00 PM
  Monkeybun
  Participant
  10479 posts
  They can’t live together until after she is spayed. Things can change drastically when the hormones hit, so you will want to wait. trust me.. I had 2 unspayed girls here as fosters, and I had to split them up as they hit 4 months old due to hormones.
- 12/17/2012 at 3:57 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  I would continue with bonding sessions but definitely wait until after her spay for them to live together. If not, she’ll just have to be separated from him for days anyways as you don’t want him tearing open her stitches if something does happen and they fight out of nowhere.
- 12/17/2012 at 5:47 PM
  lifeasweknowit
  Participant
  147 posts
  Ah, I was not aware that she HAD to be spayed before they can live together because I heard somewhere that it is fine – as long as her hormones don’t break the bond or anything. I want to get her spayed as early as possible, but I know it varies between every vet/ rabbit, but what is usually the youngest safest age? I mean on average? Because I heard somewhere that if a rabbit gets spayed too young then there will be back problems and other health complications?
- 12/17/2012 at 6:35 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  She doesn’t necessary HAVE to be spayed before-hand, it’s just taking a precaution against any hormones affecting their bonding process — which in my opinion is the reason they should be closely monitored and supervised until she is spayed. Even one majorly bad fight can/will sent back their bonding process quite a bit as rabbits are very well known for not forgetting these fights.
  
  However, I have no heard that spaying rabbits too young can cause health complications? I was only aware that many vets like to wait so the bun bun is at her full weight which is better for going through any procedure. My bun had hers done at 4 1/2 months. My vet would have preferred to wait until 5 months but this was purely based on her weight and nothing else.
- 12/17/2012 at 6:36 PM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Not sure if it helps but my girl was a little over 4 lbs when she was spayed and she went through the procedure fantastically and healed quite quickly. We bonded right after both her and her brother (spayed/neutered the same day)’s incisions were healed! Literally the day their incisions we fine, we bonded and put them together in their house and they’ve all been together ever since!
- 12/17/2012 at 7:50 PM
  lifeasweknowit
  Participant
  147 posts
  Good point, also well I was reading something and when I mean young I mean 3 months or younger? Or maybe that info is wrong. And oh that is great news! Oh yeah, I was meaning to ask since you have 3 rabbits that are bonded, do you seem to be getting a lot of attention from them? I mean both of my rabbits love to be out and be pet by me, they don’t really like being held or cuddled by me (which is somewhat normal for rabbits?) but they love love love to have a great face massage, I love giving these and they can literally sit there for minutes on end. Are any of your rabbits this way? Did they enjoy pets before you bonded them? What happened after? Because I know bunnies will groom each other so
- 12/18/2012 at 8:14 AM
  FrankieFlash
  Participant
  1710 posts
  I think you should wait until at least 3 WEEKS or longer after the spay. If your male and her fight or he humps her during recovery he could injure her or worst kill her. It might be a small risk but to me, it’s not a risk worth taking. This advice is coming from a rescue I volunteer with where this happened twice to them. They were terribly sad to lose those two female buns. And they spread this advice to me when I got Sweets and she had only been spayed for a week. I’m glad I waited because Bunjamin was kinda rough with her at first.
- 12/18/2012 at 8:52 AM
  lifeasweknowit
  Participant
  147 posts
  I will definitely wait, plus I am leaving somewhere during winter break for literally 1 night and 1 day (will be coming back the very next day in the evening) and I don’t think I’d be able to trust them. My female flopped near the male, but unfortunately he accidentally jumped but slipped and kind of bit his lip? So he was sort of in the loaf position – poor guy. Surprisingly he ate all of his hay that I gave him last night (he always has hay I just refilled it) and he seems to be hopping just fine so I think he’s okay. So the flopping/ loafing is hopefully a good sign? They were in my room onnnnly because the bathroom was all humid because someone took a bath. And my room is something both rabbits are VERY familiar with. Both of their cages are in there and this is where they play when they come out. I feel like I took it too far too quickly? I just wanted them to have another bonding session but the bathroom was too hot. But they seem to be doing fine.
- 12/18/2012 at 10:47 AM
  tanlover14
  Participant
  3617 posts
  Sidney (our girl) was VERY skittish at first and didn’t really like any kind of human interaction. My boys were INSANELY lovey with us. Always flopping near us and demanding pets and grooms. None of mine like to be held either.
  
  After we bonded them, they weren’t interested in us for a few days.. I think they were still very curious about each other. They literally just layed in their cage and wouldn’t come out for like 2 days. And they just cuddled together. But after that, they came out and were exactly the same towards us. Sidney, the girl, has become WAY more “hooman-oriented” since she has had the boys around. She has seen them getting love and pets from us and that’s one of the reasons I think she became so curious about my boyfriend and I. It has definitely helped her personality with being around humans.
  
  If anything, I think it has even possibly helped our bond with them. When one decides to try something, like climbing in our laps, then they ALL want to do it! And they get very jealous sometimes! If they see one getting pets, another one will come up and nudge our hands and dig us until we pet them too. Hahahah.
  
  I personally believe those behaviors only change towards their humans when they get less attention from their humans. Many people I feel like let the bond go with their bun since he has a new-bun friend and THATS why their personalities toward the humans change. Such as, if I have a busy week and don’t get to spend a lot of time with them, I get the bunny butt and they will literally only play with the other buns. I think it may be their way of shunning me or punishing me! But whenever that happens, I spent a good two hours just playing around and giving them attention and petting them when they flop down and after a half hour they’re right back to their lovey bunny selves. I’m a firm believer that their personalities dont change because they have a friend but because they get less human time since many people think they have a play mate and don’t need as much attention.
- 12/18/2012 at 11:21 AM
  lifeasweknowit
  Participant
  147 posts
  That is actually very interesting, now that I think about it, that sounds very true. Thank you so much for telling me! I will definitely remember that. Also, I think it’s cute how your rabbits get jealous if one is getting more attention than the other !
Author

Messages

Viewing 10 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.