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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.
- This topic has 19sd replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 10 months ago by
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Merlin is now approaching 3 weeks post castration and I am keen to get him a girlfriend ASAP.
I had a beautiful little netherland dwarf female reserved at the rescue centre I work at, she was found in a box in a field
I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her. Standard procedure for my rescue centre is to get them booked in for neutering ASAP as they will also perform a teeth exam. Sadly Misty had to be euthanised as it was discovered that her teeth were in an awful condition and she would have needed lots of dental operations etc throughout her life, which according to the policy of the centre, made her unrehomable. After this I decided that the best thing to do would be to wait until Merlin was recovered from his castration and take him along on my day off to meet some of our female rabbits and see who he likes. However, I have since discovered we had a litter of bunnies born about 9 weeks ago, all females, and they are beautiful!
So I guess what I’m asking is, is it easier and better (in regards to bonding) to let Merlin choose his own girlfriend, or would it be possible to adopt one of these little babies and bond them?
Also, how successful is bonding if the female is too young to Spey, and then re-bonding after she has been speyed? Is it even possible? Would I have to keep them separated for 6 months until she can be speyed?Another question (nearly done, I promise lol) what about size differences? Merlin is an average sized rabbit, not entirely sure what breed, possibly a little bit of English spot in him. Would it have been possible to bond him with the netherland dwarf or would it have been a problem that she was smaller than him? My friend has an average sized female and got a male netherland dwarf, the bonded fine for about 6 months but then one day the female turned on him and he got beat up pretty badly cos he was so much smaller than her. They wouldn’t re-bond and she eventually ended up getting a female netherland dwarf to go with the male and another friend for the female.
The 9-week old babies that I’ve got my eye on are probably going to be average sized as their mother is a normal sized rabbit. No idea what the father was as she came in pregnant. -
I have read and heard that letting them choose their own mate is best… Most people recommend both partners be fixed before you attempt to bond. Of course, you can do as you’d like, but it is best to have both of them fixed before trying to bond so that they arent acting on hormones. I guess you could introduce Merlin to the bunnies and see if they got along well…
I adopted my unspayed female first and then came across a neutered male about a week before she was spayed. I did not formally introduce them until after she was spayed, but they lived in x-pens next to each other the entire time (about 3 weeks). When they did finally meet face to face, everything went smoothly and they were bonded after four play dates. If you are set on adopting this bun, I would recommend keeping them in separate cages next to each other until she is spayed
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So, Merlin had some bunny dates today and together we have chosen a gorgeous 4 month old female.
The first session went great (i think!) initially they both just wandered around and looked at each other and didn’t really do much. Then Merlin discovered how to hump! I was worried at first as I was terrified she would just turn around and attack him, but she just kinda sat there and accepted it, then tried to walk away and he followed and humped again, again she just sat there totally fine with it. It went on like this for a few minutes, then the just wandered around again, Merlin flopped down as he does and she just sat about a foot away. Then they went back to the humping thing, then back to the him being flopped and her sitting about a foot away. We ended it there on what I feel was a good note.
Opinions? Does this sound like it went ok?And just to point out – yes this female is speyed. She came in with two of her siblings and it was thought they were all females, then discovered the other two were actually males! So the vets decided to Spey her early to prevent/catch any pregnancy early. I’m guess the reason why she is so used to the humping is because she was in with her two brothers for so long, she’s been used to being around male rabbits for so long that being with Merlin is nothing new for her.
Here’s hoping this is going to be a good match!
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Over the last couple of days we’ve done some more introductions, this time in the living room where merlins hutch is and what I consider to be his territory. It’s all gone fine. The female (still no name!) was quite interested in just exploring and Merlin was content with following her around for the occasional sniff and then just running laps around the room and binkying which is his usual behaviour.
They are still living in seperate cages but they are pushed up next to each other. The latest session we did we left both cage doors open and both rabbits were exploring each others cages with neither one seeming to mind the other being in their space.
I feel more than happy to leave them running around together without constant supervision – I don’t leave the room but I can now sit and watch tv with only half an eye on them. Merlin hasn’t humped her at all since the first day but is totally in love with her. One thing in particular I have noticed that he does is rub his chin on her like he is scent marking her, is this normal?
Today whilst she was flopped on the floor he started licking her
I’m wondering if it’s too soon to try them in the hutch together, I have a day off tomorrow so can supervise them all day (otherwise my next day off isn’t until Sunday). How do I go about it? I read somewhere about totally cleaning his cage and using something like vinegar and water solution to remove his scent so it’s more a neutral place. Any suggestions? -
Hope this works, i have attached some pictures!!
Day one:
Day two:
Today, hanging out in the hutch:
Seems to be going well, but they dont really do anything now, just a little sniff of each other every now and then, and then just happy to ignore each other. They are not living together just yet, want to give it a couple more days i think before i try it.
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