Bonding/Spaying

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 5sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by Azerane.

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- 02/10/2016 at 5:54 AM
  lunavenus
  Participant
  176 posts
  Hi,
  
  So I’m getting two female holland lops very soon and they are both going to be 2 months old when I get them. I really hope female/female combo works because I always read that for them to work they have to be spayed. I’m not sure if they are siblings or related to be honest, but I will be bringing them home together. I was hoping to bond them as soon as possible and was wondering if I should bond them now or wait until both get spayed as soon as they are old enough? If I bond them now, I’m scared that once they hit the dreaded hormone stage and they will fight and the bond will break However, I really would prefer to bond them as soon as I can. I was hoping that I can bond them now, and once the hormones kick in I can take them to the vet together to get them spayed on the same day and bring them home together. I’m a new bunny owner so I’m totally lost on how to do this. Also, when are holland lops on average ready to be de-sexed? I’d like to get them altered as soon as possible.
- 02/10/2016 at 6:41 AM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3312 posts
  The bunnies can be bonded now, but they will likely have to be separated in a couple of months when their hormones kick in, and kept separate until they are spayed and recovered from the surgery. Then you will have to re-bond them. Unaltered rabbits can fight and can severely injure each other. That’s not a given, but it’s not something that you want to take a chance on either.
  
  Most female rabbits are ready to be spayed at around 6 months. It is generally easier to bond a spayed female to a neutered male, but you can bond same sex rabbits.
  
  Here are a couple of good articles on bonding:
  
  http://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/
  
  https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx
- 02/10/2016 at 12:45 PM
  lunavenus
  Participant
  176 posts
  Is it possible to spay them earlier than 7 months? I’m a college student so I want to minimize conflict as soon as possible since I don’t always have a huge load of time on my hands during the morning/early afternoon to monitor them. When I separate them, should i Keep the cages near each other or far from each other? I’m planning to take them to get spayed on the same day when the time comes.
- 02/10/2016 at 1:59 PM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3312 posts
  Here is an article on spaying: http://rabbit.org/faq-spaying-and-neutering/
  
  It states that females can be spayed as early as 4 months, but I think that most vets are going to want to wait until a rabbit is closer to 6 months old before performing the surgery. You can keep their cages near each other. Getting them spayed on the same day sounds like a good idea.
- 02/10/2016 at 2:48 PM
  lunavenus
  Participant
  176 posts
  Okay I will do more research on spaying rabbits. Thank you for the links I’m just so paranoid.. I don’t want them to fight
- 02/10/2016 at 6:20 PM
  Azerane
  Moderator
  4691 posts
  Spaying can be done earlier, but it depends on your particular vet as to what weight they like females to be before they are willing to spay them, some don’t like to do it when the rabbits are still quite small. So depending on which vet you’re planning on using, your best bet is to ring them to ask, then given how much Hollands are inclined to weigh at a certain age, you can guess roughly what age you can spay them based on that.
  
  They can be bonded before spaying, and it has been done, but it certainly does pose risks, especially if the vet wants to wait until 6 months of age. You will probably need to separate them around 4 months, depending on when things start to kick in, but it really does vary a bit. You just have to be watching them to make sure you separate them BEFORE they start fighting. There is always a very slim chance that they will continue to get along, but it’s not something to count on. After surgery you’ll need to keep them separated for at least 3-4 weeks as it can take that long for hormones to leave their system. If you get them spayed before they start showing hormonal behaviours you might be ok to start introductions from 1-2 weeks, but it still has its risks while they still have hormones running around inside.
  
  Read up lots on bonding, it can go like a dream with some rabbits, and be a 6 month long process for others. At the end of the day, you need to remember that there is no guarantee that your two rabbits will bond, even when spayed, some rabbits simply don’t get along. When you do start bonding, just remember to start slowly, jumping ahead quickly leads to problems.
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