Older female bonding with younger male

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 3sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 4 months ago by Lola/frodo.

Viewing 3 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 07/03/2017 at 12:28 PM
  Lola/frodo
  Participant
  2 posts
  We have a 6 month old spayed lop. We recently got a 7 week old male lop. We have let them smell eachother through the cage and they seemed ok. When we sit in there pen and let them be together our older female will groom him but then tries to lunge and nip at the male. You can tell hes terrified so we seperate the again back into seperate cages. Is this normal? Should we wait until there similar in size? Is it ok to live beside eachother for the next few months while he gets bigger? Are we doing something wrong?
  
  Thanks!
- 07/03/2017 at 3:20 PM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  I am actually going to be going through something similar. I have a 6 month old spayed dutch and I am getting a male mini lop this weekend, he’s only 8 weeks old. I’ve done a lot of research and reading the forums on the bonding subject and in my opinion, you should keep them separate. Lots of people on here are constantly saying that you cannot truly bond two buns until they are both altered and recovered from surgery. Due to hormones and pheromones, these buns are likely to start fighting if you allow them to “hang out”. If a fight breaks out, they could learn to mistrust each other and this could make the bonding process even more difficult. Personally, I am keeping my 8 week old male in a separate room until he is neutered and recovered. During that time, I will do some pre bonding like swapping blankets and litter trays so that they get used to each others scent. You may be able to let them sit in cages beside each other, but it is likely that if he is unaltered and in close proximity of her that he will act up, which could ultimately upset both buns. I would try to keep them separate until after the procedure.
- 07/03/2017 at 4:05 PM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  You cannot bond rabbits until all involved are neutered and spayed. Add to that the fact that your little buck is terrified – yes you should separate them.
- 07/03/2017 at 7:29 PM
  Lola/frodo
  Participant
  2 posts
  Ok. We will put them in seperate rooms until he is recovered from the procedure. Thanks for the answers
Author

Messages

Viewing 3 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.