Hi guys,

I need an advice for a boding process. I got an recommendation to create a new topic here after I am having a question about my 3-year-old boy, Chao-Guay. I have him since he was 10 weeks old. He was a happy boy: binkies, floppings, and bunny 500 all the time. He is very well behaved and never gets naughty. My boyfriend and I never have a plan to neuter him at all because he was soooo good until we heard that bunny needs friends. So, we decided to adopt a fix 4.5-year-old female bunny, Penie, in June. Chao-Guay got neutered in July and even since he doesn’t look happy at all. He just sits and does nothing. He gets alone well with Penie, but I was told that their bond isn’t stable. So, what should I do? How can I fix it?

Here what I did for them from the beginning….

On June 5, my boyfriend and I brought Penie home from a shelter. Chao-Guay’s area and Penie’s area had a door to walk through, but we closed it for temporary, so they couldn’t see each other. Penie’s cage also was covered, so Chao-Guay and Penie couldn’t see each other, except a small area that we were double cage. They could see each other but couldn’t have any physical contact. 

We let Chao-Guay and Penie did like this for a couple days. In the meanwhile, we were slowly open each cover section and let them near each other through the cage. However, the door between the cages was still covered. 

Chao-Guay and Penie started to lick each other the very first day. So after a week, we started to let them play together for 30 mins-an hour, 2-3 times a day. They looked so happy, but of course Chao-Guay tried to hump her (not the crazy way). He couldn’t control his hormone so he sprayed on her (only on her). He looked very sad after he did that because he knew it was wrong but he couldn’t control it. So, we decided to make an appointment to neuter him. Penie loves Chao-Guay so much, but she didn’t want to stay next to Chao-Guay for a long time. She would hop around and away from him, but no sign of fear or any aggression. 

Even though, Chao-Guay sprayed on Penie, she still wanted to be with him. When she was in the cage, she always came to him (he was outside the cage). They laid back-to-back and lick each other all the time. They continued this friendship until July 10: neutered day.

After neutering, we limited Chao-Guay’s physical contact from Penie for 10 days. On day 11, they started let them face-to-face and they became friend right away. They groomed and kissed each other, also laid down to next each other.

On day 14, we opened their door and they started to share the bedrooms. Chao-Guay never sprayed or hump on Penie again after the neutered. And she loves to follow him everywhere he goes. 

Everything seems to go well. But we never see Chao-Guay binkie, flopping, or running again. One in a while, he seems to want a private time and away from Penie. For example, he will go to a different room to take a nap by himself for few hours and then comes back to hang out with her again. I first thought was concern but they seem to agree with this routine.

One more thing, Chao-Guay used to have a free roam to run the whole 3,500 SQ house, but now we limited him because of Penie (a chewer). Still, they have almost half of the house to run.

So, please give me an idea or suggest what should I do to make Chao-Guay happy again. 

Thanks,