Are they bonded?

[Evie & Oliver]

I want to know whether or not it’s safe to leave my two rabbits alone 24/7 or let them live together yet. Are they bonded?

She is a 2yo non-altered female

He is a ~4yo neutered male

I plan on getting her spayed ASAP because I have just learned how important it is to spay female rabbits.

I have had him for ten days now. The first 2-3 days there was a lot of humping from her. He didn’t like it but no fights broke out, he simply hopped away. She also did a lot of grooming. Now the humping has subsided significantly and they seem to be getting along great. They share both her space which is the bedroom and the living room and only go in their separate spaces when I’m sleeping or leaving the house. Last night I left them out overnight in the bedroom with us and things seemed perfectly fine this morning. They eat together, cuddle together, run around together. She still occasionally tries to hump him and just gives up if he doesn’t let her. I did have one incident recently where she wouldn’t stop humping him and he seemed to be getting annoyed with it so I separated them. There is a baby gate that separates the two rooms they stay in and they sat next to each other with the gate separating them and every time I tried to enter the room she was in he would lunge at me and bit me twice. I thought maybe he was upset that they were separated but he looked like he was ready to bite her if she didn’t stop and was thumping repeatedly. Aside from this, they are adorable together. It didn’t take very long for them to start going in each others cages and neither of them has had any problem with it. So what does everyone think. Bonded or not? Should I wait until she is spayed to keep them together 24/7, or just let it happen now? The only thing that concerns me is the fact that she still tries to hump him and they are still marking territory with droppings and spraying. I feel like the answer should be obvious but I’ve heard of rabbits taking steps backwards in the bonding process and I don’t want to risk this! Also, will their bond change when she is spayed? Any advice is appreciated and I apologize for the length of this pictures of the two bunnies included!

[Evie & Oliver]

it didn’t post the pics D:

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

Personally, I would wait until after she is spayed. My two have almost been bonded twice now. They even lived together in our living room for two weeks before having a terrible fight that required staples and around $700-800.

Little things can hurt a bond. When you take your female to get spayed, the scents she picks up from the other animals could be enough to hurt their bond, at least for a while. I would keep letting them have time together and wait until she’s healed from surgery and until there are no signs of aggression.

It has also been suggested to me that I include more stress bonding, to help my buns overcome their pattern of weeks of love, followed by a big fight. Maybe some stress bonding would be good for your buns, too.

[MoveDiagonally]

In my opinion an altered and unaltered bunny should not be allowed together without supervision. Even if they seem to get a long your girl is unpredictable because of her hormones. A fight could happen suddenly and end in injury.

After she’s spayed there is a chance you might have to start the bonding process over (her smell will change). It takes about 30-60 days post spay for her to level out hormone wise.

[Evie & Oliver]

I actually think I’ve found the reason for their aggression. I haven’t had an incident since but I noticed for a little while they only had problems when my friend was over. He owns a female non-spayed rabbit, and I believe they could smell her scent on him. I haven’t had any problems since, I also haven’t had to separate them almost at all because one of us is always here to supervise and our apartment is small so they are always nearby. I’m making her appt. to get fixed sometime next week… I am going to feel terrible separating them, they hate it! But I know it’s for the best. They absolutely LOVE each other and spend all of their time together. I’m extremely optimistic about their relationship after she heals up!

[Author]

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