Bonding

[reds2212]

I have a one year old spayed mini rex named Roo who we purchased from a friend who is a breeder. We would like to get another bunny and fell in love with a baby that she has now of the same breed. Does anyone know anything about bonding the two girls. Some things that I read say it shouldn’t be a problem if you’re willing to work at it which I am and I have the time. My concern is that one will be spayed and the other will not until she is old enough. She’ll be 8 weeks old when we get her. Any help would be great!!!

[Beka27]

welcome here!

it’s usually easier to bond buns if they are around the same age. bonding an adult to a baby might or might not go well. it is recommended that they both be altered before being introduced, so you may want to keep them separately for about 6 months until she is done. two females can be the hardest to bond, the easiest being male/female.

have you given any thought to going to a rescue near you and looking at neutered male buns? that way you can begin the bonding process right away. and many places will let you bring your bun along to see how she gets on with the others.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Generally->It’s easiest to bond a spayed female with a neutered male of the same age…

However, I brought home an unspayed female baby and showed her to my unspayed female one year old and they bonded immediately!

If your dead set on getting the baby, you can try introducing them and see how they are -ie. if they take immediately or fight/hump. Be prepared to seperate them until the baby is old enough to be spayed -just incase.

You should take a look around a rabbit rescue and see if anything catches your fancy-there are alot of gorgeous wonderful rabbits who would love a home like yours

[reds2212]

I’m concerned about a male because of spraying. I’ve known other people with males that do this even after neutering. We were considering shelters but there aren’t any within one hour’s drive from us. The local humane society has a pair that are already bonded and we considered them but I’m afraid of the 3 together. Thanks for all of the info!

[Beka27]

that’s a valid concern… altho i think spraying after neutering is pretty rare. it’s not uncommon to have to drive a bit to get to a rescue, you just need to be willing to make the effort.

[reds2212]

I don’t mind making the drive but it’s 2 hours and 15 minutes to the closest shelter which is actually Midwest Rabibit Rescue who won on ZooTube. Roo doesn’t do well with car rides at all so I think my husband and I might need to “date” on our own to go that far away.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

You could do that too; You could maybe assess your bunny to see if she’s dominant or not, and then look for either dominant/submissive at your bunny date

[Beka27]

oh… that is a far ride if your bun does not tolerate the car well. have you checked petfinder? there may be a smaller, private rescue much closer. just an idea.

[reds2212]

From her attitude with us, especially my husband, she is definitely dominant or as her vet calls her “sassy”. I don’t know if this would change with another bunny being around. We actually have an iguana and she’ll sit with the iguana when she comes around her. It’s really strange but I guess Roo is warm so she keeps her warm and I don’t know what the benefit is for Roo in that relationship. They’ve never once been aggressive with each other.

[reds2212]

I just have to add that I LOVE Meadow’s face! I just get mesmerized by it everytime I see it. She’s so pretty. Actually the baby we were considering is a broken blue mini rex.

[Beka27]

oh thank you! i’ll tell Mead you said so! i will be posting a few more pics (and maybe a video or two if i can figure it out) in the lounge later, so stay tuned! and feel free to post some pics of girl!

i’ve never heard about an iguana being around a bun. i used to have one when i was a teenager and i know i had to be careful to wash my hands thoroughly after handling him. your vet doesn’t have concerns about them being together…?

[reds2212]

The problem with iguanas is salmonella but it is carried in their stools. Our iguana is litter trained. She won’t go in her cage so I actually have to take her out of it and put her on the litter box. I don’t worry about the cross contamination thing because Roo is never exposed to her stools and this sounds gross but the iguana will wait for me to wipe her butt before she’ll even move off of the litter box. She’s probably the strangest iguana out there. She started all of these habits at a few months old on her own and she’s 8 now and I’m glad because it’s one less cage to clean!

[Beka27]

that’s fascinating! i’d love to see pics of her also. i got my Iggy from a friend but i only had him for a few years b/c he was getting very large. we ended up taking him to an iguana sanctuary.

[osprey]

Welcome to BB, reds2212!

In my experience as an adoption counselor/bonding coach, female/female are the hardest bonds to make work, particularly when bringing a new female into the home of an existing female.  That said, it is usually slightly easier to introduce a baby and an adult than it is to introduce two adults.  The existing adult will feel less threatened by a baby than another adult.  Midwest is a great rescue, I am sure they would be able to help you with a bond if you can manage to get to their shelter or maybe meet one of their foster families closer to you.  My concern with purchasing the baby is that once she hits sexual maturty, the bond could break, and then you would have to house two bunnies separately, possibly indefinitely.

As to males spraying, I have fostered both neutered and unneutered male bunnies, and I have one of my own, and I have been fortunate that none of them ever sprayed.  There are definitely some bunnies who even after neuter will spray, but if you get him from a rescue you can ask the rescue foks and they will tell you about the bunny’s habits.

Good luck with your bunnies!

 

[reds2212]

Yeah, she’s big. She’s 4 1/2 feet long. She’s easy to take care of but the problem is finding a sitter for vacations. Nobody will board iguanas and anyone else is afraid of her. I wouldn’t recommend them as a pet unless you’re willing ot make those sacrifices. Unfortunately a lot of them end up  in sanctuaries. Someone we met breeds iguanas and he used to rescue them but once the word got out that he did this, he said he would get at least 5 calls a week to rescue one. It’s sad because they’re small and cute but they get big fast and people don’t realize the room that they take up and the cost of feeding them fresh vegetables everyday.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Actaully a few years ago I really really wanted an Iguana and was in a petstore looking at one; The clerk didn’t tell me, but I picked up a book and flipped through and saw that they get six feet long when fully grown!! They are great-but that’s just too big for me!!
I hand fed some wild ones in Mexico-quite the experience!

[Beka27]

yes. if given the chance i would have kept him. when i got Iggy, he was about a foot and a half long total length. unfortunately i was only 14 when i got him and i was “under my parent’s roof”. once he got larger, i was drawing elaborate plans for a custom made enclosure and they vetoed it. so off he went.

yeah, veggies are an expense. we should know, right?

lol.

[reds2212]

Thanks Osprey! It never occurred to me that the bond could break after a spay.

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