Bonding Advice – Love at first sight?

[Brosheen]

I am in the process of bonding my two rabbits. Maisie is a 4 month old spayed female, and Lennox is a 4 month old neutered male. They lived in separate cages side by side for one week with no problems. Actually, Lennox would attempt to groom Maisie through the exercise pens. Whenever I would let one bunny out for their exercise time, they would constantly sit next to the other bun’s pen and they would groom each other (mainly Lennox grooming Maisie).

I initially planned to wait to properly introduce them and begin the bonding process as it has not been 30 days since Maisie was spayed (however her incision has fully healed at this point). HOWEVER, last week while Maisie was out for her exercise, Lennox escaped from his pen (I was cleaning) and rushed over to Maisie. I supervised them for 20 minutes – all they did was groom each other and snuggle up.

I then decided to try a proper bonding session in neutral territory the following day. Same thing occurred – immediate grooming and snuggling, no fighting/chasing or serious nipping. Maisie and Lennox sat happily in my foyer for over 2 hours before I separated them. I repeated this twice more, increasing the length and the space – still no aggression. I have also swapped their cages, their litter boxes, their toys and blankets on and off for the past two weeks. Now Maisie and Lennox have their exercise time together (mainly because one rabbit won’t really leave the pen area, my kitchen, until the other does). They jump and play, snuggle and groom each other in my living room – which is far from neutral territory. As well, Lennox frequently follows Maisie back to her pen and vis versa. I have observed them eating together, using each other’s litter boxes and still no aggression. I have not been able to leave them together with supervision for more than 4 or 5 hours, as I do work.

I am nervous to let them share a pen overnight as I have seen no aggression or mounting this entire process, yet everywhere I read online says that I should. These are my first buns, and thus my first bonding experience.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Sirius&Luna]

It definitely sounds like you got it easy! How long ago was the boy neutered? I ask because male bunnies can have hormone surges for up to a month after the neuter – they can seem fine, and then be acting hormonal the next day.

That said, since they’re getting on so well, I don’t see any harm in doing an overnight session monitored .

If you can’t monitor them, then you need to wait until you have time to monitor. Even if they seem like they’re getting on fantastically, it’s important to cement their relationship and keep a close eye on them for at least their first 24, preferably 48, hours together.

[Brosheen]

Lennox was neutered around 3 weeks ago – hence why I have been hesitant to trust this whole “love at first sight” reaction he has to her.

In terms of an overnight session, should I wash out the pen area and bedding to remove the majority of Maisie’s scent? Her set-up is ideally where I want both buns to be living once bonded.

Thanks so much!

[Bunny House]

Hi, you can always clean out the pen and put both in it but if I were you, I would not clean anything and put them both in there and do bond dates in there. This will test to see if they can really be in each others territory without fighting. Then when they can be in the same territory, do what S&L said, the 24-48 hour monitor bonding and see how they do.

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