Bonding baby with adult

[Laura.kate.369]

I have two rabbits, a neutered male lop who is two years old and a ten week old female. I am hoping to bond the pair and have read about how risky is can be. I did try to bond my boy with rescue girls his own age but they all seemed to hate him and he is quite small and very docile so I decided I couldn’t match him with a bigger, obviously aggressive female. I have set up runs next to each other and the rabbits seem mostly indifferent and uninterested, except for some occasional sniffing through the wire (don’t worry they can’t bite). I have put them together twice for short five minute sessions. Firstly they just seemed really relaxed together, ate together and then my boy lay down near my girl. Today, they seemed fine together again other than one very light nip from my boy. I’m super nervous when I put them together so I’m pretty hands on just incase anything happens with her being so small. Does anyone have any experience bonding a pair like this? I’ve read so much but most info is about bonding adults. Should I be worried about the nip progressing into more aggressive behaviour or is this pretty normal? Any help is much appreciated! Ps. I’m happy to take a long time bonding this pair as I know it can be tricky, especially with her still being small

[MoveDiagonally]

Welcome to BB!

Bonding baby rabbits to adults is not recommended. Baby rabbits generally love everyone but this can and often does change as they reach puberty. I would suggest keeping them separated until at least 4 weeks after the female is spayed. Any bond they develop now would likely not survive her going through puberty and could make it harder to build a lasting bond between them in the future.

[Laura.kate.369]

Thank you, I will take your advice and wait.

[LizziAnn]

I bonded my three year old male lop with my 10 week old baby girl recently. It took ten days they have been living together peacefully for a while now and are fully bonded and in love!
Neji, my male, nipped at Luna, my female baby, alot in the ‘bunny date’ session but nothing to harmful – just asserting his dominance.
I know a lot of people suggest not to do this but I have had a very successful outcome.
Luna is not spayed yet as she is still too young bunt Neji is neutered.

[MoveDiagonally]

Bonding really can’t take place until all bunny’s involved are spayed/neutered. Baby bunnies tend to like everyone and there are many people here that have tried to bond babies with adults. In most of those situations problems arise once the baby rabbits reach puberty and the rabbits have to be separated. In the worst cases serious fights and injuries occur that delay bonding or make it more difficult. Very few end up working out in the long run.

[Laura.kate.369]

I’ve kept them separate but in runs next to each other and I ‘date’ them for about ten-twenty minutes a day. During this time they groom one another and lie down together so all seems positive. I’m not going to house them together until she has been spayed and I’m confident that her hormones won’t affect the relationship that seems good so far. I will get her spayed as soon as she is ready so hopefully the hormones will be kept under control before they are able to potentially sabotage the bonding process. I can’t imagine that she will suddenly decide she hates his guts, but if this does happen I will just start the process from scratch.

[Laura.kate.369]

Thanks for your reply! I’m glad all is going well for you so far. How old is Luna now and are they still getting along okay? Mine seem fine but I’m worried that once her hormones kick in things will change…

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