Bonding Issues

[Sam]

Hey, I’m new to this website, and I have been having some issues while bonding my two rabbits (male and female). Their names are Brinkley and Charlie, and Brinkley is neutered while Charlie is not spayed. I know that it is best for them to get spayed, but I did not realize until after I began the bonding process. Plus, I have looked into getting her spayed and hope to by the end of this month or the beginning of September. She has not been super aggressive whatsoever. When I began the bonding process, she began mounting him constantly, but now it has already stopped. It seemed like I was making progress. They would lay down, ignore each other, and Charlie would even occasionally sleep while they were in the pen together. They even ate out of the same bowl and would lay face to face with each other for 20 minutes at least (even closing their eyes). Brinkley has groomed Charlie, but Charlie has not been interested in grooming him. We tried cage switching, and Charlie would groom Brinkley’s teddy bear (that was in his cage). We also tried moving the teddy bear around and she’d chase it and try to get us to put it down because she wanted it. We’ve tried bigger spaces and smaller spaces to bond them in (all being neutral areas). Brinkley began nipping at her a little bit, but recently, he has stopped completely and just wants to lay next to her and be close to her. Charlie, on the other hand, has been making whining noises when he gets close every now and then and even acts a little scared. Brinkley constantly puts his head underneath her and squishes their faces together. It does not seem to be progressing from this. I don’t know if I am making any progress or not so I wanted to know what someone else thought about this. Is there anything I should do differently? Am I making progress?

[Deleted User]

You probably won’t have a true bond until Charlie is spayed. I haven’t bonded my pair yet, but I have been studying up very much on the subject. Since your girl still has raging hormones running through her body, I don’t think you’re going to make much progress bonding. It is good that they aren’t fighting, but that can change quickly, especially if you put him in her territory- which might awaken some territorial demon in her. Honestly? I would separate again and get her spayed, then try. At least you know that you don’t have a fighting pair on your hands. But I personally feel like any “bond” being made here would be temporary and formed out of both of them being uncomfortable. If put together in either buns “territory” you might be met with some fighting even though they didn’t fight in neutral territory.

[sarahthegemini]

Your female isn’t spayed and you believe one of your rabbits is scared. Stop bonding them, or trying to bond them.

[joea64]

I agree, Charlie needs to be spayed before you attempt to go any further with bonding. Get them separated and keep them separate before something really bad happens; you can keep them in habitats or cages where they can see and smell one another, but they mustn’t be allowed to have any further physical contact until Charlie has been fixed. The danger isn’t pregnancy (I assume Brinkley’s neuter is a month or more in the past) so much as it is a nasty fight breaking out between the two which might alienate them from each other for a long time or even permanently.

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