Bonding with a twist..should I get 2 females?

[Ash]

I havn’t been on too much lately due to allot of drama stuff going on but I really need some advice.

I have a 2 year old mini lop neutered male,Mr.B, and a 4month old non altered dutch male,Riley. At first they got along great with grooming, laying down, eating and yata yata (they were around for supervised play/bonding time and then they have seperate habitats) but recently Riley started mounting, spraying Mr.B but he still wants to play and groom him..?! Mr.B will tolerate Riley as long as he doesn’t mount too much and then he gets anoyed and growls at him!! I know this is hormones kicking in Riley and we want to get him neutered but the vet said to wait until he’s 6months old and he’s only 4months. But here is the thing.. Mr.B has seemed really depressed when Riley is in his habitat but then annoyed when he’s there… hubby and I have been talking that we want to foster rabbits from the shelter/rescues BUT as far as keeping forever we will only have 4 and we were thinking …

Should we just wait until Riley’s neuter and see how things go or should we get Mr.B a spayed girlfriend? If so should I wait and get 2 females , one for each boy (of course after Riley’s altered)? Would a bonded femal pair be best or should I just get 2 females that don’t know each other?  The reason I ask is because I heard it’s harder to bring another rabbit espceially female to the house if you already have a female due to territory issues are stronger in them even if they are spayed.

 

Riley is just so active and playful and Mr.B is a lounger and a kisser and I am wondering if it’d be best to get girlfriends with the same personality for them. Has nayone dealth with a 4 pair before? would I have to just keep the pairs together and give seperate free time or would I be able to let them all together (after bonding and supervision)?

Sorry so long it’s just been erking me lately and with eveything going on my questions have just piled.

[Gravehearted]

aww, I’m sorry to hear that Mr B is so lonely, poor fellow. Some vets do recommend waiting on smaller bunnies, so that may be why they want to wait until he’s 6 months old. I really would encourage you to get him a stuffed animal friend in the meantime and give him lots of attention and love. It really will go MUCH better to wait until after he is neutered to get him a friend. I would highly encourage you to waitl

Bonding two males can be tough, but it can sometimes work and it sounds like there’s a possibility since they were getting along well before. Of course it is hard to know what will after after the neuter. I’d be more inclined to try a trio once Riley is neutered, rather than trying to bond two pairs and then bond them as a quartet – which just sounds like a HUGE amount of stressful bonding.

[JK]

Is that really true? Getting a stuffed animal for a one bunny house? I just might do that. My family will absolutely think I’ve gone to the nut house!

[Beka27]

i wouldn’t take on any more rabbits until Riley is neutered.  like gravehearted said, you can’t know what Riley’s personality will be like afterwards.  chances are pretty good you’ll be able to bond the two of them, esp. since Mr. B wants companionship.  i think you should continue to spend a lot of time with both of them, and Mr. B should be able to wait the 2-3 months before Riley can be his friend.  i think taking on two females at this point would be a huge undertaking.  you can of course always get ladies in the far future, but wait to see what is going to happen with your two.

[Gravehearted]

a lot of bunnies snuggle and groom their stuffed friends and un-neutered boys sometimes do other special things with their stuffed friends, he he

[Ash]

Ok, so we moved out of our place and staying iwth a friend who welcomed our whole family, fur babies and all!!yaya!! even my SIL said yes to us but no to buns, even if we kept them in the condo (which we wouldn’t want to do but if it was somewhere we could have the buns with us, because the only way my buns would go out of our family care is over my dead body, lol) and this is someone that wants a puppy or a kitten!! so our friend said we were all welcomed and could let our buns out if we wish, what an awesome friend I have! Let me tell you 2 buns, a 1 year old and 2 adults in one room is actually cozy, got all my loves in one room..

But anyways beyond my babbling, the boys are on seperate ends of the room, because before we moved Riley sprayed this HUGE area I mean a good 8-10 sq ft area!! So that was the end of bonding time for him until the bye bye testes date. Once he’s old enough, probably the time we close on our new hosue, we’ll be getting him neutered!! Which will be great the boys will have thier own room and also enough room to foster buns, especially with Easter coming. I’m dreading this Easter with it being our first Easter as big bunny lovers. I’ve already got word out in newpapers and websites in the area about No rabbits for Easter cause so hopefully more will be aware. Plus I’m Chairperson of the one section of the No-kill shelter movement in my county so I have allot of contacts I’m spreading the word too. Plus I scann pet sites and educate those selling their buns or rehoming and tyring to work with them to keep them if its a issue that can be worked out.

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