Can a neutered and spayed pair bond with an unspayed female?

[OliviaRose]

Hi, I have a question about rabbit bonding with three rabbits. I’ll just give some background first though:
About 5 years ago I adopted a female rabbit, Holly (at my dads request) to be a friend for his own pet rabbit. She wasn’t spayed (I don’t know why, I had a voucher for it to be done for free but he never used it) They both lived in the garden together and were put in a hutch with a hutch cover over night. Since then, my dad moved out of the house and my mum moved in and kept the rabbits. My mum isn’t interested in them at all and just left them to themselves. Which would be fine if that didnt mean she also didnt health check them or take them to the vets when they were ill etc. Anyway after about 2 years the neutered male friend died and she got another friend who died a couple of months ago.
I don’t speak to my mother (her boyfriend was abusive towards me) so I have heard all this through my sister.
My mum is not interested in Holly and just leaves her outside by herself. Isn’t overly bothered in using the hutch cover of feeding her right (which she never did). But what bothers me most is that she is alone. She had two friends who she loved and she lost them both. Apparently she kept trying to get inside the house but no one would let her in and now she just sits there by herself all day. She’s 6/7 years old and is about to spend a winter in a rural exposed area with nothing and no one to keep her warm and it just breaks my heart.
It’s been getting to me these past few months and I have encouraged my sister’s to try and convice her to rehome her to someone who wantals her. I feels responsible, its my fault shes there alone becuae i adopted her in the first place. My mum couldnt be bothered to do that.
So i spoke to my sister and told her to tell her thatshea found Holly a new home. Basically, i will take her and rehome her through an adoption scheme we run where i work. But the thing is, that still doesnt sit we with me becuae i dont know if that would be her forever home of if she’d just end up going from pillar to post, you just never know what will happen. And if that did happen, then ive made it worse for her.
The reason i don’t feel that i can take her is that I have bonded male and female house rabbits (both are neutered and spayed). Because she was never spayed, I think it might be really risky to try and bond them. And i also think shes probably too old at this point for the procedure. My female (Alma) is a sassy lady and from what I remember, Holly is too. However, if I felt that it would work, I’d rather her stay with me and let her live in retirement with friends, indoors and spoilt.

Sorry for the monologue! My question is: Is it possible to bond all three rabbits with one unspayed? I know females are the hardest to bond even if they were both fixed let alone when one isn’t. Would her age be a good thing in this situation though? She’s an older rabbit so possibly a bit calmer now? If there’s no chance I can go to My other plan and find her another home.

Thanks in advance!
Olivia xxx

[DanaNM]

What a sad story

I completely understand why you’d want to rescue her.

I’ll admit, when I read the title my first reaction was “probably not”. But reading the full story I understand why you’d want to try. The fact that she was bonded before as an unspayed lady makes me think she might just bond easily. But I think the real issue is how your current buns will react. Did they bond easily?

She also might not be too old to be spayed…I think some vets have 6 as their cut off, and my local vet has neutered buns as old as 9. So might be worth calling around to see.

I think if you confirm she cannot be spayed, i might try bringing her home and seeing how your pair reacts to her presence in the house. Don’t actually introduce them, but if possible set her up in another room and see if your pairs behavior changes.

If your buns start acting weird , then there prob isn’t a chance of bonding them properly unless she is spayed. But if everyone is chill, then maybe it could work?

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[OliviaRose]

Thanks for your advice! I think I’ll do that. When she arrives she’ll need to go to the vets for a check up anyway, so I’ll ask what they think.
(Also apologies for my spelling etc., on my original post. I’m typing on my phone and didn’t proof read haha)

[Author]

Messages