Difficulty Bonding – Possible Rehoming – Advice Please

[Manda1berry]

I have a bonded pair of bunnies. A neutered male and a female too young to be spayed. They have been bonded for two months and immediately fell in love. The male is awesome. Greatest personality of all time. The female is unfriendly and skittish.

We had such a good experience with bonding the first two that we considered a third bun. We found another female who is just as friendly and awesome as the male. We brought her home, and again our male bonded with the new bunny immediately. The original female did not. So at this time, both of the girls are bonded to the male, but not to each other. Both females are too young to be spayed.

I have carefully followed all the bonding advice, and there were some signs of promise. But then female #1 viciously bit female #2 taking out a huge chunk of her ear (in neutral territory, far away and separate from the male). I was right there – it just happened so fast. Female #2 has had appropriate care and is healing well, but I’m afraid to put them together ever again.

Has anyone had success bonding buns in such a situation? My vet will not spay female #1 until November, and possibly January, 2017 for female #2. Because the first two buns have free run of a bunny proof room, and female #2 is stuck in a crate, waiting is not ideal. Should I give one female up?

If the latter, I’d rather give up female #1 because she is so unfriendly and I like female #2 so much better. The male likes them both so I have no idea how that would effect him. I also want female #1 to be happy and feel terrible breaking a bond. I’m so distraught over the whole thing. I’d love some input.

Thank you!

[tobyluv]

The first step in bonding is always for both (or all) rabbits to be spayed or neutered. You really should keep all of your rabbits separated until both females have been spayed and recuperated, then you can start the bonding process. The bond that each female has with your male is very likely temporary – until they hit puberty and they are affected by their hormones. You would need to make sure that all of your rabbits get out of cage/crate time for play and exercise. They would have to take turns to do so.

[Bam]

I agree with Tobyluv. You really can’t tell until the bunnies are de-sexed. And with sexual maturity, aggression between rabbits is common. Girl rabbits have strong a strong sex-drive, it’s not just boy rabbits that do. Your girls will most likely demand sex from the boy and he can’t comply because he’s neutered, and there’s a great likelihood of irritation and annoyance. If that happens and the buns manage to hurt each other (and fighting buns can hurt each other badly), bonding can become impossible even after de-sexing. If you see fighting, separate immediately.

[Manda1berry]

Thank you, tobyluv and bam. I really appreciate the time you took to write me. Perhaps another bunny savvy vet opinion is in order. I think my current vet is asking to wait longer than necessary to spay. I have read that they can be done by 4 months, but best to wait til 6. He wants to wait even longer (closer to 8 months). I’ll make some phone calls.

I do make sure female #2 gets playtime when I get home (at least 3 hours), but I want her to be as free range as the other two.

[Manda1berry]

One last question – do you think the desexing will really, significantly help the violent bonding sessions? Is that the real root of the violence? Because i really love them all and I want this to work and have normal bonding sessions – not where one bun really wants to kill the other!

[tobyluv]

Spaying and neutering normally helps with aggression and territorial feelings. Some scuffling can be normal when bonding, but you don’t want any outright fighting. I have bonded 5 pairs of rabbits over the years, but never bonded a trio. There are several threads here about people who have bonded 3 or more rabbits. Look through the bonding thread and you may get some good pointers for the time when you do start bonding the 3 of them. If you have any other good rabbit savvy vets in your area, even if you have to go a little further to find them, it might be a good idea to check with them regarding their spay policies. It does seem like 8 months is a long time to wait to spay.

[Manda1berry]

Thank you, tobyluv!  I will certainly check out the other threads on bonding trios.  It also looks like I have an appointment for a checkup on my female #1 for tomorrow and they will tell me when they think she can be spayed.  In the meantime, I can keep them sleeping in their separate crates with separate play times by day.

This site is the best!  

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