Is It Worth Doing *Anything* Before Two New Buns are Spayed?

[Rae]

Hi all!

I have two new buns: Sophie and Marnie (been posting about them quite a bit haha). They are about three months old.

My little man, Gus, is just shy of three years.

Spay/Neuter Status: My usual vet doesn’t spay before the age of six months, though I may be looking at other options because they are charging about $500-$800 per spay which seems like an awful lot. All of this piece to say we are at minimum a few months away from getting the girls spayed due to age. Gus has been neutered for about a year or two I believe. Been a hot minute for sure. Planning on getting Marnie and Sophie spayed basically as soon as they are old enough.

Current Setup: Bunnies are all in one room, split into about half via an X-pen. Girls on one side, Gus on the other. I don’t currently have any separations or covers on the bars as so far they all seem to get along fine through their little divider.

Bonding Status: Sophie and Marnie are sisters and have been living together since birth. Totally two peas in a pod, though I’ve read that once rabbits reach maturity there is a fair chance bonds will sever.

I haven’t tried anything to bond the trio as I’ve also read that there isn’t really any point due to the aforementioned fact. On their first or second night there was a jail-break and I woke up at 3am to them hanging out around the room – Marnie was laying under the bed, Sophie and Gus were chewing on something together numerous feet away from Marnie.

Personalities: Sophie is a lazybun who enjoys laying around in sunbeams or her litterbox to eat hay. She is rather docile, and very friendly with Gus. Marnie is curious but skittish – she will frequently walk up and boop me with her snoot only to scare herself with the contact, jump back and try it again. From their minimal interaction through bars, she seems avoidant and borderline scared of Gus but not aggressive, and quick to run away and hide behind Sophie. Gus proved to be dominant in our last bonding efforts a few years ago, but not aggressive. He seems really eager to interact/play with the girls, constantly sticking his snoot through the bars and trying to play with them (or eat their alfalfa pellets, when he got to them that one time I had to literally pick him up and pull him away – he acted like a starved animal for those things).

I’d adore for them to be bonded, to start bonding them, but I’m just not sure it’s worth it.

Any thoughts on if I should try anything at all pre-spay? As I’ve said I’m really just waiting on the girls to grow a bit older, but I feel a smidge sad watching Gus be all alone trying to play with Sophie who seemingly wants the same thing – they give each other little nose kisses through bars.

[Wick & Fable]

To be honest, I didn’t read everything (I’m commuting right now, haha), but direct to your question, I wouldn’t start do anything aside from maybe doing prebonding stuff, like swapping litterboxes and having them housed close to each other (but no touching).

Of note, how rabbits interact across bars is NOT a reliable indicator of how they will actually be together. Pen bars are a very obvious and solid territorial barrier. There are many instances where you have rabbits grooming each other through bars, flopping, etc., but during dates, they act like any other pair not-yet bonded and they are aggressive. The pen wall, while seemingly a thin barrier, does a lot to reign in the territorialness and overall social dynamics of rabbits.

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.

[DanaNM]

I think it would be best to just continue with the set-up you have, with one change. As cute as it is for them to give kisses through the bars, that can easily turn into nose-nipping, which can create some bad feelings and make bonding more difficult. I’ve also seen some bad injuries to buns faces from noses being bitten through fencing.  I would add some fine mesh to the fencing so they can’t stick their noses through the fence.

I would also keep a close eye on the girls. Hormones tend to kick in around 4-5 months, which can start to cause some issues. The timing of this can vary, but the sooner you get them castrated, the better. The absolute earliest is 4 months, many vets prefer to wait until 5 or 6 months for females. Also be aware that young rabbits are VERY often mis-sexed, so it’s very possible you could have a male and female, or even two males. Pregnancy can occur as early as 12 weeks. I helped with a vaccine clinic for a rescue in my town and there were at least 2 times where we had to tell the owner, “did you know your rabbit is actually a male?”. They were all very surprised.  :p

The absolute safest thing to do would be to separate the girls as well, but if you don’t want to do that, I would check their sexes daily (to look for descended testicles) and keep a very close eye on their behavior. If you see any fur pulled, mounting, chasing, etc, it’s time to separate them. Fighting can occur in a flash, and if you aren’t around to break it up, things can be very dangerous.

. . . 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.  

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