Male and female bonding journal – Just starting

[B&A]

Good Evening, 

  I am looking for a bit of advice. I have one rabbit already Bertrand, a rescue who I have not had for very long. He is about twelve months old and not yet neutered – I have him scheduled to go in for his procedure on the 16th, so next week. I have my second rescue rabbit arriving tomorrow, a female who is only 4-5 months old so not yet old enough to be neutered – but she will be as soon as possible. I am looking for a bit of advice for the the following month – having never had rabbits before I’m hoping to pick more knowledgeable brains . 

 I have a flat and I am planning on having Bertrand the male I have now in the living room and Arlo the young female in the bedroom. I do not want babies and thus will keep them separated until four weeks after Bertrand has had his procedure. My question is though, will they freak out essentially being able to smell another rabbit in the flat? I have a fear that if Bertrand smells her he will change his personality. As I said, I have never had rabbits before and I am actually blown away by how lovely Bertrand is. He shows no aggressive behaviour at all.  He is very attached too, he follows me around the flat, and sits with me or beside me all the time. He is free range, I know people said that I should wait to let him have so much freedom, but he is very organized with his bathroom behaviour and I made sure to rabbit proof as much as I could with cords, and I work from home a lot of the time right now – I’m righting my thesis so I am here to watch him. As I said though, he is very attached, he follows me about everywhere and falls asleep on the foot of my bed now too. I tried to not let him do this, but if I go to bed, he goes to bed. 

So, yes, my first question is, do you think these four weeks will be very trying if they can smell each other but I don’t introduce them? Also, and this may be pushing it a bit.. as Arlo is smaller and younger, and I have a raising stand to keep her cage on, do you think I would get away with keeping her in her cage at night and allowing Bertrand to come into the bedroom at bedtime? Or would this be too frustrating for him? Is he going to be trying to find her? Should I use something to dilute their smells from room to room? 

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated 

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I think the smell of another rabbit nearby and on your clothing might confuse him at first but it’ll help when you do eventually bond them as they’ll both be used to each others smell.

Regarding the cage, that would be a big no for me as like you said it’ll be very frustrating being able to hear each other (especially if their hormones are still around).

I would also, if you have the patience , wait 6 weeks after his neuter to allow the female time to recover and some of her hormones to subside. Hope this helped a bit

[B&A]

Hi, so as I posted above, I got my second rescue rabbit today and I;m a bit concerned. I have a male Bertrand who is twelve months and was not neutered when I got him. He is booked to be neutered next Thursday, but I know I will need to keep them separate for at least four weeks after that. She is three months and thus not neutered but I will get her neutered as soon as possible.

I am very concerned though. I did not introduce them,  I was going to keep Bertrand in the living room and the new female Arlo in the bedroom. Bertrand, I do not know if he has ever smelled another rabbit before. He got so agitated from the smell, he was running in circles, he thumped three ties and his wee heart was racing, I don’t like it. He is such a wonderful rabbit I don’t want to stress him out. I think he could here the girl in the bedroom so I moved her to the kitchen so he can;’t hear her but he still seems agitated and running around. He normally sleeps with me in the bedroom but that was the room she was in so I thought her smell might be stronger in there. I am sleeping with him in the living room hoping he will calm down. he just keeps smelling everything and running around . I don’t want him to be too over agitated, it worries me. Does this mean I was completely wrong to think I could keep them in separate rooms like this? will he just never calm down with her in the same flat but never meeting her? Should I try to find someone else to take her? Is this dangerous for poor Bertrand?

[B&A]

Well, after an exhausting night they have both settled down. Bertrand is a bit annoyed with me but he doesn’t look so panicky more knocking over the plants annoyed :/ and the new girl is a new fresh cage and getting run of the kitchen. She had been being kept in a little dog cage, so I did a new cage up for her and she seems quite happy with her new toys

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