Neutered adult male, unspayed young female: When and how to bond?

[Shoe Bunny]

Hi fellow rabbit lovers! I have some concerns about bonding my adult neutered male and my unspayed young female. I consider myself an amateur rabbit lover, and have a lot of detail so here it goes…

Some background: Skittles (7yo neutered male) and Starburst had been well bonded for about five years while I was in university and beyond. I rescued Starburst when she was a youngster, about 1, and at the time, Skittles was 2. When I brought home Starburst, I was told she had existing health problems and throughout her beautiful life, she required a LOT of attention. I first bonded them in the Spring of 2006 and they lived happily together for just over five years. They’ve always had free reign of my bedroom when I was living in an apartment or my parents’ house. Now that I have my own job in NYC, they have free reign of the living room (no more being woken up by binkies on my bed!). 

Fast forward to October 2012. Starburst passed away, about six months after out move to New York. Both Skittles and I were absolutely devastated, I even missed a few days of work to compose myself. In our state of mourning, but feelings of loneliness, I volunteered to foster some bunnies while they waited to be adopted. Over the next six months beginning in late November through to a couple weeks ago, I fostered three female buns. Skittles was happy and seemed to get along swimmingly with each of them.

The last foster I housed left our home about three weeks ago. A couple days after she was adopted, I was in my local pet supplies shop (I live in a small Manhattan neighborhood ways away from transit lines, so this shop is very small and community like) grabbing some accessories for Skittles when, and I kid you not, a rabbit breeder walks in trying to pawn a bunny off on “any takers.” Knowing Skittles and I were feeling like the apartment was a little empty, and fearing whomever this breeder would give his bunny to, I brought Ginger home. She is beautiful. About 5 months old (born on Christmas day 2012), female, un-spayed. 

So, I got a cage for her, it is maybe 2×3, and set her up in the living room. Skittles, when he is not in his own cage, is out and about in the living room. And he just can NOT stay away from Ginger’s cage. The problem, she does not seem interested. In fact, he can’t get two hops near her before she assumes an attack position. I’ve decided that when I let her out for free time, I lock Skittles in his cage. I have only allowed them to interact twice, both times he dominates her and she runs away sheepishly or growls. 

When I brought her home, I took her to the vet the very next day. She has a clean bill of health and I scheduled a spay for her for Saturday. Today is April 23, her spay is set for April 27. She came home with us April 13. I’m taking Skittles to the vet tomorrow just to ensure all is well in paradise.

Anyways, here is my question. Am I doing the bonding process absolutely wrong?? When I introduced Starbust to Skittles years ago, they were both neutered/spayed, and I never witnessed any aggression from either of them. Introducing unspayed Ginger to Skittles appears to be problematic. I want them to become familiar with each other, but should I just wait a few weeks until after Ginger is spayed? Any advice?

Lately, Skittles seems stressed out of his mind and I’m not sure why. Both of them are suffering through small cages, and Ginger only has a few hours of free time a night. My order for a Bunny Abode is in transit, though, so I don’t intend to invest in any interim housing unless absolutely necessary. Right now I have baby gates up where the apartment couldn’t be proofed. Should I keep them distanced until after the spay before introducing them? If so, how long should I wait? I could at the very least, put Ginger in my kitchen and Skittles can stay in the living room, but my kitchen tends to always smell strongly like some north African food dish and I know Skittles hates it, lol. 

Please offer me any advice you can. And I’m so sorry for the super long post!

[LBJ10]

I would keep Ginger where Skittles can smell her so he can get used to her. But I wouldn’t let them interact until she is spayed and healed. Hormones can really interfere with bonding and you don’t want them to hurt each other. You will do much better once she is hormone free.

[Shoe Bunny]

Thanks for the input, LBJ. I tried placing Ginger’s cage in an area where Skittles could sniff her out, but whenever she gets near, she bites at the sides of the cage or scratches and scares him away. I’ve never seen him so skiddish. He’s the type of bun who CHASES the vacuum cleaner!

I’m worried because he seems to be showing zero interest in her, almost like he is afraid of her. Should I maybe only let him smell her if I am around to supervise?

[MoveDiagonally]

I would definitely keep them separated until after Ginger’s spay. There’s really no positive to keeping them stressed and in contact at this point but if they get a bad impression of each other it can take longer/effect bonding negatively. It will take about a month for Ginger’s hormones to settle down after she’s spayed.

Once Ginger is altered and healed you will want to introduce them in a neutral area (a lot of people use the bath tub). If you haven’t checked out the bonding section on this website I would definitely give it a read:
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx

Welcome to BB! If you have a moment and would like to introduce yourself in the Welcome forum, everyone loves pictures here When you start bonding I would start a bonding thread here for it. It can be really helpful and people can offer you advice as you go.

[MoveDiagonally]

I wanted to add that you can get them used to each other’s smell by swapping their litter boxes around.

[Shoe Bunny]

Hi, MoveDiagonally! Thanks for the welcome. I’ve been a lurker of the forums for quite some time! I’m hoping to be around for a while.

And thanks for the tips, too. Should I consider swapping their litter boxes now or after the spay? I’ve read in various places that Ginger’s scent will change and could confuse Skittles. I’ve got them on different sides of the apartment for now, which I guess is a good thing. I don’t want them to start hating each other before they get the chance to love each other! A bonding thread seems like a great idea.

It’s close to my bedtime right now–it’s not even 9:30 but we’ve had a long day–but I will certainly go over to introduce myself and my buns. They always seem to enjoy photo sessions. Especially Skittles, he is a total narcissist lol

[Stickerbunny]

I would do the switching around of scents after the spay, while she’s healing up. To avoid any possible injuries through bars, if you let them sniff each other in the mean time be sure to put enough space between her and the bars so she can’t grab a nose or ear or something. There are some nasty injuries bunnies can inflict through cages.

[LBJ10]

I agree with Sticker, make sure there is a barrier so they can’t get to each other through the bars. I really think it helps if they can smell each other so when you do start the bonding process they aren’t caught completely off guard. But it is also important that you keep them from interacting until after the spay. You don’t want to give a reason for anyone to hold a grudge. I wouldn’t try switching litter boxes at this point either.

[Beka27]

Sounds like you got it down… spay her, let her heal, then start bonding!

Keep us posted on how the spay goes!

[Shoe Bunny]

Thanks everyone, this is all such great advice! I’m becoming impatient with waiting for spay day, but realize I should calm down as the healing process is going to take a lot longer than just waiting for the weekend. For now, they are separated in two different rooms. When either is out, they go up to the doorway, which is partitioned with two baby gates about four inches apart so they can smell and see each other, but can’t get to one another. They sometimes sit there and have staring contests so I’ll get between them as that just looks weird to me.

I’ll keep you posted on how the spay goes!

[tanlover14]

Coming in kind of late – but I’m really glad you decided to wait until her spay to bond. Some nasty fights can happen that can/will make bonding much more difficult in the future so it’s better for everyone and bun to wait!

With that being said – when you are ready to start bonding, start a thread! I have a bonded quartet and will be adding a fifth bun into the mix in a month n a half. I love bonding and bonding posts! So I’ll definitely hop on and help in any way I can!

Good luck on her spay!

[Shoe Bunny]

Thanks so much, Tanlover!!

How long after her spay should I give her her own space? I’m planning to keep them in two different bedrooms for four weeks until she heels and is totally happy. But they’re definitely aware that there’s another bunny in the apartment! Do you think this is too long? Not long enough?

[tanlover14]

That is the perfect amount of time! It will ensure all her hormones are gone before the bonding begins!

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