Pre bonding?

[Mara]

I have a nearly 2-year-old Holland Lop (Freddie) who is fixed, and has been since I adopted him, about a year ago. I just got a baby lion head mix. He’s only six weeks old (I know that’s often considered too young, but the breeder had to give him up then). I’m not actually sure if Hummus is a boy or a girl. Breeder thought it’s a girl, but I know it’s really hard to tell and I probably have to wait until he’s fixed. 

I know also that you can’t really bond babies to adults, so they have separate living areas on different levels of the house. Because Hummus is so young, and it’ll be months until I can get him fixed, I’m wondering if I can even start pre-bonding yet? Or if I should wait a bit. Can I let them meet each other through cages and swap living spaces? Can they interact as long as they’re supervised? (And as long as they don’t live together until Hummus is fixed and has time for all the hormones to leave?)

I’d appreciate everyone’s advice! Especially if you’ve lived with a baby and adult, and went through that whole process. I want Freddie to have a friend, and I’m hoping Hummus can be that friend once he/she is old enough. 

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome

You can pre-bond now if you’d like, but I would probably wait to do pre-bonding and all that until Hummus (cute name!) is neutered/spayed and hormones have calmed down. I say this mostly out of laziness because you’ll want to restart the pre-bonding clock anyway once he is fixed, since he will smell differently once hormones kick in, and once he’s fixed they will change again. Plus, if Hummus is female, you’ll have to wait a several months to spay, so it could end up being a LOT of pre-bonding….. So personally it would be easiest to just wait until Hummus is spayed/neutered and really ready to bond.

I do think it would be fine to have them side by side though, as they might enjoy each other’s company as neighbors. I wouldn’t let them physically interact though. Babies do usually get along with adults, but you never know when he will hit puberty, and fights can happen kind of out of nowhere. So, there isn’t really anything gained, and there is a lot of risk.

You can start scheming now to have a good neutral space in your home to do your eventual bonding sessions in.

Just another two cents, 6 weeks is very young, as you know, so it would be good to have a check up with a rabbit savvy vet to make sure lil’ baby Hummus gets everything he/she needs.

. . . 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.  

[Sirius&Luna]

Hummus is such a cute name!

There’s no harm in prebonding now (although give Hummus a couple of weeks to settle in first), but as Dana said, you will have to still do another month after the spay/neuter. I do think it helps bunnies to get used to the idea of each other though, and generally bunnies that have lived near each other for a few months are easy bonds!

I’ve had a baby waiting to be neutered with adult buns, and I gave baby a few weeks to settle in in our bedroom, before moving him to the living room with the grown up buns (still separated of course). Then they all had free roam time in the same room (separately), so they got used to smelling each other all over the same room, without actually interacting,

[Author]

Messages