Prebonding neutered male and intact female

[Krolik and Raven]

Tl;dr is it safe to start the prebonding process when one one rabbit is fixed?

I’m a pretty new rabbit owner and I’ve done a lot of research on rabbit care, but I have a question about bonding/prebonding that I haven’t been able to find an answer to. Here’s the backstory:

I got my first rabbit, Krolik, in April when a friend of mine couldn’t keep him anymore. He was neutered about three months ago and bounced back (pun intended) very quickly. I’m a med student and the farther I get in my program, the less time I’m able to spend with him at home. I was worried about him not getting enough attention, so I decided to get him a buddy and brought home Raven, a three year old female who was surrendered to my local pet store. Her previous owner did not mention whether or not she was spayed and the small animal specialist in the pet store couldn’t find a tattoo, so I am assuming she’s intact until I hear otherwise from my vet. I did not introduce them before I brought Raven home (which I now realize I should have done).

The first few days I kept Krolik in his playpen in the living room so that Raven could have a more quiet space to adjust to her cage in my bedroom. After that, I moved Krolik back to his cage in my bedroom but placed the two cages on opposite sides of the room. I’ve done my research and have decided to wait to introduce them without a barrier until Raven gets spayed (which should be soon). However, my bedroom is fairly small and it would be much easier space-wise to put the two cages next to each other. I know prebonding is often done putting their cages next to each other with a few inches between them so they can’t bite each other, but I haven’t been able to find any information about whether or not it’s safe to start this process when only one rabbit is fixed. Raven has a vet appointment on Monday. Hopefully the vet can confirm whether or not she is still intact and I can schedule a surgery date for the spay if she is, but I know it’s going to be at least 8 weeks from now before they’re ready to meet without a barrier, but it will be much easier for me in the meantime if I can put their cages side by side.

Thanks for your help!

[Katie]

I would say yes, as I have read that when one bunny out of a bonded pair gets fixed and comes back to the bunny that is well, the other one can “help” them heal more easily, and be supportive to the other bunny, haha.

BUT I have never done any bonding of my own.  I can’t see how it would hurt though if one is fixed……  

[Sirius&Luna]

As long as he was neutered more than 2 months ago, he won’t get her pregnant, if that’s your concern.

The other thing is to ensure that they can’t reach each other through the bars, but it’s perfectly ok to have them next to each other with a 6 inch or so gap. Prebonding is actually swapping cages or litter trays and toys, so just having them next to each other isn’t prebonding, they need to get used to the idea that the territory is shared.

What do you do for their out of cage time? You also need to make sure they can’t reach each other then. 

[Author]

Messages