Question about bonding young bunnies

[shinigami66]

Hello all,

We are new bunny owners of a mini lop (male) Henry, who is currently 9 weeks old. He is not neutered until 4-5 months as recommended by the breeder.

We are hoping to get a new bunny (female) so that this one won’t become too lonely as we work during the day and nobody is at home.

Our question is, will it better to have Henry neutered first before attempting to bond or not?

Thank you for the help in advance!

[Dface]

Bonding bunnies can be very stressful but the results are so rewarding!

Bonding unnuetered rabbits is a bad idea. Rabbits are very good at reproducing and trying to bond before neutering will result in babies (people on here tell stories of pregnant rabbits from between cage bars! Or from minimal amount of contact! )
if you were to get a female they would need to be zero contact until 2 weeks after his neuter to avoid an accidental litter.
Females generally arent neutered until 6 months, and then they get a hormone spike after being neutered, which can make them alightly agressive-plus its better to wait til shes all healed from her surgery before introducing them.

An unnuetered female can be bonded to a neutered male, but this isnt really ideal and can make bonding a lot harder. I did do this route, but its best to neuter(as females get cancers very young)

Ideally, it would be best if you could let him pick his own mate after he is neutered (possibly an already neutered female from a shelter) as rabbits can be extremely picky about the company they keep

[Asriel and Bombur]

Actually males can still produce semen until 4 weeks post neuter. You’ll need to wait until they are both fixed. A fixed male will very likely act on the unfixed female’s hormones, making a bond very difficult. Females are notoriously aggressive and territorial until they have been spayed. So definitely wait. And be mindful that it can take at the least a month for a successful bond. You have to be willing to be patient with bonding, because if it’s not done right it will get ugly and the bond won’t really be secure.

[Dface]

if it’s not done right it will get ugly and the bond won’t really be secure

I just want to say some bonds are hard, and some are easy!
Here we like to prep people for the worst case scenarios.
The time frames and warnings in our comments may seem a little bit offputting, but do remember all bunnies and their bonds are different so you should be in no way discouraged from trying!
I had the same female for 2 bonds, the first one took two weeks, her second bond took three months!

[shinigami66]

Thank you everyone, these are really good information!
We are definitely keen to be part of the process in bonding for our bunnies, we know that it will be rewarding at the end for them!
It is also clearer for us that is best to wait until Henry is neutered to find another bunny for bonding.
If we were to get a female bunny (unneutered) and separate them two (but can still see each other) until both are fixed, will this also be a good option?

[Dface]

A lot of people use the time to let the new bunny settle into the house and get comfortable in their home, and with you their new slave! so yes you could do this.

It also means you will have time for prebonding. This is where the rabbits get used to the idea of another rabbit sharing in the territory, without any physical contact.
During prebonding you can swap toys and even cages to help the rabbits get used to the others scent.
The rabbits have time to adjust to each other and it’s generally believed that this step really enhances the chance of bonding going smoothly, with lots of people spending about a month plus at this stage. (again they have no physical contact, but can see and smell each other, and it gives them a chance to mingle their smells)

My only warning is to make sure noone is getting over anxious about the other.
My girl got “cage rage”-which is where the strange rabbit they can’t find/touch drives them mad, and they can lash out when the do meet the other rabbit.

This seems to be really rare and unusual though so i doubt it’ll be an issue, more just a heads up!

[Doodler]

Hi shinigami66! If you have the space and time to have two separate bunnies for an extended period of time (and potentially permanently if the bonding doesn’t work) you can definitely get a second one at any time. As to whether this is a good option, honestly it just depends on your situation and what you are prepared to deal with. I can speak from personal experience that having two buns separate for an extended time is sometimes not that enjoyable and can be stressful.

The one thing I would like to add to what Dface said is that although you can do toy and cage swapping while you are waiting for them to be fixed, healed, and hormones settled this will most likely not expedite the process. Their scents change with hormone changes so what they smell like now will be different by the time they ready for physical introductions. You will just want to keep in mind that you would still need to take the recommended prebonding time and steps (meaning starting the swapping all over again) when their hormones are stable. Good luck with your decision!

[easter]

Hello shingami66, I have recently bonded my rabbit (Cookie) to my new rabbit (Luna) and it was not easy! male rabbits are fertile for 6 weeks and (rarely) up to eight so i would recommend spaying the female instead because the infertility is instant if you can get hold of another hutch then you should house her in there with the males hutch right next to it so they can see and smell each other when the male is in or out. After a week or two, start having what i call bonding sessions , let them out together and monitor their behavior, they will hump but that is essential for them to know who is boss so only but in if it gets nasty.
They will bond, but they might do it slowly, fast, or have love at first sight!. Just carefully monitor them and sometimes swap hutches or toys like Dface said. During bonding sessions you will need to have a towel in case they fight, and be ready to give greens and strokes during that time so they can relax.
Good luck!

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