Risking adopting a baby bun to bond with my 1 year old

[sgtsnuggles]

Hello,

I wanted to ask for any experiences and opinions. I’m looking to bond my 1yo Holland Lop male who is neutered. I really prefer another lop and haven’t had any luck finding one around his age and fixed. How risky is it to adopt a 3/4 month old who isn’t spayed and try to bond them after she is spayed and not hormonal? I know it’s up to the bun personalities, but is it a high risk that they wouldn’t get along? My bun seems easy going enough and below is his experience with his first attempt. I don’t want to be irresponsible and adopt a bun and them not work out. However this place will not do any exchanges after.

I previously had him “half bonded” to a 4 month old I adopted from a non-profit who insisted that she “was not hormonal” when she was just spayed the week before I brought her home. She had me bond them her technique (quick bonding) which I know some people don’t agree with as it’s very stressful. However, the buns were fine and stopped having tiffs after day 3. I felt like it was a half bond because he never groomed her, always tried to mount her (even after a week), and he had very low interest in her and would always try to nip her and mount. Researching this I found that it’s not advised to try to bond within 6 weeks of spay/neuters as the hormones are still circulating. Long story short, I disagreed a lot with the non-profit as they insisted I free feed alfalfa and young bun pellets and I refused because I know high protein and calcium will be detrimental to my 1yo, they insisted that she wasn’t hormonal and that wasn’t the problem, and became very accusatory that I was going to kill her. I was so uncomfortable with the strong language I thought it best to just return her. I want to note that I was separating her three times a day to eat as much alfalfa and her pellets as wanted, about 15-20mins, and when she was not interested I let them back together again. I also don’t agree with free feed pellets because I already had an issue where my bun wouldn’t eat hay and only wanted pellets and it’s a bad habit to form and took a lot of effort to correct. They never fought after this, he just as usual tried to mount. How authentic was this bond? It wasn’t quite what I wanted for him, I want him to have a true companion that they can enjoy each other. She would always try to hang with him but he wouldn’t want to with her, I free roamed them and they never fought he just continued to try to mount constantly which I am going to say was the source of the untrue bond.

[DanaNM]

Hi there!

So I’m not sure what the timeline was for your past bonding, but I don’t think they were fully bonded. I don’t think the full 6 weeks is really necessary in most cases (I think 3 is a better rule of thumb, and then go off how the buns are behaving), but her hormones could have been at play and triggering his mounting. Or they just needed more time in neutral space to really solidify their relationship. If she was spayed before hormones really set in (which is possible because she was only 4 months old when you got her), then her hormones probably weren’t going completely crazy. Sometimes they stop fighting right away but it can take a bit longer to see grooming and cuddling. I’m sorry you had a hard time with the rescue. 🙁

At any rate, I can see the challenges of having a young bunny and 1 year old who have different diets. I think what you were doing sounds fine, as long as young buns get alfalfa in one way or another they are fine, and lots of people start to transition them to adult diets around 6-8 months (depending on the breed, large breeds need longer).

Now, to your main question! Most pairings of bunnies DO work out. The amount of work required can vary a lot, but it’s rare for a bond to be completely impossible. M-F (neutered and spayed) pairings seem to have the best success rates, but neutered males can also be friends (F-F is also possible but seems harder on average). I also dont think the amount of work required is at all indicative of how close the bond will by. Some of the most difficult bondings I’ve done (like 3-4 months of work), have been the closest once they were finally bonded.

So I think if you are willing to put in the time of getting a bun spayed/neutered, healed, and then the bonding process (whatever that may be), then you have a good chance of success. You should also think about what you will do if it doesn’t work out. Are you willing to have 2 single buns? Since the process of spaying etc. can be pretty long, it’s good to thinking about housing for 2 separate bunnies anyway. You may even decide to do a really long pre-bonding period so that you have less time to worry about feeding two separate diets. 🙂

 

. . . 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.  

[sgtsnuggles]

Thank you so so much for your advice it is deeply appreciated! I am very confused as she told me a lot of information that I personally didn’t agree with (like you can never give a bunny too much parsley.. but I read the high calcium can cause urinary sludge) and that it’s not possible to bond same sex. Just a lot of stuff that contradicted my own research and testimonies from other bun parents. I will more than likely do a long bond and keep them separate due to the feeding as it was a really big issue already with pellets. Have a wonderful rest of your week!

[DanaNM]

Oh that is really strange! Yeah the main concern with parsley is the oxalates + calcium combo, and I thought that was pretty widely accepted in the bunny world! Weird!

Good luck and keep us posted!

. . . 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.  

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