Unaltered Buck & Doe Housed Together

[cosmorickandlevi]

I have an unneutered buck and unspayed doe (both young, healthy adults) that are best friends and have been housed together for about a month now. I’ve read recently that this is a really bad idea because of the likelihood of fighting or constant reproduction. I obviously understand that my doe is likely to become pregnant and am prepared for that possibility; if she did get pregnant, I would separate her immediately and not allow her to be with my buck again for at least a number of months unless I decided to get him fixed. Like I said before, they are best friends, never fight, and are much happier together than they were before when they were housed separately. Neither of them has shown any sign of stress or physical issues whatsoever in the time that they’ve been kept together.

I’ve never seen them mate (I’m 100% sure of both of their genders and that neither has been sterilized) or any sign of my doe being pregnant. Is this a cause for concern?

[Wick & Fable]

The topic of intentional breeding is prohibited on these forums, which includes willingly allowing such things to happen when it is in your control not to. For both rabbits’ safety, yes, you should separate them, in addition to eliminating the risk of pregnancy.

What you have is a baby bond. Baby bonds are not true bonds — they are a natural result of rabbits who are not yet in puberty, therefore, urges like mating and territorialness are not present. This makes a great fake and temporary bond between innocent young’uns. It is dangerous because hormones are invisible and you have no idea when or how either rabbit will begin experiencing hormones which will likely facilitate mating or fighting. It could happen when you’re not home, when you’re sleeping, etc.. There are very unfortunate and grave stories of owners who take chances with baby bonds.

Since it is not a true bond, they will not be significantly depressed by the separation. They can still be next to each other with a gap between pens. This is safest. I’m sure they’d both prefer being separated now rather than after a fight happens between them.

Also note that the bond between a fixed and intact rabbit is less stable, for the same reason as a baby bond. There is no guarantee that your rabbits will want to be together and fixing both maximizes the chance of success since you’re removing unpredictable and unstable hormones out of the equation.

For information on proper rabbit bonding, including the necessary preparations that include spaying/neutering, see here: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

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.

[DanaNM]

I’m unsure how old they are, but it is highly likely that she is already pregnant, unless they are under 12 weeks old. Since you’ve already had them a month I’m guessing they are older than 12 weeks.

With rabbit’s it’s not really an “if” they get pregnant… they WILL definitely get pregnant, and it happens within seconds, so you may never actually observe mating. Many times the only sign is that you suddenly have baby rabbits in the litter box.

You should get them both spayed and neutered and go through the bonding process with them. If they have never fought, it is possible that they may be able to remain together during their recovery from their spay/neuter, but you’ll need to supervise them carefully because fighting can occur during the hormone fluctuations. Usually it’s best to separate them but house them side by side during this time. In many cases they go back together without incident (this was my experience when volunteering with a rescue, when we had unaltered pairs come in), sometimes they need a bit of work to form a full bond.

Reiterating Wick’s point above about the topic of intentional breeding, vets can also do an “emergency spay” when pregnancy is suspected.

If they are under 12 weeks (or around 12 weeks old), separate them now but keep them near each other, get them spayed and neutered, and then you’ll be able to rebond them and have a happy pair without any issues.

 

 

. . . 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.  

[GlennTheLionhead]

I agree with others :).

It’s worth mentioning that unspay female rabbits are highly prone to reproductive cancers, somewhere around the mark of 70% chance of cancer by age 3\4. When spayed this risk is eliminated.

[Author]

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