Bonding: Ebony's not feeling the love

[jcl_24]

Hi all,
A few of you might have seen my post about getting a friend for Ebony, my mini-lop doe (unspayed, 12 weeks old). I chose the buck bunny she seemed to get on with. There was happy humping (sorry!) when they met at the breeder's and they seemed to like each other.

Today I collected the little buck rabbit (mini-lop buck, unfixed, 8 weeks old). This evening I put them both on the Kitchen floor to see how they would react to each other. Until now, Ebony has had sole use of the kitchen floor for freedom time. The new baby was curious about Ebony and wanted to have a curious sniff. She sniffed him toobut then her curiosity seemed to turn to agression as she chased afterhim grunting loudly. Ebony is about 3x the size of the newest bun and I din't want him getting injured so my bro' caught Ebony while I scooped up the little guy.

The point of me getting a second rabbit was reallyso that Ebony would not live a solitary bun life. Any advice or thoughts please?

Jo xx

 

[Haley]

Thats great news that Ebony is getting a friend!

However, Im a little concerned that she may be pregnant now. Shes still young and so is heso you may have lucked out but it is possible for her to be pregnant now. Can you see the boy's testicles when you flip him over? If so, hes sexually mature. I would definitely keep them both separate from now on until she can be spayed or he can be neutered. Even after the surgery you will want to keep them apart for about 2 months (so she can heal or so he can stop having sperm in his system).

So I would prepare for the possibility that you might have a litter in 30 days. Its unlikely due to their age, but definitely possible.

 

[juliew19673]

Maybe they had their "DATE" and now she is pregnant.. Or perhaps you had them meet on your girl buns "territory" that she was protective against and she was not willing to give it up to him.

First find out if she is pregnant. If not, then try introducing them in a "Neutral" place and realize this can take alot of time.

Post soon as I'm curious what is going on with the 2 of them.. Good luck!

 

[jcl_24]

OK, first I should clarify that when they had their first date with the mutual "interest", the buck was 4 weeks old and Ebony was 10 weeks old. There has been no other activity like that.

Yes at my house the meeting took place in what Ebony could have considered her territory. This info from an email I sent to the breeder may describe the situation better:-

"Hi --
This is Joanne who collected the 8 week old agouti buck from you
yeasterday. I think the little guy is great but my doe rabbit Ebony was
acting very agressively towards him when they were re-introduced
yesterday. They were closely watched then separated so the little bun came
to no harm.

The problem is that it was intended that the little buck and Ebony would
live together in the same hutch. It seems a shame for the baby to have to
a lonely life on his own. The best thing to do would surely be for the
little buck to be returned to the company and care his family for a
happier life"

For the record: I was very upset at the prospectof having to return the little bun because he is so lovely. The breeder enquired about the way Ebony was with him-was it hormonal humping or aggression? I explained that:-

"I got the impression she wanted to fight, that she was going for him to
get him off what she perceives as her territory (this was on our Kitchen
floor where she has running around time every day). She was grunting very
loudy rather than making the little high pitched excited sounds she made
when she first met 3 of your buck rabbits in their exercise pen."

If they live seperately, they will both be lonely and have less hutch space . Currently I'm unemployed but if I start a full-time job, working in enough'freedom time' for each of them seperately could be a problem. The breeder'sadvice after my first email was to give it time, she hasn't replied to my msg about Ebony more certainly being aggressive.

Jo xx

Jo xx

 

[mouse_chalk]

I could be wrong, but I would say that the reason you're having problems bonding is that you have 2 unfixed buns of opposite sex.... You can't realistically leave them together for any length of time to see if they will get on or not, because Ebony will no doubt end up pregnant, and their hormones will be getting in the way of them being 'friends'.... I don't know of anybody here who has a buck/doe bonded pairing (apart from breeders obviously, but even they aren't together the whoe time) where both are unfixed.... as it would just result in lots of baby buns all over the place!

It's not that long to go until one or both of them can be spayed/neutered, I would wait until then and after they've recovered to start the bonding- you can't really be sure of whether it will work or not until then. Saying that, you do have to be prepared for the fact that even when spayed/neutered, they may never bond and may have to be kept separate...

 

[jcl_24]

I've decided I'm keeping the little buck regardless of whether he and Ebony can be bonded (although that is my long term aim).

If Ebony was "fixed" might she be less aggressive over what she perceives as her territory?

Jo xx