Bonding unspayed female and spayed female?

[Oceanie]

Hello, so most don't know, but I don't have my rabbits yet. I'm planning on adopting 2 female bunnies, but one isn't spayed while the other is. Could this be a problem when bonding? I was actually supposed to adopt this week, but with all the current events, it has luckily been delayed. I just want to know if it is worth it to adopt both and try bonding.

 

[zuppa]

Hi, it all depends on their personalities.
And what is their age?

Unspayed females are often very territorial, not all but can be. Then they can fight over territory or over using toilet box, if requesting too much grooming or other doesn't like it at all etc.

But honestly there's no easy answer to that, even two spayed females can be territorial or defensive or both can be alphas so it is impossible to guess now.

If one of them is dominant and other submissive they may sort it out quickly, but no guarantee.

Every bonding can be unique, are you adopting both from same place or they never met each other?

 

[Oceanie]

They have never met each other. One is a mini rex around 1-2 years old (spayed) and she is pretty outgoing. She loves rearranging her things and new toys. The other is only a few months (unspayed) and is a Lionhead mix. She's pretty calm and sweet, according to the shelter.

 

[zuppa]

This young lionhead can change a lot, if she's 2-3 months old now she's still like a baby and depending on her personal development she can start becoming hormonal between 5 and 8 months, so she can change a lot, you basically don't know if she will stay calm and sweet.

You do what you think is right for you but since it's your first experience with rabbits I would go with just one adult fixed female and if you want a friend for her I'd be looking at neutered males older than 6 months or even older, and neutered more than 2-3 months ago.

In your situation they never met each other I would say it can be risky. If you decided to take both maybe you can arrange their date there where they are now so you can see how they react to each other. But with the young one as I said already she will grow and she will change. After 1 year old she will be more stable, but for now she has her teenage phase ahead.

 

[Oceanie]

This young lionhead can change a lot, if she's 2-3 months old now she's still like a baby and depending on her personal development she can start becoming hormonal between 5 and 8 months, so she can change a lot, you basically don't know if she will stay calm and sweet.

You do what you think is right for you but since it's your first experience with rabbits I would go with just one adult fixed female and if you want a friend for her I'd be looking at neutered males older than 6 months or even older, and neutered more than 2-3 months ago.

In your situation they never met each other I would say it can be risky. If you decided to take both maybe you can arrange their date there where they are now so you can see how they react to each other. But with the young one as I said already she will grow and she will change. After 1 year old she will be more stable, but for now she has her teenage phase ahead.

Okay, thank you. Most likely wont take this route, but the Lionhead has a sister, also unspayed. Could they work out?

 

[zuppa]

Okay, thank you. Most likely wont take this route, but the Lionhead has a sister, also unspayed. Could they work out?

Two sisters may work, if they are together since birth they can stay together some longer or stay bonded for life, but also no one can guarantee that.

I had three sisters housed together they were all good until they were about 7,5 months, then they suddenly started fighting and one of them had fake pregnancy, she built a nest and tried to protect it from the other two, they were chasing each other then I separated them. the one who was nesting looked dead scared and needed a few weeks to calm down. When she saw other sisters through the gate she was so nervous if you only could see her eyes. The other girls also hated each other so they were all separated completely, they are all very nice one by one and i am not going to house them together anymore.

One of them was most confident of them was rehomed to a very nice family, well not family, to a single person with a very calm temperament and friendly, and other two are still single, they are 9 months now, I have two recently neutered boys one is their brother was separated at 10 weeks from them so they won't recognize him, and other is a little over 1 year old, we will have to wait a couple months when they are ready after neutering and I am going to try bonding them in pairs male to female.

 

[Oceanie]

Ok. Thank you for your advice, this has really helped me.

 

[zuppa]

Ok. Thank you for your advice, this has really helped me.

Anytime

But you know your story can be different, they could bond nicely and never have any problems.
What I described was my own experience, those girls are very nice I was so hoping they will stay bonded, and it was like nearly 8 months together best friends groomed each other and all, I was already so relaxed i was sure nothing wrong could happen there.

 

[Diane R]

Best to wait until 8 weeks after the last one is spayed before attempting bonding.

 

[Oceanie]

I decided to just get one rabbit, but it's not either rabbit I had previously mentioned. The place with the lionhead mix never responded to my questions, and we decided not to drive all the way to the shelter where the mini rex is.

 

[s’moresthebunny123]

Hello, so most don't know, but I don't have my rabbits yet. I'm planning on adopting 2 female bunnies, but one isn't spayed while the other is. Could this be a problem when bonding? I was actually supposed to adopt this week, but with all the current events, it has luckily been delayed. I just want to know if it is worth it to adopt both and try bonding.

Yes this is a problem. You can never bond a rabbit that is not spayed/ neutered to another one. Their hormones are not controlled and they could kill/attack the other one at any second. She would probably annoy the other one as well, trying to dominate her.

 

[s’moresthebunny123]

Okay, thank you. Most likely wont take this route, but the Lionhead has a sister, also unspayed. Could they work out?

My vet says, even sibling rabbits that aren’t fixed will still grow up, let their hormones kick in, and attack/ kill eachother. any rabbit that’s not fixed with another is a big no