Can I bond a neutered male with an un-spayed female?

[Kora]

My female rabbit is not spayed, but I’ve found a male rabbit that is neutered that I would really like to try bonding my female with. I’m going to spay my female soon, but I don’t want the male to get adopted before I do. Should I just keep the two separate until I spay my female? I just got my female two months ago; is it too soon to even get another rabbit? It’s not irresponsible to get another rabbit so soon, is it? I just don’t want my female to have the happiest life possible.

 

[Miffythebun]

I have a neutered male and I spayed female I keep them separate because she’s not spayed she just marks her scent as soon as she smells him and he humps her and she gets angry and runs, grunts and scratches- it’s really not safe but you can give it a go in a neutral completely supervised at all time environment!

 

[zuppa]

You should keep them separated 6-8 weeks AFTER she's spayed because she will need time to calm down she might still be territorial and all. So if you take him in now just keep them completely separately so they can't see and smell each other and then you can introduce them to each other in a neutral territory, please do some research about bonding before starting, there's no guarantee they will bond.
If your female is about 4 months now? she probably can be spayed next month so be prepared for about 3 months of keeping them as far from each other as possible, ideally in different rooms.

 

[zuppa]

Some links on bonding process stolen from another thread here

https://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
http://www.saveabunny.org/rabbitcare/bonding-guide
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together

 

[zuppa]

In other words, best would be to spay your female first when she's old enough (depending on your vet usually they spay from 4,5-6 months old) and wait about two months after that (6-8 weeks), then best would be go with her and do some bunny dates to see if SHE not YOU likes him because sometimes bonding can be very difficult and even bloody so it is important that they show signs that they like each other on a first date.

But also you can be lucky and they will bond easily right now, although if your female is still 4 months old it can change in a few weeks or months because she might become hormonal and this 'bond' will break. It depends on many factors her character and how bad will be her hormones, some rabbits are quite calm even during their teenage period but some can change dramatically. Anyway, if you want to spay her you will have to separate them and re-bond them after 6-8 weeks after her surgery.

 

[Preitler]

Hm. Over here this is a quite popular combination, neutered buck and intact female. The personalities need to match, spayed or not. I have 2 pairs of intact does, they do have mood swings and sometimes there are some tensions, but that's normal life. Can make keeping them indoors difficult though.

 

[ThePelletnator]

Best advise is to take it one day at a time with them. I have the same pair and they got along with just a few days. Introduce them, let them lay around a room together. They'll chase and probably box at each other, but they'll be fine. My two where bonded in a week with no interference from us.

 

[JBun]

Usual advice is that it's best to have her spayed first, and make sure they are compatible personalities. Spayed or unspayed, if they aren't compatible personalities then they aren't likely to bond, ever.

However, I did get a neutered male rabbit(had been neutered for the recommended 4-8 week wait time before bonding) that I ended up bonding with my yet unspayed female rabbit(which eventually she was spayed), and it did work out fine in that instance. So there is a possibility it can work out, but also possible it won't and could maybe cause issues when trying to rebond after she is spayed.

If you do decide to attempt it, he has to have been neutered for at least 4 weeks so she doesn't risk getting pregnant. Though waiting at least 6 weeks is preferred as there have been instances of male rabbits still having viable sperm for that long.

 

[Katie94]

You should keep them separate if you can until after her spay allowing time for healing and hormones to go away. We had two pairs both a neutered male and intact female and to be honest it was quite stressful! We only had them together beforehand as we wanted the rescue centre to do the bonding for us as we kept our boys free range so didn’t have neutral territory to allow for bonding. You may have to separate after she is spayed anyway for a few days while she heals as we did with both our pairs so if you can it’s safer to wait I think

 

[Kora]

Thank you all for the advice. I think I’ve found the solution of keeping the male with my mom until maybe a month after I spay my rabbit. However, I called the vet I was planning to spay my rabbit at to see what age they’d accept slaying rabbits, and it turns out they don’t do rabbits, even though it very clearly says they do on their website. So that’s pretty frustrating because there’s no other cheap vets near me (the next cheapest one I found was $600).

 

[Lauren Kiernan]

Can you call a nearby rabbit shelter? They may be able to help find a vet.

 

[IndigosMommy]

I have a neutered male and an un spayed female, I got her to be his wifey. He is a 2 time widower So I purposely have their cages right next to each other, but had them double protected so they can not bite through the cage (its a c&c cage) and I knew I couldnt afford her spay for a while, but this would give them TONS of time to get used to each other. It's been over a year now and I removed the double protection because they love each other now lol. They lay face to face between the cage, she lick his face etc. BUT when i put them together, they are good...except she humps him like mad. He takes it, but I pull her off, and she goes right back at it. Sooooo, I am finally getting her spayed in 2 weeks. I am SO excited they can finally be together in a few months ♥. My suggestion is to do what I did....put them next to each other but protected from biting through the bars....then see what happens. Get her spayed when she is ready. I did a few bonding sessions too. But always the same outcome, she humps him - he takes it lol. Good luck!!!

 

[ChloeBunny]

Thank you all for the advice. I think I’ve found the solution of keeping the male with my mom until maybe a month after I spay my rabbit. However, I called the vet I was planning to spay my rabbit at to see what age they’d accept slaying rabbits, and it turns out they don’t do rabbits, even though it very clearly says they do on their website. So that’s pretty frustrating because there’s no other cheap vets near me (the next cheapest one I found was $600).

There is a long list of bunny savvy vets in TX From the House Rabbit Society here: https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/ This list also breaks out a separate location for Houston - just scroll down. $600 is a lot...I paid $150 (Phx, AZ) after a shelter recommended a vet - good advice from Lauren above- and before I found this site. Be sure they include pain meds in their price. The vet I was referred to said they gave my bun a pain shot during surgery but she was clearly uncomfortable and sent nothing for pain home...worth the extra $30-40 - sometimes less-for meloxicam.

 

[Kora]

I found a list on this bunny fostering program near me that recommended a bunch of vets, and one vet says that they’ll do it for $275, which isn’t too bad. In other news, I’m getting the bunny Saturday, and I had an idea of keeping him in my closet and blocking it off with a baby gate until I spay my current rabbit. Now, I know that sounds bad, but hear me out. My closet is about 6 feet by 4 feet, so he has a sizable amount of space to run around in. Him and my current rabbit (her name is Comet) will also be able to get used to each other’s scents, but not actually be able to interact with each other until she’s spayed. Or will that cause territory marking on her end? Would it be better to just keep him in a separate home, like I originally planned? I’ll attach a picture of the closet so you can judge for yourself, and I’ll also attach a pic of the rabbit because he’s adorable.