How to bond 2 young female bunnies... help!
- Thread starter Becky123
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Never put intact rabbits together, that's a recipe for disaster and they could seriously hurt each other. You have to wait until your rabbits are both spayed (around 7 months old) and healed (a few weeks after the surgery) to try and bond them. That's said, chosing two females wasn't the greatest idea - male / female pairs work a lot better and there is no way to know if your females will get along as grown adults.
I'm afraid Aki is right. If you try to put them together while they are intact, it isn't likely to work. Even if they did decide to get along, it would only be temporary. Those hormones just interfere with bonding.
You have a couple options. One is to save bonding until after both are spayed. Your 6 month old may already be old enough to spay now. Your vet will make that determination. Once they are both spayed and healed, then you can begin the bonding process (explained here). Just know that there are no guarantees that they will get along. It is a risk you take.
The other option is to return the 8 week old (I assume it's brand new to you since it is so young). Have your older one spayed. Then after she is healed, allow her to choose her new bondmate from among other fixed rabbits. This can be done through a rabbit rescue. They help you to pre-screen for potential compatibility. Going through a rabbit rescue is the only way to ensure you wind up with an actual bond. Their rabbits are already fixed (saving you lots of money).
You have a couple options. One is to save bonding until after both are spayed. Your 6 month old may already be old enough to spay now. Your vet will make that determination. Once they are both spayed and healed, then you can begin the bonding process (explained here). Just know that there are no guarantees that they will get along. It is a risk you take.
The other option is to return the 8 week old (I assume it's brand new to you since it is so young). Have your older one spayed. Then after she is healed, allow her to choose her new bondmate from among other fixed rabbits. This can be done through a rabbit rescue. They help you to pre-screen for potential compatibility. Going through a rabbit rescue is the only way to ensure you wind up with an actual bond. Their rabbits are already fixed (saving you lots of money).
Cookiemonster
Well-Known Member
I would introduce them in an open area such as your living room so that if the young female and the older female can get away of one does happen to attack the other. I have two unspayed females together and they absolutely can not get enough of each other.. I introduced them slowing and had them put their sent on a toy and gave it to the other that way she would get used to her smell... I would also let one stay in a cage and let the other hop up to the cage to see and stiff the other..
Cookie, how long have your two been together and what are their ages? Intact "bonds" often fall apart unexpectedly OR the two may decide to fight all of a sudden (regardless of how loving they seem to be).
Also, it isn't advised to bond in too large of an area because it often ends up in territory disputes.
The general consensus in the rabbit world is to only attempt bonds with fixed rabbits. Bonds among intact rabbits are the exception, not the norm.
Cookiemonster
Well-Known Member
They have been together a year now... Cookie is almost two and silver is a almost a year old.. they are both intact and sometimes if one is getting to the other they will nip or grunt but never hurt the other... my living room is what i consider to be small.. just dont introduce them while they are in a cage...
People always go 'it never happened' until it does. Rabbits grunting and nipping at each other isn't a good sign and it's not a normal behavior for bonded rabbits - my bonded pair never acted like that. It could unexpectedly degenerate anytime without any warning. In the OP's situation, recommending to put the rabbits together could lead to a terrible accident, especially considering one of the two is a lot younger than the other. Of course, it's a personal choice, but considering the overwhelming risk of cancer, mastitis and unexpected fights for your rabbits (since you are here, I'm pretty sure you must know your rabbits have over 80% risk of developping uterine or ovarian cancer) I can't recommend you enough to get your girls spayed while they are still young and in good health.
Cookiemonster
Well-Known Member
I am currently trying o find a vet around me to get they spayed...
Actually, this isn't true. Even spayed/neutered bonded rabbits may nip, chase, grunt. They are normal dominance or vocalization behaviors in any rabbit, regardless of whether or not they are fixed. It happens all of the time in my bonded group, and they are all fixed. It never ends up in a fight. They have never fought. It's just a normal way for the bossy or dominant rabbit to tell the other one to move out of the way or assert their dominance for whatever reason. Though it is always good to keep an eye on behavior to make sure there aren't signs it's escalating to more than typical dominance behavior.
It's also not necessarily true that an unaltered bonded pair is going to sooner or later, end up fighting. They might, they might not. Hormones from an unaltered rabbit can certainly contribute to a higher likelihood of it happening, particularly in males who are just bundles of hormones. But the greatest determining factor is personality, particularly in females. Even altered bonded rabbits have the potential of fighting. It does and can happen because their personalities just aren't right for each other, and/or they are in too confined of an area.
I also would still recommend spaying, as it will help at least a little, to remove hormones from the equation, and for the health of the rabbit. There can be a higher likelihood of cancer in older non breeding female rabbits, but that can also depend on the breed of the rabbit. Some breeds seem to be more prone to it than others, based on the limited studies that were done. So eliminating that risk is worthwhile in any pet female rabbit whenever possible.
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Thank you everyone for the advice!
The older rabbit has been spayed and they seem to be getting use to each other. There never left out always supervised. The older one chases the little one but doesn’t hurt her, doesn’t grunt or nip her. Once she’s sniffed her they happily hop about. There kept in separate cages and are near each other so they’ve been getting use to each other’s scent etc
The older rabbit has been spayed and they seem to be getting use to each other. There never left out always supervised. The older one chases the little one but doesn’t hurt her, doesn’t grunt or nip her. Once she’s sniffed her they happily hop about. There kept in separate cages and are near each other so they’ve been getting use to each other’s scent etc
I'd be more concerned about the younger one getting aggressive -- especially when her hormones kick in. Keep a close eye out for that.
Bribble
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I had a similar problem with my rabbits when I tried to introduce a new baby. Mind you my original rabbit is tiny so the baby wasn't too much smaller than her, but she tried to maul that baby every chance she got. They were introduced when one was a few years old and the other was a few weeks.
My cage came with a wire floor that you could pull out (which I never used) and I ended up cutting that to fit right in the middle of my cage so it was split in two. I put their food and water right up against the divider so they could get used to each other. After about a week or two I would start letting them out together in "neutral" territory and after a month they were fine together! My older rabbit still does the dominance humping to the other one (despite the "baby" being 3 times her size haha) but other than that they have yet to even have a disagreement. It's been 2 or 3 years and both are intact.
My cage came with a wire floor that you could pull out (which I never used) and I ended up cutting that to fit right in the middle of my cage so it was split in two. I put their food and water right up against the divider so they could get used to each other. After about a week or two I would start letting them out together in "neutral" territory and after a month they were fine together! My older rabbit still does the dominance humping to the other one (despite the "baby" being 3 times her size haha) but other than that they have yet to even have a disagreement. It's been 2 or 3 years and both are intact.
The younger one is getting spayed next month, yea the older one is the more dominant one but she’s not nipping or been aggressive towards her in any way she’s just chasing her. She lets the little one lick her and hop over her etc
Time has done them the world of good
Still early days and still a lot of bonding to be done
Time has done them the world of good
Still early days and still a lot of bonding to be done
