Unaltered male living near altered female

[Breemarie77]

Hello! Recently I took on a recuse 3yo female fixed dwarf. I already have a 1yo male dwarf who is not fixed. I’m getting him fixed because of the new addition but none of the vets I’m comfortable with are able to see him until January. I have their cages downstairs in the living area where I work and spend the most time so I don’t isolate them. They are on opposite sides of the room and I take turns letting them have exercise. BUT of course my male is SUPER curious about her and goes nuts at her cage. They both go up and touch noses and sniff and nothing aggressive but I worry about his stress since he’s not being allowed to mate? No spraying yet but it’s only the second day, but he poops so much every time they interact... is that because he’s nervous??? Basically long story short I’m wondering if I should relocate her habitat to upstairs away from him until he’s fixed. I hate to isolate her, but I’m just not sure if the stress is too much. Mostly on his end, she seems fine and has been bonded before, but he never has.

 

[JBun]

He poops because he's marking territory, and letting her know he's there, and interested in her. He's just excited. If he was right next to her all the time and was so excited that he stopped thinking to eat, then yes I would say keep them separate. But since it's just during playtime, there are no signs of aggression, he's not urine marking yet, and she doesn't seem stressed at all by him, I would let them interact. It can help her get used to him being around until he is neutered and you wait the 4-8 weeks for hormones to die down before starting bonding.

Now if even when in their separate areas and not just when running next to her pen, if he started to eat much less because he's too distracted thinking about her, then yes I might separate in different rooms. You just don't want a reduction in eating to cause GI stasis to occur.