separation anxiety???

My 11 week old bunnies were separated this week into side by side cages until they can be spayed and nuetered ( at 5-6 months.) Leo, the male seems fine with all this, in fact he seems to be enjoying his bachelor pad! Oliva, seems like she is having major anxiety. She was fine the first day and a half, just being a little bit of a drama queen, flopping over and constantly checking to see if he was next door and available for kissing thru the cage. We have been swapping cages every other day so they stay used to each others scents and so no one is cage dominant. Last night She went nuts while she was out for playtime! She kept going to his door and pulling on it and digging at it. He would come over occassionally for kisses then retreated.This made her go nuts even more. She would calm down if I petted her but then start up again, sometimes going for a quick run around the room but always going back to the door to pull. When it was his turn out, she did the same thing at her bage door. She seemed so frantic to get to him, it broke my heart to watch. Is this cage aggression from her being switched? Agression toward him because they are separated now or just separation anxiety?? Is there anything I can do to help her thru this??? PLEASE HELP! Any advice appreciated!!!

Hi - I posted a similar question on Thursday and noone seems to have a definitive answer. I've been keeping mine apart as I've just had Zola (m)neutered and Daisy was frantic at the cage. I wasn't sure if she was stressed or just wanting a fight. They really loved eachother before the op. Mine are 16 weeks old. I took them to the vets yesterday for their injections and the vet tells me I have two boys, not a boy and girl. You might want to get a second opinion of their sex before any ops or keeping them apart.

The reason I separated was because of a well visit at the vet when they were 10 wks. We thought then that thaye were boys and he told us Oliver was and Olivia! I really hope it does not turn out that they are boys ore we weill be looking for wives at some point. Bunny shelters are not popular in this part of the USA so I cannot find anyone local to give advice on these guys/girls!

leoandoliver said:

We thought then that thaye were boys and he told us Oliver was and Olivia! I really hope it does not turn out that they are boys ore we weill be looking for wives at some point.

Click to expand...

If they both turn out to be boys its fine they will bond great. My boys love each other and are the best of friends. But if the vet says you have a girl I think they are about 90% right hehe.

Also when I got mine fixed I was told that I would have to split them up for 10days. I think that as long as you put they cages together so they may see and smell each other they will be ok. Don't worry!

Meshell said:

If they both turn out to be boys its fine they will bond great.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily, the majority of boys don't bond but there are always exceptions.

GillManning said:

Hi - I posted a similar question on Thursday and noone seems to have a definitive answer. I've been keeping mine apart as I've just had Zola (m)neutered and Daisy was frantic at the cage. I wasn't sure if she was stressed or just wanting a fight. They really loved eachother before the op. Mine are 16 weeks old. I took them to the vets yesterday for their injections and the vet tells me I have two boys, not a boy and girl. You might want to get a second opinion of their sex before any ops or keeping them apart.

Click to expand...

Okay I'm confused by your post, so you've definately got a boy thats been neutered? How come the other one is still sex unknown?

Did they not go to the vets together when Zola had his op?

Personally I'd have kept them together to help preserve the bond between them

:wave: this will sound silly but it does work! when i have either had to seperate or a bun is left on its own due to losing its partner, a piece of fabric i.e tea towel or a handtowel or even a flannel or a cuddley toy (from petshop) that smells of other bun becomes thier best friend, they end up either laying on it or snuggling upto it. it does work and keeps them happy, also give them plenty of boxes to play with keeps them occupied! hope it helps.

I will try the stuffed toy thing, maybe that will calm Oliva down a bit. She does calm down when back in the cage for a while. Is this pulling on the cage thing anxiety over being separated do you think?? I am worried it is too stressfull for her.......she seems so aggitated when it happens....Any other comments or suggestions???

also forgot to mention a product called serene-UM drops for rabbits, for anxiety ect and that works too. got it from pets at home. or even rescue remedy spray.

OOHHH...... Thank YOU !!!Thank YOU!!!

I tried the stuffed toy and it seems to be working already. I had to go out to get more hay, I had bought some yesterday that Oliva the drama queen was quite put off by. It was not her usual kind and with all her other troubles I wanted her to have the one she was used to. while I was there we got a little soft cozy toy that was made for bunnies. We rubbed Leo down with it over and over and then put it in her cage. Within a half hour she was grooming it and laying with it. Tongith when she came out to play we gave her even longer than usual and took the opportunity to rub Leo down with the toy again. ( he thinks he is just being petted!) She was mch calmer during play time, digging in a towel, playing in her box and binking all over. When she got back to the cage she had a snack and settled down with her new toy for a groom. Oh I cannot thank you enough for the advice!!! I will sleep better tonight not worrying so much! How often should we rub it over him to keep it scented or is this a better way to do this???

You seem to have a great solution there.
I went through similar with my two, separated at 10/11 weeks old. At first Nuggette wasn't happy, kept doing her damned best to get through to Otis, but eventually she calmed down and concentrated on her own toys and neat tidy cage (his was a tip). Then about 4 weeks after Otis had been fixed (you should really wait longer as there is still a risk of fertility) I put them back together. Mind you by this point Otis was making nests and generally very confused, didn't have any interest in humping things anymore.:lol: Nuggette gave him a quick few humps to establish dominance again and they're inseperable now. The few weeks apart didn't seem to do them any harm as even though they weren't together they could still sniff each other and see one another.
She's due to be spayed soon once both buns have settled in at their new home (moved house).