spaying and bonding

Hi all

We have lost our male rabbit and want to get a partner for our female. We got both our rabits from a rescue centre but only the male was neutered. Now she is on her own, it seems a good idea to have her done before getting a new partner.

Someone i know said we can have their male rabbit but we thought it might be better for her to hold onto him until we have Lavender spayed as I know you need to seperate them for a while after spaying.How long do you seperate them for? Do you think i should wait? I am sure she would like the company. But we couldn't have her done for at least a couple of weeks as we are quite short after paying out vet costs for the bunny who died.

Also, Lavender is quite timid, she is better than she was but i am guessing she will not want to be in the house for long after the operation, especially as there isn't anywhere she could have a lot of space to roam freely. How soon can they go back in their outdoor home?

I understand that insurance does not pay for the operation, but will insurance cover any possible complications after spaying?

Also, i would love advice about bonding. i am going to read through some old posts here but i have not yet. My concern is that if we are supposed to only allow them to see each other other a small part of each day, we don't have the money or space for another good size hutch/run. So we would rather put them together straight away if they seem to get on. Is this unwise?

Also, the buck in question is a dwarf and she is a medium size rabbit. Is this ever a problem with bonding?

many thanks
Lynsey

Hiya Lynsey :wave:

Sorry to hear about your bunny

Is the male bunny you are getting neutered?? I would definately reccommend neutering your female When she is neutered she will need to stay indoors for a few days, the reason being rabbits cannot regulate their own temperatures after the op. Its important you keep her indoors for at least 24 hours, or you could see what your vet reccommends?? Mine reccommended i kept my bunny in just until his post op check. After neutering you will need to wait 4-6 weeks i believe (not 100% sure though)

As for the bonding... its not a good idea to just put the 2 buns together :shock: You must bond on neuteral grounds where neither bunnies have been. When you do eventually put them into your existing cage i would wash it down with white vinegar just so its neutralised Hope this helps a little, someone better will be along shortly xXx Good luck and keep us updated

You'll have to check your insurance small print but I believe that they probably won't cover you for complications from elective surgery like a neuter.

Hi

We currently have a female ( the buck who was neutered has died) so it is her we want to get done as she was not spayed whenw e got her from the centre. The boy rabbit who we may take on (someone i know has said we may be able to have hers as he is currently on his own and the owner has some health problems) has already been neutered about 2 months ago.

We have an inside cage which we bought when our other rabbit was ill, so we can keep her in that after op, but i am sure she will want to get back outside asap as the cage is only about 100cm by 50 and we don't have a room she can mooch about in freely and we have kids about. Also, she is still a little timid though getting better. So we want to get her back out as soon as vet advises. But obviously if we get the boy rabbit beforehand, we need to know how soon they can go back together.

If we wait until she is spayed, i don't know if we might miss our chance to take on the boy rabbit (i am waiting to see if she can keep onto him until then if i need).

I will have to look into the bonding issues more. Its sounds like it is best to have seperate homes for both rabbits and then bond them csloely into a new home. I am not really sure how we can manage it. We can certainly let them first meet whilst running freely in the garden and keeping an eye on them, but i can't be buying more big hutches/runs etc to put another rabbit in for a few days or whatever as we are stuck for cash after vet bills and need money for spaying our female plus the new buck needs vaccinations, also there just isn't the space. Not sure whats the best way forward as we are worried about our current rabbit being alone for too long. Really want to do the right thing, but not always easy and we had deliberatly got a ready bonded pair and weren't expecting to have to do any re-bonding for years.

Anyone have some tips for bonding without spedning too much money?

Interestingly, Lavender (our doe) has been much more 'into' us since Clover died. First she was thumping a lot when we came over and she realised it still wsn't Clover, but now she is actually coming to the front of the hutch/run to see us and coming over when we call her name, even if she is on the grass! We have been hand feeding her and touching around her head and then stroking her back if she relaxes enough. This is a big improvement. So it loks like she is desperate for the affection, so i am hoping that she will welcome another rabbit.

Anyone know if mixing dwarfs and bigger rabbits is usually OK?

Many thanks
Lynsey

dwarf rabbits arent always swarfs if that makes sense... a netherland dwarf is a tiny bun where as a dwarf lopp is a much larger rabbit!

regarding your problem. firstly get her done asap as she needs to be speyed to stop the risk of uterine cancer which affects 85% of does who are unspeyed over the age of 3 ...get ar abbit savvy vet to do it and the risk of anestetic is low.

2. i would try and take her to a rescue to choose her future partenr...if y ou really want this rabbit then bonding will be hard until after she is speyed because of territory issues and hormones.

for a bond to work ideally yo uneed both rabbits neutered then a small quiet area which has been neutralisedwhite vinegar spray 99p from wilko) so that the buns scents are not in ther. nothign should belong to one or other so food bowls etc must all be neutralised first.

the rabbits will need to be kept otgether overnight and you will see chasing fur pulling and nipping as normal behaviour to stiop a lock on fight squirt with water or turn on a noisy appliance such as vaccum. i use hand in glove as trying to stop it will get you bitten.

this will last a few days prob 3-4 average tho some are quicker some longer. if you took her to a rescue she could choose her partner thorugh spped dating and they could bond them for you saving you the stress(and yes trust me it IS stressful you will need that glass of wine and comfort food)

hope this helps. remember that some buns personalitys clash and this makes aharder and more volitile bonding so if she can be allowed to choose then the bonding is usually smoother. if you bond them before she is speyed they need to go to vets together when she is done. personally i would wait till after spey and is recovered tho. x

Hi

Thanks.

I have been hearing about these rescue centres where you can take your own rabbit in to pick a mate and bond there etc. I don't mean this rudely, but does this really happen? I am sure there are some wonderful dedicated centres that can do this, but is this the norm? Also, is there a charge for bonding your rabbit for you. We spend lots of time with the rabbits but i am also home educating one daughter and also have a tot, so if bonding is as stressful as it sounds, i wouldn't mind trying to get someone to bond them for me, but do most centres really offer something like this?

We have an RSPCA here which is extremely noisy as obviously there are dogs there. I don't think it would be ideal to take our rabbit there for a visit or to bond. Also, i can forsee the staff looking at me like i am mad if i asked. I may be wrong to think this, but its the impression i get. They are busy enough and they didn't seem to know much about rabbits or be able to give me any advice about bonding when we visited there looking for rabbits in the first place.
The rabbit centre we got the original pair from said we could choose any two rabbits we wanted. She had many, many rabbits, so i don't think it is fair for us to take Lavender there and expect lots of attention plus she was very timid when we got her and as she does not like being picked up, they needed to use a net to get her, and i really don't think it would be good to put her back in that scenario.
We don't have any part of the garden which has not been used by our rabbit. We could buy a new run, but obviously it would be on the lawn where the current rabbit is used to playing. We could certainly give the current rabbit enclosure a good white vinegar clean. we could also vinegar clean a carrier and try the car trick. But we couldn't buy another whole new rabbit home for the other rabbit, they would need to be able to go into the same enclosure that night.

Really want to do the right thing but finding it all stressful and expensive so far. We can't end up with 2 rabbits in seperate enclosures for months or even forever so we are really worried about taking a rabbit from this person or elsewhere and then having to take it back to a rescue centre if bonding does not work the same day. Obvioulsy we would not want to fail, so we would probably end up getting rid of the kids play house and putting another hutch/run there! But i really don't want to do that as it is unfair to the kids plus it would put us in more debt and it not what we had planned with the rabbit set up.

Feel unsure what to try and do. I agree we should get lavender spayed first as it would be the perfect time to do it whilst she is alone and more likely to bond once done. But i feel stressed about the idea and possible expense of trying to bond with another rabbit.:?

Lynsey

where abouts are you maybe we can tell you which places will offer the speed date and bond service... i know that we did it for chelsea before in warwick.. i think snowy does bonding there... i know that arc up here offer that as do honeybunnnies as do many more. they will expect to do a home check and will expect to be given a donation around20-30 pounds if you get the rabbit form them the bonding will be free (donTION IS for the rabbbit who will already be vaccc and neuteredd(saving a lot of money)) if you get the rabbit from elsewhere THEN ASK THEM TO BONDthey will expect a donation of around £20 just for bonding alone. as it will take up a weekend usually or 3-4 days of their time. i hope this helps. for the rabbbit who will already be vaccc and neuteredd(saving a lot of money) sorry for the caps locks here and there my typing skills are terrible.

Hi

We live in Derby.
I don't mind paying extra for bonding if i am convinced they know what they are doing and that our Lavender will be in very good hands but i would be after a recommendation. If anyone knows of anywhere like this fairly local, i would be really pleased to hear.

but we feel we should take this male rabbit from the lady i know as she is looking for a home for him. She also says he is freindly which is what we are looking for as the kids miss Clover who was very tame. the idea was for her to bring the bunny over next weekend to see if they get on. But now i don't know whether it would be OK to try and let them together in our garden.

We can get lavender spayed week after next (next week is busy) and see what happens about this possible new partner for her.

Lynsey

I would suggest taking the bunnies to a bunny savvy person to get them bonded Maybe you could post a thread in rabbit chat asking for people who could bond for you in your area??

I can see exactly what your saying about ending up with 2 seperate bunnies, this happened to me and i had to find a new home for one of the bunnies Its so stressful. If you can pay £30odd as a donation to a rescue for bonding i defo would!!

Lynseypvic said:

Hi

I have been hearing about these rescue centres where you can take your own rabbit in to pick a mate and bond there etc. I don't mean this rudely, but does this really happen? I am sure there are some wonderful dedicated centres that can do this, but is this the norm? Also, is there a charge for bonding your rabbit for you. We spend lots of time with the rabbits but i am also home educating one daughter and also have a tot, so if bonding is as stressful as it sounds, i wouldn't mind trying to get someone to bond them for me, but do most centres really offer something like this?

Lynsey

Click to expand...

Yes many rescues do bond rabbits for people. I reguarly bond rabbits for people who adopt from ARC and put some of them on the forum for people to see. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/search.php?searchid=1485415 this is a service we offer EVERYONE who adopts from ARC. If I have no bunnies to bond for ARC I occassionally do other bondings for people who are struggling. For ARC buns we do not charge it is part of the service we offer. For people who are not adopting from ARC we ask for a donation.

We do not let the rabbits go back to their homes unless we are happy with their relationship and do offer and advise service for when they get home if they feel they need it.

Hi

Thanks. It certainly is stressful planning it even though the chances are they would bond fine.

I am going to find out about rescue places. Something like a 30 donation to bond them would be fine. what i don't want to do is pay out for another big hutch in case they couldn't go together the same night, plus it would be so impractical. but i am not convinced we will find a suitable local centre who can give lavender full attention and bond her with another. I can't see RSPCA offering this as they are already so busy with so many animals. I feel a bit daft asking them to be honest. I will keep asking about other ones and try the chat section too.

If she wasn't timid we could maybe ask the original rescue centre to bond her there, but i don't think it would be in Lavenders interests as she has improved so much. The woman has obvioulsy bonded hundreds and i think she just goes for it and if they really fight, obviously she can switch them round to better partners/groups. So this wouldn't work in our situation if we took this new rabbit on.

I have an indoor cage, so if the worst came to the worst, we could bring the new rabbit indoors overnight, but we couldn't keep doing that so would have to re-home the new one. awful