How long after giving birth we can bond?

We have 2 bunnies, male and female. We have only just had the buck neutered but we think the female is pregnant. They are not a bonded pair and are kept seperate.

My question is, if she does have babies, is it better to wait until the babies are weaned or do can we bond him in with her when his 6 weeks (post op) are up. When would be a the right time to try bonding? What difficulties will we face with this situation?

Thanks for your help in advance xx

She needs to be alone with the babies without him there if she is pregnant. Best option is to get her spayed as soon as the baies are old enough to leave her then bond them a few weeks after.

Hope you don't mind me asking but how can she be pregnant if they are kept separately?

I would suggest waiting until she has been spayed and fully recovered.

If she is pregnant right now, that will be after the babies are weaned (which happens at 8 weeks, some times to recover from that and for her milk to dry up, and then she should be spayed, and then after she has healed, so if any babies survive, you'ren looking at probably about 16 or so weeks after they are born.

Are you ready with things like a nest box? Have you researched what to do if X occurs, for example a stuck kit? Is your vet available 24/7 in case you need them? Are you prepared to lose your girlie during/after kindling? Are you prepared to lose the babies? Are you financially able to pay if she needs an emergency spay or similar? Do you know when she is due?

If not, then it may be worth having her see your vet and seeing if he will do a spay now.

How old is she? What breed is she?

Wow that was blast of questions!!

She is about 14 months old, she was a rescue from neglect. She was kept in a stack of hutches and the girl who had them said some times they got out together. So even if she is prengnant there is no saying he is the father. He was only neutered on Tuesday.

Yes we have everything ready. Yes we have had rabbits before but they have always been in bonded pairs and if babies have arrived there has been no problems.

We don't know if she is definately pregnant as you know it is hard to be precise as they don't really grow too much bigger. She has become aggresive though and growls when you put your hand in to stroke her, and bitey too!

Like with anything else we will just have to see how it goes.

Good on you for rescuing them!

Sorry for the questions, I've just learnt through error and the loss of two buns that kindlings can bring many problems and its always wise to be prepared.

I don't know her breed, but 14 months is very old to have the first litter, especially for a smaller bunny. If she is in labour for more than 20 mins (which is how long the whole process should take) or anything else looks amiss please get her to a vet ASAP (I'm sure you would, but couldn't not say it).

If you know of a responsible breeder they would be able to palpate her and see if she is pregnant and how many (roughly) they think she has. Equally a good rabbit savvy vet should be able to do this too.

Hopefully though, everything will go smoothly, and when it comes to bonding them, all will go well for them

Aaaaw, poor little thing. At least she's safe now. Great advice from Sky-O.

Good luck :wave: