Please can I give them a run around??

Hi,

Apologies for posting in this section but could go with an answer asap from all you bunny savvy folk.

Have a brother and sister bun, just over 4 months old. Had to separate them just under a month ago after Mav tried it on with his sis and she didn't like it presumably. They basically slept in different hutches but had supervised playtime every day together, still get on like a house on fire.

So. Both were neutered 2 weeks ago and cos they were missing each other so much and have had more and more kitchen playtime together lately, I neutralised the original hutch and put them both back in there last night.

Its gone like a dream. Presumably their bond was never broken in the first place, only the one fight, no injuries so not even a bad one. Anyway what I want to know is, is it too risky to let them have a run round my kitchen together or will it remind them that every time they've done this for the last few weeks its resulted in them being separated at night.

I don't want to be back at square one but if they're fine after 24 hours will they just accept they're together now??

Help please!!

A bond takes weeks, months, sometimes years to be 100% solidified. It's different for every bond.

2 weeks ago isn't really long enough, hormones can still be in the body and can cause odd behaviours, i'd wait 6+ weeks and then rebond on neutral territory.

24 hours doesn't really give much indication of how they will behave in the future.

I am confused a little (not uncommon!) - if they are just over 4 months old, that would mean a vet spayed the girl at less than 4 months presumably. Did they have any complications, or find that she wasn't properly developed, as that seems rather early to me?

The vet said he needed to spay Ellie with Maverick possibly having his wicked way. They were just 4 months old to the day when they went in for the op.

I know it was early but she recovered brilliantly. Vet didn't tell me there were complications so presume not. Mav has tried to hump Ellie twice since. It was very half hearted though and she sat and didn't bat an eyelid.

Spoke to the vet nurse and she thought I was erring on the side of caution needlessly. She said they got on fine before do they'll be fine now!

Just to say if the doe was a good weight (at least 1kg) & healthy then 4 months would be ok, it's about the earliest you could get away with though :wave:

Just read my original post, I may have made it sound like they've just fought...that was the one and only tiff that made us split them up in the first place nearly a month ago. They've had daily meetings and no aggressive behaviour at all. Think that's what makes it hard to keep them separate.

I have bonded alot of bunnies 2 weeks after neutering and they have always been fine. As long as they are both properly healed then I would bond them together properly as opposed to letting them run together each day. It doesn't sound like you are going to have many problems but still keep a very close eye on them for the first 48-72 hours.

We neuter males and females at 4 months and they are fine and recover very quickly.

Thankyou so much for that. Feeling slightly more reassured now. I'm on a camp bed in the dining room with them so are never left alone.

fingers crossed it stays this easy. Thankyou