Can unrelated females work?

My Bunny - One grumpy but doted on 5yr old german lop. Free-ranging, Spayed, Vaccinated, the whole shebang... Has previously lived up until now with another neutered male. She was the dominant one in the relationship and would occasionally hump him to assert herself, and unfortunately box, charge, and grumble at Billy if he got in the way.


Next Doors bunny - Unneutered, unvaccinated, smaller mix breed...I reckon shes about 3yrs...lives her life in a hutch. She was very terratorial and aggressive as an adolescent, but seems to have calmed now with a bigger hutch to herself. She wont have seen another rabbit since she left the pet shop...

I've tried previously to get the neighbour to surrender her to a rescue but he changed his mind at the last minute. Shes just wasting away in her hutch and I feel really bad for her, but I dont want to be a referee and I dont want to put my bunny at risk...well either actually...I've always thought that unrelated females would never get along, especially if one or both is unneutered?

opinions? ideas?

They can get along - but the other rabbit would need spaying for the best chances of it working, especially with your bunnys personality.

Sorry, don't quite understand the wording - does she still live with Billy?

Unrelated females can work However, it wouldn't be ideal to try that unless both are spayed.

The risk with next doors bunny is that it would be smart to quarantine her (for roughly 4 weeks at least) to ensure she doesn't have anything that could pass onto your girl, or anything that needs treatment. Could you maybe have her, and quarantine her, get her spayed and then have a go at bonding once she is recovered?

SamanthaJane said:

They can get along - but the other rabbit would need spaying for the best chances of it working, especially with your bunnys personality.

Sorry, don't quite understand the wording - does she still live with Billy?

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Sadly Billy died, I believe.

Sky-O said:

Sadly Billy died, I believe.

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Oh I'm so sorry

I loved this trio so much I want to share their pics. Here are my two old ladies, who were unrelated, with their wildie toy boy

we have a lot of unrelated girls living happily together . . on the other hand have had a sister sister bond breakdown altogether . .

neutering does help enormously . .

hmmmm I reckon it might be worth giving this a go then! Not sure how keen he'll be on getting her neutered though...

Do you reckon it'd be worth bringing her round in her hutch & run, and having her living alongside but separate to mine for a few days? That way I might have more of a leg to stand on in terms of saying "She perfers living here, therefore Im going to confiscate your rabbit from you" :')

and those pictures are fantastic! I've been out of the loop and living in the past in bunny bonding I think! :shock:

I have an unrelated female pair, Barley and Sophie, and they're very much in love!

If you could get the neighbour's bun and spay her, it could be worth a try. Good luck xx

Do quarantine her for a few weeks.Just to check shes not harbouring anything infectious.

Get her speyed then full steam ahead!!

My BB was so thrilled to see another bunny after Lily died, he threw himself under Little Miss!! She had no idea what to do, but it was beautiful to watch!!

Been and had a word with the neighbour today, and I'm not sure what to think...

he seems a lot more attached to her now, i think hes realised how intelligent a bunny is and so hes splashed out on a big new double hutch, and then done a DIY extendable run around the hutch, but hes made it so that in the summer, he can move it out onto the grass. Theres also a lot of toys and treats and such for her so I think its just a case of him being ignorant more than an intentionally bad owner.

He says shes also been pretty much living as a house rabbit over winter, and she'l only be going back outside when the weathers nicer...now this, i would have been pleased about, its not an ideal situation, with her still being alone, but its a definate improvement, and theres always someone home so she wont get left alone really...

but heres the big UH OH...new puppy =|

in an ideal world, this shouldnt be a problem as long as the puppy is carefully trained and always supervised around the rabbit...however its not an ideal world and my mind instantly thought about the way people buy an xobox and the playstation never sees the light of day again...Hes a nice guy and he wouldnt do it intentionally...but still...:? not really sure what to think now..I was so sure I'd go round and he'd be eager for me to have her (as he has in the past) but not anymore....=/ I think the best thing for me to do is to just monitor the situation...