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castrated male and unspayed baby female - would bond work?

bunny mad lisa

Mama Doe
I have the chance of rescuing an 8 week old french lop and i want to bond her with my new zealand white. Obviously she is far too young to be spayed and wondered if bonding would be possible as otherwise i will have to let my male live alone for another 3 months which isn't ideal. I would then get her spayed when old enough.

I hav ealways spayed rabbits before bonding so not sure if this will cause problems. any advice as i have feallen in love!
 
I probably shouldn't say this as it goes against the grain but I've bonded castrated males with unspayed does several time with no problems.

I currently have two unspayed does and a male together as the does are too young at the moment. Sssssh.
 
I have the chance of rescuing an 8 week old french lop and i want to bond her with my new zealand white. Obviously she is far too young to be spayed and wondered if bonding would be possible as otherwise i will have to let my male live alone for another 3 months which isn't ideal. I would then get her spayed when old enough.

I hav ealways spayed rabbits before bonding so not sure if this will cause problems. any advice as i have feallen in love!

I would :) If their personalities would match. Only you would know this ;)

Then when she's old enough, spay her and then put them back together if you think the male wont bite her stitches etc.

If he might bite then separate them but keep them side by side. Then when she's recovered re bond them.

Also.. If you think they can't be bonded right now then keep them side by side. Then spay her, after recovery bond them properly.
 
I have done this and it backfired dramatically. Equally, I have bonded unspayed adult females with males with no problems. The risk with babies is whe the hormones develop.

Really it can go either way. The bond could be fine, with no problems, however, when hormones hit, things could go upside down if she fights.

It's an unknown really- it can work, but it can not work (and have disasterous results).
 
It's generally not recommended because of the risks when hormones get involved, I originally tried bonding Bella with Boris when she was 4 months old and that was a disaster, they got into a huge fight where both obtained minor injuries :( She was very territorial back then and basically went crazy at the sight of him. They have now been happily bonded for a year and a half, she's 3 years old and still unspayed (can't find a compenent vet where I'm at so don't want to risk it, think I may have found one now though so I'm looking into getting her done in the summer). If you think their personalities match, then go for it but keep a very close eye on any hormonal behaviour, if you have the slightest doubt then I'd suggest you wait until she's been spayed and keep them next to each other in the meantime :)
 
I have done this and it worked well (with Apricot Le Bunbun and Custardapple Furrypods who was 9 weeks old) it was a love at first sight bond though so I was very lucky. When Custard's hormones kicked in though she did drive him a bit mad constantly running around him in circles and nipping at him trying to get him to hump her- he used to have to resort to just laying on top of her which seemed to satisfy her :oops::p
As usual with bunnies it comes down to individual personalities asto whether it works or not- Apricot is an exceptionally easy-going bunny which helped xx
 
I've also done this with no problems. I would check with your vet though when they will spay. My vet will spay when they are over a certain weight but others make you wait till they are 6 months. I think the key is if you do it you need to be on the ball and able to separate them quickly if she starts fighting when the hormones kick in. Ideally when/ if that happens you would be able to have her spayed within a few days. TBH no bond is guaranteed - I had two that lived together fine for 7 months within a group and then one day ripped in to each other and never rebonded :( and they where both neutered.
 
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