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Help! Re-bonding after neutering

zew

New Kit
Hi guys :) We have a massive problem which we hope you will be able to help us with!

So, we have two 6 month old French Lops, Linny and Bruce, who are brother and sister. We brought them home at just over 2 months and they lived together happily in their dog crate.

At around 3 months, Bruce started getting a little over-friendly and we booked them in to get neutered/ spayed. Unfortunately, we had to wait 3 weeks before they could have the operation. The vet said it would be fine not to separate them but Bruce was getting very dominant, mounting her and we realised that he was weeing on her :( so we separated them a week or two before the operation. They were both living in separate dog crates but they were right next to each other so they could see/ smell one another. We also let them out on supervised visits and they were fine with each other.

After their operations, we were advised to keep them apart until Linny had recovered and her stitches had been healed. So, about 2 weeks after - they had been apart for around 3 weeks at this point - we tried letting them out in the kitchen together. The first couple of meetings were fine, Bruce obviously still had urges and was trying to hump her and so the meetings were kept short. Then one day I let them out and within a couple of minutes they had started attacking each other! They were throwing each other around, pulling out fur and growling. It was terrifying. They have been like this ever since :(.

We read all of the advice online about putting them in a neutral place, swapping over toys/ cages so they get used to each others smell, giving them treats and we have done all this. But every time we let them out, within seconds they are attacking each other and have to be separated.

A week or so ago we decided, upon reading someones advice, to set a day aside to try and get them back together. We cleaned a room with white vinegar to get rid of any smells, we made sure that there was nothing there for them to be dominant over, we filled it with treats and we brought them both in. For the first hour or so they were very aggressive, my partner got bitten three times. Every time they fought we ripped them apart and held them near each other until they calmed down. Eventually they stopped fighting. They weren't hugging and kissing each other but they weren't fighting either, just sitting and ignoring each other and we saw this as a massive improvement. This went on for some hours and we decided to leave them and go into the next room. They were fine on their own for around 6 hours. On the evening we decided to go in and give them some more hay to sleep on and say goodnight. We went in and stroked them and gave each of them some hay. About 5 seconds after leaving - we had literally just shut the door! - they fought. Bruce ended up ripping Linnys ear and half of it was hanging off :( We had to take her to the emergency vet where she had to have lots of stitches. Her ear will now forever be disfigured :(

We are now right back where we started. Short play dates are impossible as they fight as soon as they can reach one another - they even fight through the bars of their cages! We swap them over every night so they must be used to each others smell by now and we are so confused and upset and are running out of ideas!

We were just wondering if anyone could help us?? Is this normal? We were told a doe and a buck were the easiest to bond but she is so much bigger than him and we think this is a problem.
Any advice would be greatly welcomed.

Thank you so much,
Zoe, Paul, Bruce and Linny xx
 
Hi,

It must be really stressful for you at the moment :(

I'm not the most experienced person to be giving advice on bonding and I'm sure someone experienced will be along shortly. The only think I could think of is if it's only been 2 weeks since they were spayed/neutered then their hormones will still be raging, possibly even more so, until they calm down after about 6 weeks.

Personally I wouldn't try to bond them yet until it's been at least 6 weeks since they were spayed/neutered. Keep them where they can see and smell each other but not get to each other. Then try again in a few weeks time with the neutral bonding.

Good luck & try not to let it upset you too much, someone will be here with some proper advice soon :) xx
 
Sorry I should have said, it has now been 5 weeks since their operations and they are no better :( thanks though
 
The only advice I would give is to keep them separate for quite a while, around 3 months say, then put them together in a small space which is neutral and you should have a successful bonding. At that time when you put them together you must talk them through the initial 5 or 10 minutes, calming them down and praising them for not fighting, so they understand what you want them to do. Start early in the morning so you have all day to observe them and you will have to decide what you are going to do overnight, this depends on their behaviour during the day. You will need to keep them in this small space for a week or so.
 
Thank you for you for your help :)
Would you separate them completely - as in, stop moving them between crates and stop having them next to each other?
The gutting thing is that when one is out playing the other looks really jealous and angry...
 
It's so difficult to advise when you can't see the rabbits and be with them and get to know them but you need to let them calm down for a period of time, you don't need to keep swapping their cages and as long as they aren't scrapping through the bars then it will probably be ok to let them out alternatively. If they are upsetting one another when one of them is out then maybe you will have to keep them farther apart. When you do put them together it will have to be in a completely neutral small space as rabbits are territorial and will defend their own space.
 
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