Too late to put indoor bunny out?

Hi all,

A bit of a long story, but having gone to get Harry spayed we found out he might be Harriet. The vet suggested we leave it for a few weeks to make sure, therefore missing the window of opportunity to bond before the autumn/winter. I then started to worry about him/her being outside in the playhouse/run combo by himself in the winter, unable to come in to play in the evening. So, we brought him indoors and made him an enclosure in the kitchen and allowed him to free-range when supervised. He has been fine for the past couple of weeks, but has now discovered he can get up the stairs and is wreaking havoc. The problem is, with two small children, it is impossible to block off access as they are constantly up and down the stairs and move any barricade out of the way. Harry has also become quite destructive. Anyway, having checked yesterday, I'm pretty sure he is a boy and so I'm hopeful I can get him fixed this week and look to bond him with a wifebun in the next couple of weeks. The question is, is it too late to move him back outside to wait for his new partner? Will he have time to develop his winter coat? I don't want to cause him any stress, but I think the optimum might be for him to be outside with a friend rather than inside in a smaller (although still quite large) enclosure, unable to free-range as much as he'd like because he is such a menace!
What do you all reckon? I'd really appreciate your advice.

i know you are supposed to wait 6 weeks ish after OP so that the hormones calm down properly before trying to bond, going back outside im not sure he will have been putting his winter coat on but maybe just not too much as he has been indoors.

Hopefully someone else will have more advice for you

I put one of my boys outside (in the shed) last week and am fairly confident he will be ok. A lot of bunnies are still moulting in preparation for getting their winter coat. As regards neutering he should wait for about a month after the op unless the female is already spayed in which case it should be ok to bond them 2 weeks post neuter.

Now would be okay I think, it's not too cold yet. But you're meant to wait 6-8 weeks post neuter before bonding, so you'd have to move him out now rather than later, I wouldn't delay it.

You can bring them in to bond if you leave windows open and heating off in that room, but that won't be that comfortable for you. Otherwise, I think it's a case of waiting till Spring, as in 8 weeks it will be too cold to bring them into a heated room for a few days then put them out again.

If you do keep him inside, just get a stair-gate. Kids over toddler-age quickly learn to open and shut them.

Thanks for all your help. I was planning to try to bond him with a spayed rescue female (if I can find one!). Does that mean I can do it a bit earlier than the 6-8 weeks? Also, I'm really hoping I can get them bonded by a rescue. Will that affect things?

HarrytheHop said:

Thanks for all your help. I was planning to try to bond him with a spayed rescue female (if I can find one!). Does that mean I can do it a bit earlier than the 6-8 weeks? Also, I'm really hoping I can get them bonded by a rescue. Will that affect things?

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Both my local rescue (16 years experience of bonding) and my rabbit savvy vet are happy to recommend bonding bucks only about a week after neutering as long as the female is spayed.

HarrytheHop said:

Thanks for all your help. I was planning to try to bond him with a spayed rescue female (if I can find one!). Does that mean I can do it a bit earlier than the 6-8 weeks? Also, I'm really hoping I can get them bonded by a rescue. Will that affect things?

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It depends on the hormone levels - one of the reasons unneutered rabbits should not be bonded is that the hormones can cause them to be more territorial and also hump a lot. These hormones take a while to die down after neutering - my buck was still buzzing and circling my feet for 3 months after neutering. If a buck has only just hit sexual maturity (12 weeks ish) then I imagine the hormones would die down quicker. It depends on the individual and how territorial, aggressive and dominant they are with other rabbits, but my advice would be to wait for the hormones to die down before bonding.

When I get freddie neutered I will wait 4/5 weeks before bonding. I don't feel he is that hormonal at all so I may bring it forward.

That said I bonded my previous rabbit Barry with poppy two weeks after neutering and they bonded within two days. He hadn't exhibited very hormonal behaviour either.

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The weathers okay at the moment, not too much difference.

For temporary - I'd recommend a baby gate with a 'door' in it. You should be able to get one that the youngsters can open so they can get through but is so much easier than a barrier you have to climb over or lift out the way.

Thanks for all your advice. My husband and I spent yesterday lugging the playhouse and run from the top of the garden, down two flights of stairs to the patio so Hoppy can be closer to the house so I can keep an eye on him. I've also bought some insulation, which I'll fit ASAP.
In the end, I moved him out last night, although I had a sleepless night worrying about him. As he'd only been in the house for a fortnight, he seemed unfazed and I could see him binkying in his run this morning.
I've booked him in at the vet tomorrow, so hopefully we'll find out his gender once and for all and get the snip as well. Then the search for a partner begins!