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Bonding babies?

Livvybun

New Kit
Hi there, we have reserved a little doe to pick up next week. She will be 9 weeks old. After reading I am now thinking we should have got a pair so she had company. The breeder doesn’t have any more bunnies but I found a buck the same age that I can pick up around the same time from another breeder (As I read that male/female pairs are happiest together).
Would this work? Could I pair the two together? I read that it’s good to pair babies under 12 weeks but with them being male/female I’m guessing I would I have to separate them when they are about to be neutered/spayed. Would this be OK if they were in cages next to each other?
Or should I get another baby of the same sex?
Thanks so much for your help x
 
Welcome to the forum! :) Rabbits can breed by 9 weeks old so they wouldn't be able to be bonded until they are spayed/neutered, the male can be done earlier around 4 months old the female later at around 6 months. But males can remain fertile for a number of weeks after neutering. The best pairing is a neutered male/female pair but I understand it may be quite awkward keeping them separate for so long, and the male may be quite determined to reach the female so you'd need to be very careful! Two females are likely to fight and have a difficult bond when their hormones kick in. How about once your little one is spayed have a look at adopting a male? He would then be already neutered and vaccinated so ready to go! There's likely to be one a similar age to your girl and many rescues rehome nationally if there isn't a local one to you :)
 
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help. Just out of interest, if I had got two sibling bunnies of the same sex would they have bonded well? X x
 
2 siblings would almost certainly fight as hormones get going although some sisters will be ok. It would be nice for your future Doe to have the company of another rabbit, whether together or next to one another. She will feel quite scared coming from her Mum into a different home etc. If together for awhile they would need to be separated at around 12 weeks to be on the safe side, so maybe best to keep them separate. Females start to get territorial around puberty so bare this in mind in relation to any future bonding which will need to take place in a neutral space.
 
They are very likely to fight, although I hand reared a litter and rehomed two brothers together. They were always the closest out of the litter. They were neutered asap and are still closely bonded :) I wouldn't normally recommend it though as if they have a fight there could be serious injuries and difficult to bond back together after.
 
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your help. Just out of interest, if I had got two sibling bunnies of the same sex would they have bonded well? X x

Hi :wave: Welcome to the forum :)

Our very first rabbits were 3 sisters, we got them spayed when they were around a year old and they've always got on well. I think it helps though that their accommodation is huge, so they can get away from one another if they want to.

Also we recently got 2 sisters who are now 7 months. They are currently getting along great, we will get them spayed soon though.

As there is only one baby though, I would probably wait till they are old enough to be spayed, then look for friend for them x
 
I have two girls one at 15 weeks and the other at 16 weeks. We are curantly having to separate as there was relentless, not a minutes peace for Harlequin and she was getting quiet down after 4 days of humping. No fur pulling or circling but it can be quiet distressing. Since seperating 2 days ago I have seen binkys flops and zoomies which I hadn’t seen in over a week. They are booked in to be spayed very soon in the hopes of rebonding. At the moment they can sit next to each other through the mesh and we swap them every 4 to six hours between there hallway and the hutch.
It is stressful to see and deal with as well as time consuming ( as they don’t like to be picked up at all) and it is stressful on the rabbits to go through it. If I did it all again I would get a female have her spayed and settled in befor getting a male and having him neutered at the 3 to 4 month stage.
 
Hi :)

My first two buns were two boys from the same litter and they've always been best mates, they did have a few squabbles when they got a bit older before they were neutered, but I kept a close eye on them and they never hurt each other. They were also neutered on the same day and the vet said Thumper (slightly bigger of the two) really comforted Nibbles after the procedure, which was nice to hear, so i think you can have two bunnies from the same litter of the same gender, but from what others are saying its a bit of a leap of faith.
Hope everything goes well!

Worse comes to worse you can always adopt an already bonded pair that are neutered and vaccinated from a shelter :)
 
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