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Problem with a pair of rabbits from Preston RSPCA

ianjoyner

New Kit
Hello,

I'm posting on behalf of my girlfriend who has just taken in two rabbits from the Preston RSPCA rescue centre. She was told that they were a male and female pair, but neither had been neutered. They didn't give a lot of information regarding introducing them.

However we established that the male needed to be neutered and kept seperately for 6 weeks following this. They are currently in seperate hutches, from which we have let them have access to a run one at a time. My girlfriend took the male to be neutered, only for the vet to say it was infact female!

We are fairly confident the other rabbit is a female because she was with a rabbit that was said to be her daughter at the rescue centre.

So we are now unsure as what is best to do. The thought of having to return one to the rescue centre is obviously upsetting, but is it unreasonable to try and keep two females? They have shown some aggression through wire seperating them.

Any advice? We were shocked the rescue centre could make such a mistake. Thanks.

Ian
 
Oh know..what a nightmare!!! i am shocked with the RSPCA too.

Well you can get two males to bond with the femails but then you will have 4 buns!

or get the femails sprayed and then try bonding them!
 
It's very easy to bond two females. I have 4 females all living together non of whom are spayed.

you will need to be careful and bond slowly. The best option would be first to have both girls spayed. After they have recovered which wiill be about 10 days you can start to introduce them. Make sure that there hutches are next to each other and they can see and smell each other at all times.

Start the bonding in neutral territory bathroooms are usually good. You may get some chasing and nipping but don't worry about that, they will just be figuring out who's going to be boss. If you get a real fight the rabbits will basically cling to each other with there teeth usually to the rear end. If this occurs seperate them for the rest of the day and then try the next.

After a few sessions like this they should have figured out who is boss and then they shoudl start to bond with each other and then you can move them into the same hutch and run. When moving them both into the same house make sure that the hutch you are using has been throuroly cleaned so it doesn't smell like either bun and you shouldn't have any problems Xx

Hope this helps
 
I think we're going to try to bond them. Can't face taking one of them back. Suzi is about 14 months and Scratch is about 10 months. They were penned next to each other at the RSPCA. They seem to like knowing the other one is there, but they go mad when one's out in the run and the other is in the garden and try to get each other through the wire. Suzi is the more aggressive of the pair.

Are we best to get them spayed before we start trying to bond them or should we start the process now and see if they show any signs of taking to each other?

Thanks,
Jo
 
I don't think it's 'easy' to bond 2 females - Although it can be done if you have a lot of space and time - It is easier to bond a neutered male with a female, although my boy bit a chunk out of his intended's face on day 2.

If you are prepared for vets bills from injuries, then try and bond them but it must be in a place neither of them has been before, or preferably take them for a car ride in two seperate carriers, then put them in the same carrier, supervised by someone, after about half an hour - then drive for a loooong time, about an hour - and they may take comfort from each other and stay friends when you get home.

Females being more territorial than males you would need to give their living area a thorough clean and paint it or something to make it smell new - and they will need more space than a boy/girl couple would, as they will not be as close maybe - My girls are always chasing each other and arguing over who is boss, and they are litter sisters who have always lived together.

Hope it goes OK :)
 
I've seen several female-female bonds that have been successful, so I would say that it's definately worth a shot as it could work out great. Though male-female (neutered and spayed) is supposedly the easiest combination, female-female is second and male-male is meant to be the hardest - though looking at my 3 males who snuggle together I'm not sure why :lol:
Spaying will help calm them down and remove the hormonal territorial instincts that may make them fall out. It will also benefit their health, as older rabbits (5+) can be prone to tumours, etc. in the womb.
I wouldn't take the aggression through the wire as a sign it will never work out. Females can be quite territorial of 'their' space, which will usually decrease with spaying. You're best introducing them in a neutral place, so I probably wouldn't use the run as it would smell of both of them. But there are some great threads on bonding if you do a search.
It isn't good that the RSPCA made the mistake but I think a lot of their centers focus on the dog and cat aspect and small animals are a kind of afterthought - it's nice that they're homed there rather than pts but I've heard several stories about the RSPCA being not very good with other small animals.
 
You could try to bond them now and see what they think of each other but as elve says be prepared for vets bills just in case. The easier option would be to house them next to each other whilst you get them spayed and let them recover and then try to bond XX
 
I have a female/female pair they bonded really easy,much easliy than my female/male pair,they were spayed at the rescue they were from and put straight together,and have been together ever since!
I would be contacting the rspca telling them your not happing with there sexing skills!
 
I have two female buns that are bonded and not spayed so it can work and Phill is definately one of the bonding experts.
 
My females where so much easier to bond than the boys.

Both Treacle and Marmalade snuggle together and eat from the same bowl. Its the boys they boss around rather than each other.
 
Accidental Meeting

Yesterday I rather stupidly didn't shut the run properly when I was cleaning out. :oops: Scratch was hopping around the garden and Suzi was in the run. All of a sudden there they both were pulling fur off each other, legs everywhere on the lawn. After seperating and checking them over for injuries they were both OK - but a bit scary. Lesson learned!

This morning we tried them together in the bathroom, just to see if they would immediately go for each other. We put them in Their carriers for about 20 minutes first and moved them around the house. When we put them in the bath they cuddled up to each other for security. Suzi licked Scratch (who was more nervous) a few times and they both tried to hide under each other for about the first 5 minutes or so. As they got more confident, Suzi started moving round a bit more with Scratch following, still quite close. Then just under 10 minutes in Suzi nipped at Scratch, then fur flew. I seperated them striaght away with no injuries.

They now are back in the run. Both hutches are inside the run and they take it in turns to be let out. At the moment Suzi is out and they seem to be taking more interest in each other through the wire. A bit of attempted nipping, but not too aggressive. They were next door neighbours at the RSPCA too, so know each other through the wire pretty well.

We're going to get them spayed in about two weeks time. So we wondered, should we try to put them together like this every day or should we leave it now until they're neutered?

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Jo
 
Hi Jo,

they don't seem to bothered by each other just a bit of hirearchy sorting. I would try to put them together each day like this as you may well get them to bond before they go to be spayed and they can then recover together.
 
Alfie kennedy said:
Oh know..what a nightmare!!! i am shocked with the RSPCA too!

The RSPCA have always insisted on doing a home check and neutering animals before they're given back to the general public and a new home. I am quite upset and shocked also.....

In all honesty I'd be more interested in reporting Preston RSPCA .. :roll:

But seriously neutering is the way forward. I found out that dominant un neutered males are a handful to deal with :wink:
 
Generally I was very annoyed with the RSPCA.

First they told me a pair was available then I later found one had been reserved. They suggested taking a companion for the left over one.
I asked for advice on hutch sizes and they said to ask at a pet shop. They were going to put the two rabbits in the same box despite them thinking one was male and one female. They rabbits hadn't been neutered or vaccinated (I would happily have made a donation covering the cost of this). No information was given on diet or how to bond them. I should have had a homecheck, but they ended up just asking me a couple of non-probing questions over the phone. They didn't ask for any sort of ID when I picked the rabbits up - plus you could just walk in off the street into the rabbits without signing in or seeing to a member of staff.

I shall be writing a letter to someone about it - just need to find out who!

Jo
 
that's so irresponsible! - short of putting rabbits to sleep, could they be any worse?

Regarding the bonding sessions - I would leave them in the run as wire buddies till a couple of months after they've been spayed - It will help them to get used to each other.

As for sessions in the bath or other places, I wouldn't do any more of that until their hormones have gone down after spaying - usually a few months after - Unless you are prepared for possibly ongoing vets bills for abscesses and infected wounds, or worse.

The problem with short bonding sessions like this is that they have to start afresh each time they meet - they never get the hierarchy sorted out, and will continually fight until they do sort out who's boss - And the danger is, apart from serious injury, they may take a real dislike to each other and never bond at all, even when spayed.
 
Thanks again for all the advice.

I'm going to leave them as they are now and get them neutered during half term when I can be there to look after them.

They seem to be getting on fine through the wire now - except for them being grumpy when they're not the one being let out into the run. Which ever one isn't in the run all day is getting a good run round the garden of an evening - although Suzi only goes about a foot away from the run and just munches the grass. So I'm hopeful that after spaying they should be bondable.

I've have also written a letter to the RSPCA branch. I will see what response I get to that.
 
Came across your topic whilst doing a search. Have I missed an update on how this bonding turned out?
 
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