Bonding 4 month old neutered male

[lesley87]

Hello,

I have had my beautiful male French lop for 2 months now and have just got him neutered. I am looking to bond him with a female now he is neutered. I am looking for a bit of advice on the best way to go about this.

The breeder we got Leon from has just had another litter and we could get a little girl from there to bond him with from end of August. However I am worried about forcing him with another bunny he may not get along with so was also looking at going to an adoption centre for a "bunny date". The breeder says in her experience bonding with a baby girl will be easier. What is usually the best route to go down?

Couple of other points/questions... Leon is an indoor bun with free roam (we are in the process of bunny proofing the garden so he can claim there too!) and we plan to do the same with his girlfriend. My boyfriend is worried getting a bunny from a rescue centre may not be litter trained and it is harder to do when they are older. Secondly if we did got to a rescue centre, French lops are in short supply so would it be ok to bond him with another smaller breed? He is a chunky French lop, currently around 3.5kg and is just under 4 months so I think he will grow pretty big!

Would really appreciate any advice on the best route to go down to bond Leon and make him a happier bun!

Thanks,

Lesley

 

[tonibun]

Hello and welcome! It's lovely to hear you want your bunny to be happy by getting him a friend. At his young age he should take to a female very easily as the males are not normally as territorial as the females. If you were to get a female from the same breeder you could put them together and get her neutered when she is old enough - otherwise you will have quite a wait until she is spayed and recovered.

Alternatively you could look to get a female already spayed from a Rescue, if you saw one you thought would fit in. She doesn't need to be the same breed, but I would try to get a youngish one. Rabbits are easier to bond when young and easier to litter train, although a lot depends on what they have been used to while with Mum!

I hope you find the right female and they enjoy many happy years together. I think a female French Lop would have to be around 8 months old before she could be spayed, it's best not to rush these things.

 

[lesley87]

Great, thanks for the reply! So it is ok to have an un-neutered female with Leon and then just get her neutered when she is old enough or do I have to keep them separate until she is neutered?

 

[tonibun]

An unneutered female can live quite happily with your male. My Bobbie lived with Roger until she was 14 months old, when I had her spayed. She was just starting to get a little hormonal at this age, but of course all rabbits differ. Also Bobbie was perfectly litter trained from the day I got her but there again they are all different. Has your bunny got a big litter tray with hay in as this encourages them to be litter trained? You can put paper on the bottom of the tray - a lot of us use the underbed storage boxes :thumb:

 

[Zarla]

In my experience, the new bun tends to use the litter tray much more quickly if it's already being used.

My lionhead used the tray my other two buns were using when he was just eight weeks old and they had the run of a big room. I think the smell puts them on the right track - it must be much stronger to them.