Bonding Advice Needed

[*Funny*Bunny*]

I have a lovely 15 and a half month old male dwarf lop (although he is little larger than the average dwarf!) called Harvey and I took him on a date last Friday to meet a beautiful little girl of 3-4 months old called Lilly. He is castrated as of 5 months old, she has not yet been spayed. I was expecting them not to get on brilliantly as she is not spayed, but was considering if they were not too aggressive towards each other I would get her spayed and then bond them. However on their date they got on wonderfully! Harvey was more interested in the new room than Lilly to begin with. Lilly was fascinated by Harvey and kept sniffing his bum, but was not at all aggressive. Harvey sat up and washed his face even whilst she was sniffing his bum, so was completely at ease! She was obsessed with him, and hopped over to me every so often for a head rub, she often flopped out in the room so seemed very relaxed around Harvey. After a while they kept going up to each other and laying down placing their heads on the floor as if they each expected a head rub from the other like this:

In this position I quickly rubbed their head, and after having stopped for about 20 seconds Harvey turned around and licked Lilly's ear and neck just briefly After this Lilly kept going up to him and tucking her head under his tummy, he wasn't bothered in the slightest. He tucked his head under her tummy a couple of times too. He was laying down relaxing once when she did it and they looked very sweet:

As they got on so well I told her owner I was happy to take her (she discovered she was allergic to rabbits soon after buying her so was looking to rehome her) and she agreed that they looked as though they'd get on well so she was happy with that too

I will be bringing Lilly home and putting her in her separate cage later this week (probably Friday). The initial date went well and I want to continue dating them (in the bathroom as this is a neutral area) before moving them in together. As they seem to enjoy each other's company I'm expecting this process not to take too long. I'll be swapping them between cages to get them used to each other's smells as well. However, I need to get her spayed, and I will be doing this relatively soon after getting her (1-4 weeks), I was planning on doing a bit of dating before getting her done asap then continuing dating for a couple of weeks at least before moving them in together. If they bond really fast though after getting her and before I manage to get her spayed I would be happy to move them in with each other and then get her spayed, but I'm a bit nervous about this as if she's just had an operation can I put her straight back in with Harvey or is this dangerous, even if they are bonded? Even if they do bond is it dangerous to keep her even for a couple of weeks with Harvey without her spayed (as in will she be aggressive even if they do bond)? Will it disrupt their bond having her away for a day for her spaying (although I could ask the vet to let Harvey stay with her at the vets as I know this is an option to get round this problem, but again, I'm worried as she'll have stitches and might be vulnerable to him, but then again he's very soppy and docile so I can't imagine him hurting her!).

So basically should I spay her as soon as I get her and then bond them. Or should I bond them and get her spayed 2-4 weeks after getting her? I ideally want them bonded asap, as I can tell Harvey sometimes gets a little lonely when he has to be left alone in his hutch and run (when I walk away from his hutch he runs after me and stands on his hind legs at the end of his run watching me leave!) so I want them not to be lonely!


Any advice or what-to-expect information would be great thanks!!!

(also what breed would you say Lilly is? I thought maybe she has Harlequin colouring, but her face is not separated into two colours so I was unsure :s and that's only colouring... don't know what breed she is, I'll see if the current owner know when I collect her, I was just wondering in the mean time!)

 

[Sky-O]

Aw, what a cute couple. she looks like a harlequin and she looks to be a lop cross- likely a standard pet shop mix breed type bunny.

I would suggest giving her at least a week to get her settled in, then go for a vet check and discuss spaying with a view to getting her done ASAP, and then 6-8 week after (although you could bring it down to four if her hormones are not playing a part) bond them properly. It eradicates a lot of issues doing it that way.

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Aw, what a cute couple. she looks like a harlequin and she looks to be a lop cross- likely a standard pet shop mix breed type bunny.

I would suggest giving her at least a week to get her settled in, then go for a vet check and discuss spaying with a view to getting her done ASAP, and then 6-8 week after (although you could bring it down to four if her hormones are not playing a part) bond them properly. It eradicates a lot of issues doing it that way.

Thanks for the advice I think she is young enough that her hormones aren't playing a part yet, my local vets said they spay from age 16weeks (as long as she is the right weight which she is), so I'll be able to get her done soon. Would you reckon I could let them have a couple of "dates" before I spay her, even though I'm not going to properly bond them until after her op?

She currently has up-right ears so I'm not sure if she is a lop, however they are massive for her and when she leans to a side that ear will lop, so maybe the lop just hasn't developed yet, I know it can take until 6 months with some lops.

 

[Sky-O]

Her crown is quite lose, which causes the random lop. I would be thinking maybe a loppy grandparent, for example.

I don't see how dates will harm as long as you closely supervise, but just be aware that her hormones could come in at any point and cause havoc.

ETA- normally I would say don't date them because of the need for quarantining to protect your bunny but with him already having met her you're just going to have to watch for any signs of any problems. I wouldn't date her until after she has settled in though.

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Her crown is quite lose, which causes the random lop. I would be thinking maybe a loppy grandparent, for example.

I don't see how dates will harm as long as you closely supervise, but just be aware that her hormones could come in at any point and cause havoc.

ETA- normally I would say don't date them because of the need for quarantining to protect your bunny but with him already having met her you're just going to have to watch for any signs of any problems. I wouldn't date her until after she has settled in though.

Thanks again for the advice I'm so excited to get her! It was so lovely to see them happy around each other the other day and don't worry they will definitely be supervised, I always supervise my rabbit when he's in the house anyway, if I leave the room he knows he can get wires without me knowing!

 

[Sky-O]

Thanks again for the advice I'm so excited to get her! It was so lovely to see them happy around each other the other day and don't worry they will definitely be supervised, I always supervise my rabbit when he's in the house anyway, if I leave the room he knows he can get wires without me knowing!

:lol: Smart bunny! Or rather, typical bunny :lol:

Make sure the space is neutral, small, etc.

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

:lol: Smart bunny! Or rather, typical bunny :lol:

Make sure the space is neutral, small, etc.

Yeh I'm going to use our bathroom which is small

One last thing, when I took them to meet I was looking for any signs of dominance, but neither mounted the other at all, and both were offering their head to each other for licking! Are they both trying to suggest they are the more dominant one, but actually they are acting as dominant as each other? Is it likely that they'll remain with neither being more dominant or could they start mounting each other and being forceful? I was expecting the little girl to be the dominant one tbh! Harvey is not that dominant, he asks me for head rubs a lot, but he also tried to groom me a lot! So maybe next time he'll end up bowing down to her grooming requests!

 

[Sky-O]

They do both want to be groomed by the other but seeing signs of dominance can take a while to how, as can establishing it, especially as she is pretty much still a baby. She might be totally different when adult and after her hormones develop.

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Just brought Lilly home! Very happy she's a beautiful and cheerful thing! The end of her run is 2foot from the side of Harvey's run. He's been running up and down excitedly trying to sniff her, she's completely relaxed, coming up to me and jumping on my lap Harvey just stomped a couple of times, is this normal behaviour when a new bun is really close to the other's territory. After a head rub though he's calmed down, maybe he was jealous of all the head rubs Lilly was getting!!

Also is it normal for bunnies not to eat their caecotrophs right away? Harvey eats his as they're on the way out so I've never even seen one of his before! Lilly's are all over the place though! She has only been here an hour so she might be saving them for later!

She's scenting everything with her chin as well! Another thing Harvey has never done!

This is all so new but exciting!!

 

[*Funny*Bunny*]

Also, when do bunnies stop growing? My new bun is four months and I would have thought she only had a month or two left of growth, but she has MASSIVE back feet!! And massive ears!!! If she's going to grow into those she has a lot more than a couple of months growth!

Do some bunnies have massive ears and feet? Or does my comparison breed (dwarf lop) have short feet and ears so actually she has just normal features?!