My boys a girl!!

[Bunny Boo.]

:shock:
I got my bunny (peanut) nearly a week ago, I got him from a breeder who was adamant that he was a boy, even after i said that at 8 weeks old it can be difficult to get it right but as she was so sure i went with it!! Well HE is a SHE! Now is this going to cause a major problem? I have a 8 month old spayed female (May) who i intended to get a husbun for and to make the bonding process easier, now i have a girly bunny and I'm worried this is doomed to start with. My plan was to wait until peanut was old enough to get neutered/spayed and then try and bond after the recovery time, but having been to the vets today to have Peanut vaccinated (and for them to tell me he was a girl) the head nurse who is a bunny expert has told me i should bond them now before any hormones kick in and then have her spayed before they do kick in! I'm totally confused, i really want to do the best thing for them and give them every opportunity for this to work. So whats the correct way to do this? should i wait and get her spayed, and bond after recovery or do i bond them together now and get her spayed in a few months time before the hormones kick in? Peanut is a continental giant and May is a french lop x Belgium hare. Peanut weighs 2.07kg and May weighs 4.1 kgs. They both have there own set ups at the moment with there runs lined up next to each other so they are about 2 inches away from each other, Peanut does a lot of binkys around her run and shows a lot of attention towards May and May seems to have a mixed reaction towards her, one minute she's on guard with her tail up right and trys to chase her off and the next minute she's laying flat out up against the wire!!!:roll: They both eat either side of the run and i"ve watched them both groom themselves quite happily, then out of the blue May will run at the wire and display unhappy behaviour!! I do believe this is because she's being territorial over her run. Any advice would be much appreciated as i really don't know the best way to go from here!!!:|:|
Peanut

[/URL][/IMG]

May

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[~ILoveMyBunny~]

:shock:
My plan was to wait until peanut was old enough to get neutered/spayed and then try and bond after the recovery time, but having been to the vets today to have Peanut vaccinated (and for them to tell me he was a girl) the head nurse who is a bunny expert has told me i should bond them now before any hormones kick in and then have her spayed before they do kick in! I'm totally confused, i really want to do the best thing for them and give them every opportunity for this to work. So whats the correct way to do this? should i wait and get her spayed, and bond after recovery or do i bond them together now and get her spayed in a few months time before the hormones kick in? Peanut is a continental giant and May is a french lop x Belgium hare. Peanut weighs 2.07kg and May weighs 4.1 kgs. They both have there own set ups at the moment with there runs lined up next to each other so they are about 2 inches away from each other, Peanut does a lot of binkys around her run and shows a lot of attention towards May and May seems to have a mixed reaction towards her, one minute she's on guard with her tail up right and trys to chase her off and the next minute she's laying flat out up against the wire!!!:roll: They both eat either side of the run and i"ve watched them both groom themselves quite happily, then out of the blue May will run at the wire and display unhappy behavior!! I do believe this is because she's being territorial over her run. Any advice would be much appreciated as i really don't know the best way to go from here!!!:|:|

Hopefully someone else will answer this soon as I know very little about bonding, having only ever had single rabbits previously (I'm about to attempt it for the first time myself!), however - and I hope another member will correct me if I'm wrong on any of this :mrgreen: - from what I do know you should definitely wait until after Peanut has been spayed before attempting bonding. Even if they bond now once her hormones kick in they'll probably end up fighting anyway, which could damage their potential relationship later.
Males and females make the best pairs but I've definitely seen same gender pairs before. So it is possible.
How long ago was May spayed? She does sound like she might be displaying territorial behavior. Bear in mind that even after the spay it takes a while for hormones to die down. I'm not exactly sure myself how long this period is but I think it extends a bit beyond physical recovery time.
But from what I know I think it would definitely be a bad idea to attempt bonding until Peanut has been spayed, recovered and been given time for her hormones to stabilize. My girls Maple and Jazzie were 'bonded' initially but as soon as their hormones kicked in the fights broke out and they had to be separated quickly. Now, long after their spays, they still remember each other and any attempt I made to bond them again only ended in fights. The last one got so bad I had to break it up quick as Maple had pinned Jazzie and they both meant to cause harm. Had I separated them in the first place I think they might have had a chance. Lesson learned the hard way.
This website may help: http://www.thebunnychick.com/category/bonding/
By the way, they're both beautiful!

 

[tonibun]

You were right in getting a boy for your female rabbit so now you have been sold a girl it could be very difficult to bond them. Are you sure she is a girl? Boys can look like girls up to about 12 weeks. You really do need a boy unless you could have 2 pairs

 

[Bunny Boo.]

Thanks for your replys, this really isn't what i set out for, i wanted a buck to bond with May! Never mind i have another beautiful doe she has the kindest nature and is a pleasure to watch, maybe i will have to rethink how i'm going to do this, maybe 2 bucks to bond with my 2 does is needed, may have to break that news gently to the husband!
Do i continue on with keeping there runs so close ? May does sit in her run and waits for Peanut to appear!

 

[tonibun]

It should be ok to keep their runs close but not so they can nip one another through the wire. At least they can see another bunny. How did you find out you have a girl? Silly question I suppose :lol:

 

[Mrsmcarey]

Bonded girls love each other as much as a boy girl pair

I had pair of girls who love each other very much now a quad with 2 boys.

I had trio of boys who were inseparable too :wave: lost one so had pair still inseparable :lol: even as a quad :roll: with the girls

 

[Bunny Boo.]

It should be ok to keep their runs close but not so they can nip one another through the wire. At least they can see another bunny. How did you find out you have a girl? Silly question I suppose :lol:

I took peanut along last night for 'his' vaccination jabs and health check, the vet had a look the head nurse had a look and they both said 'he' is a 'she'. Not sure or i'm trying to convince myself that that are wrong but they are not a savvy rabbit vet, i normally see Ian cope but as it was just a jab i decided that a 2 minute car journey was better than 30 minutes! Maybe I'm just hoping that they are wrong as peanut is only 9wks old..

 

[William]

I've had several girl pairs that loved each other just as much as a girl/boy pair would, and none of them were even spayed! (before I knew females needed to be spayed for health reasons) So hopefully the bonding will go smoothly after she's been spayed

 

[Jbun]

A litter of baby buns that I raised, a couple I could tell the sex from a few days old. Then there were a couple that I couldn't tell what they were until they were about 3-4 months old and their plums had dropped. Every time I checked them, they looked like females, but turned out to be boys. It can be very hard to determine the sex of some young rabbits until they have fully matured, even for people experienced doing it. It's just that hard to do with rabbits.

I wouldn't give up all hope of your bun being a boy until (s)he has had time to mature some more.

 

[Ruthyjones89]

Aww he/she is gorgeous

Well not much help sorry, but I had a mini lop.. At 11 weeks was checked by a vet, to be told he was a girl! I was adamant it was a boy.. So took him back and saw a vetinary nurse 2 days later who confirmed he was a boy and just a late developer!! Either way good luck xx

 

[Bunny Boo.]

I've had several girl pairs that loved each other just as much as a girl/boy pair would, and none of them were even spayed! (before I knew females needed to be spayed for health reasons) So hopefully the bonding will go smoothly after she's been spayed

Thank you, thats reassuring.

 

[Bunny Boo.]

A litter of baby buns that I raised, a couple I could tell the sex from a few days old. Then there were a couple that I couldn't tell what they were until they were about 3-4 months old and their plums had dropped. Every time I checked them, they looked like females, but turned out to be boys. It can be very hard to determine the sex of some young rabbits until they have fully matured, even for people experienced doing it. It's just that hard to do with rabbits.

I wouldn't give up all hope of your bun being a boy until (s)he has had time to mature some more.

I'm hoping (s)he is a late developer! but either way Peanut will always be loved by us. Maybe either way May will bond with Peanut and all will be well, lets keep fingers crossed.

 

[Bunny Boo.]

Aww he/she is gorgeous

Well not much help sorry, but I had a mini lop.. At 11 weeks was checked by a vet, to be told he was a girl! I was adamant it was a boy.. So took him back and saw a vetinary nurse 2 days later who confirmed he was a boy and just a late developer!! Either way good luck xx

Thank you, i have everything crossed that either way boy or girl May and Peanut bond well together.