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Novice Owner Of 2 Rescue Rabbits Being Bonded HELP

Christine662

Christine662

Warren Scout
Hi all.

We are collecting our 2 rescue rabbits this week from the rescue centre (after much banging & building of lovely big hutch & run). They are a 2 yr old female Rex & a 18 month old male Dwarf Netherland. The rescue centre are attempting to bond them this week, we didn't want a lonely single bunny & apparently its better to have a male/female pair.

The male has already been 'done' some time ago. The female was 'done' on Friday. The female is really friendly, the male is quite nervous (he came from a school so am assuming he got mauled quite a lot). But is nice & peaceful here so am hoping he settles & calms.

My question really is about the bonding of them, is it normally successful? We really don't want to have just one bunny. I would be upset I think if they don't bond. I am a complete novice with rabbits, we were initially going to buy 2 babies but thought that we had rescued our dog so why not the rabbits. (so many at the centre wish I could take them all).

The rescue centre are starting to bond them on Wednesday after giving the female some time to recover from her operation, we are to collect on Saturday....is this enough time to know if the bonding has gone ok? any help/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks Christine.
 
Welcome.

Well done to you for rescuing two bunnies!

Personally, I'd be nervous about changing their environment so quickly after beginning bonding. You could be very lucky & could be love at first sight with these two, but the female probably still has a lot of hormones in her system so they may run into trouble with the bonding and a change in environment so soon into bonding could stress them out and cause a fight.

I'm sure if the rescue don't feel they have bonded enough to withstand a change in environment will ask to keep them a little longer.

You could, when you first get them home, keep them confined to their hutch and gradually increase their space so they don't get overwhelmed too much.

Hopefully, someone with more experience will be along soon with more info (all my bonds have taken around 3/4 months , but they were all female/female bonds)
 
Hi

Thanks for your reply...ooo I hope we can bring them home next weekend. But if its better for them to stay at the centre then I will have to wait. As them being happy is more important.

Thanks

Christine
 
Hello there! It's great that you are rescuing 2 bunnies but in my opinion, 5 days is not long enough for the female to have recovered from her spay. The male may want to mount and chase her and I would be very concerned for the female's welfare. Could you not bring them both home separate and allow the female to get over her big operation before starting to bond them. We can advise you on how to go about it.
 
Agreed. It's great you are rescuing two bunnies!

But also agreed that it seems very early post spay to be attempting bonding......... Personally, I'd want it to be a couple of weeks after for hormones to settle and for everything to heal up properly, but I'm no expert. It is a pretty big operation though.
 
I have to say I agree with tonibun. I think it is too soon after the female's spay and am surprised that the rescue are thinking of attempting the bond that soon. It is a question both of her healing and also of her hormones.
 
Sorry to jump on the bandwagon but I thought the same, but as I'm quite inexperienced I didn't like to say. We have a doe that is being spayed prior to bonding soon and I definitely wouldn't want to attempt anything so soon. Our girl trio took a little while to get over their ops and were having medication till around a week later.

Welcome to the forum btw, it will be lovely to hear all about them x
 
Hi All

Thanks so much for all your replies...I am completely in the dark to be honest...have been reading up a lot in readiness for the arrival of the bunnies. Yes it all makes sense about the bonding after the girls operation, thank you. I will ring the centre today & see what they say. Like you say, they should perhaps already know this so it concerns me that maybe they just want the 2 gone...hope not as seems lovely place & caring people who run it. But suppose never know. I will be upset if cant bring them both home straight away, but need to do what is best for them. So could leave him for another couple weeks or so.

Thanks again, will let you know.

Christine
 
Personally I would not even think of attempting to bond a Doe so soon after a spay, which is major abdominal surgery after all.

I would wait for at least 3 weeks to allow full external and internal healing and for the Doe to fully recover. Although she may well remain somewhat hormonal for several more weeks.

Obviously a Rescue may be pushed for time and space to accommodate waiting three weeks, so is it possible for you to bring the two home and initially house them separately ? The Rescue may still be able to assist with bonding them at a later date when, IMO, it would be far better for the Doe. At least if you could take them both on Saturday it would free up space at the Rescue, which they are no doubt in dire need of.

I am sure the Rescue are doing their best and trying to help as many Rabbits as possible. It's just I personally do not agree with bonding a Doe so soon after a spay.

Good luck with your new arrivals, whatever you decide to do :)
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Personally I would not even think of attempting to bond a Doe so soon after a spay, which is major abdominal surgery after all.

I would wait for at least 3 weeks to allow full external and internal healing and for the Doe to fully recover. Although she may well remain somewhat hormonal for several more weeks.

Obviously a Rescue may be pushed for time and space to accommodate waiting three weeks, so is it possible for you to bring the two home and initially house them separately ? The Rescue may still be able to assist with bonding them at a later date when, IMO, it would be far better for the Doe. At least if you could take them both on Saturday it would free up space at the Rescue, which they are no doubt in dire need of.

I am sure the Rescue are doing their best and trying to help as many Rabbits as possible. It's just I personally do not agree with bonding a Doe so soon after a spay.

Good luck with your new arrivals, whatever you decide to do :)
Click to expand...
*thumbs up* I like the idea of taking them home separately.

I thought I mentioned spay date but obviously missed that bit out.
Glad everyone else covered it

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
Hi All

After taking on board what you have all said...thanks again. Ive contacted the rescue lady....I asked her how long she thought it would take for them to bond. she said oh we will know in an hour!!
So after being bit more savvy after speaking to you guys I suggested just bring the female home for a few weeks to recover from her op & taking her back in a few weeks to put them together a while to see what happens. I'm concerned for the other rabbits there now.

She wasn't best pleased!!! but for now I am bringing the little girl home tomorrow. will post some photos.

Christine x
 
Good for you! :D xx

I did it the other way round and took Jack home and he went back to be bonded with Hollie once she was over her spay operation. They are still loved up 6 years on!
 
I'm no expert, but I think you have got it the right way round. Just in case the lady decided to go ahead and try and bond her before she's fully recovered anyway. This way you can make sure she is okay.

Btw, I think you did really well to speak up. Good luck tomorrow x
 
I hope all goes well tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing pics of the little Rex girlie.
 
If it were me I would want to bring them both home as they will be safer with you and they can be settling down and getting used to their new home. Otherwise your female will then have the upheaval of going back to be bonded which could prove stressful for her.
 
Hi tonibun

I dearly want them both to come, but am worried if he tries to get fruity with her so close to the op (last Friday) he may hurt her. She is twice the size of him, if that matters. I would be a lot happier if I had them both with us. But I haven't got separate housing for them. The lady at the rescue will try to bond them if I want, but am worried for the girl.

Its all very confusing, as all the lovely replies i've had here say wait a good while for her to fully recover from the op, but my vet who I also rang yesterday said a week....all I want to do is what is best for both the bunnies. So many sad looking cuties there wish could bring them all. :)
 
Plus the female will get all territorial over the new home then be adding him in in a couple of weeks...arrrgghh don't know what to do. :?
 
I think tonibun may have been suggesting that you bring them both home and keep them separate, so they get used to you and the new environment.
Are you adopting from a rabbit rescue or a general pet rescue?
 
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