Rabbit Bonding Advice

So we got a new rabbit for our youngest in Dec. We kept her apart from our neutered male till now so as she could grow to the same size and not be intimidated.
So yesterday I decided to try them together in a neutral area and using a brand new hutch we had brought.
After a lot of inquisitive looking around by both rabbits they then took notice of each other with a lot of sniffing etc and apart from eating a couple of dandelion leaves ignored all the other food and timothy hay. Then yboth started to try and hump each other. Although there was no actual fighting it did seem quite aggressive with neither one seemingly prepared to back down. It upset my youngest so after a while decided to put them back in their respective hutch in case any damage did occur.
Have I done the right thing and should I persevere or is this a case of it's never going to work ?

I’m no expert but this sounds normal to me. We’ve been rebonding my girls ( they were spayed about 6 weeks ago) for just over a week now and still get the ocashnal hump infact when hormoans kicked in they humped constantly. The way they move can seem quiet harsh though but it is normal. I achilly slept in the bathroom the first night to make sure they were ok and im still sleeping in the livingroom keeping an eye on them now they are back in their pen.

I would keep an eye on the eating though but it should pick up after a short time of getting used to the situation. Both of my girls were eating with in an hour and a half.

Thanks Lisa. How long should I keep them together before saying ok that's enough for one day?

tucker said:

Thanks Lisa. How long should I keep them together before saying ok that's enough for one day?

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Is the female spayed?

No she isn't. We planned to get her spayed at the end of May as there will be someone here all day all week to keep an eye on her just in case

tucker said:

No she isn't. We planned to get her spayed at the end of May as there will be someone here all day all week to keep an eye on her just in case

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So I'd get her spayed, wait at least 6 weeks, then introduce her to your other rabbit in a neutral space, females can be very territorial, and it's best to wait til they're spayed before introducing them to any other bunnies.

Spaying really calms them down normally and it would make it easier to bond them. You can bond unspayed does sometimes but it's not something I'd do unless I had no choice (the doe couldn't be spayed for some reason etc)

Is the female coming up to 6 months old now ish?

She is 6 months. Born 5th Oct

tucker said:

She is 6 months. Born 5th Oct

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Yea that's when they start to get really hormonal, I'd wait til after she's spayed, the suggested amount of time is 6 weeks after the op, so the hormones have settled and she's completely healed. Rabbits can be quite nasty to each other sadly, I wouldn't want to risk them hurting each other, or stressing themselves out.

Graciee said:

Yea that's when they start to get really hormonal, I'd wait til after she's spayed, the suggested amount of time is 6 weeks after the op, so the hormones have settled and she's completely healed. Rabbits can be quite nasty to each other sadly, I wouldn't want to risk them hurting each other, or stressing themselves out.

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I agree with Graciee :thumb:

I'll wait till she's neutered then. Thanks to you all for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated

Sorry I forgot to ask if she was spayed.

No she isn't spayed and has now become territorial.

I'm with Graciee - you will find the process alot easier once she has been spayed.