Advice on the bonding process for a young buck and doe

Hi there!

Looking for some advice from the experts

We have a beautiful 12 week mini lop buck and were advised by the breeder to wait until he was spade and then introduce a baby female. I've done some reading and most experienced rabbit owners don't seem to advise this, as the bond may be broken when she matures and is pointless before she is spade.

So we decided to bite the bullet, get the female now and commit to housing them separately until both are spade.

So we have an 8 week mini lop doe arriving this weekend! The breeder said we could house them together until he is neutered at 4/5 months, but she will be 12-16 weeks by then so I've decided to just keep them apart from the start and wait until both have been neutered which will be September time.

We have a large enclosure/run which my handy husband has split into two (upstairs and downstairs so no risk of mating!) They're in our house at the moment so that we can bond with them, so will each have additional exercise time with us in the living room on their own. We will move them outside once the doe is a bit bigger to enjoy the nice weather, in which case they'll take turns in the additional big run on the grass.

Anyway - to the point! What can I be doing now to help their future relationship?! It's a long way off, but it would be great to help the process along in the meantime. Is there any benefit to switching them into each other's living areas every day from the start? Or just litters, bowls etc? One idea I have is to move them inside for winter in October time into an upstairs bedroom when we start bonding, so that it is totally neutral, but haven't got the husband to agree to this yet as he's worried about the carpet! I've read that the female can be very territorial - is there anything I could be doing from the start to help with this?

All tips very, very welcome!! I want to do everything I can to help them be future husbun and wife!

The other area I'm unsure of is handling - our little buck is so friendly. He loves company and jumps onto my lap for cuddles. However, he really doesn't like being picked up. I know this isn't natural for them, but unsure how often to try it as I know we need to be able to trim his nails!

Thanks so much for your help!!

My advice would be to wait until both are neutered then introduce them in an area which is neutral for your female. Rabbits are not good with a lot of swapping and changing so I would keep them calm and hopefully you won't have to wait too long before they can be neutered. The boy can be neutered as soon as his Testicles show, maybe around 4 months old, and the female around 5-6 months. Some Vets will spay females earlier so check that out and ensure you have a good Rabbit Savvy Vet. There is a list on the Rabbit Welfare Association's website of accredited Vets or ask on here. You will need to start a new post for that.

With regard to handling, most rabbits don't like it, but if you insist on picking him up fairly regularly he should learn that he doesn't need to be afraid. Hold him close to you fairly securely and he should be ok with this.

Thanks so much for taking time to reply.

That's really helpful. Once they are outside we may be able to keep the female out of their eventual shared home so that it is neutral for her. I'll persist with the handling then! Will try picking him up daily for his food so that he gets a positive association.

Thanks again!

You don't have to pick bunny up every day especially if it upsets him. Once a week is fine as he will get used to it in time, so more slowly really as they are such nervy animals.