Next steps after a death

Hi everyone

We recently took a young bonded pair to the vet's for neutering/spaying respectively and vaccinations. Sadly, our buck Lionhead, Chumley, passed away during his surgery when his little heart gave out after going into shock. This was very sad for us, because we loved him very much and he was so heartbreakingly young to pass on at all, let alone in those circumstances, but we know his death could be so impactful for Madison, our doe mini-lop, who also loved him.

We're planning to bring another boy into our home to be a companion for Madison, as we're well aware of the benefits of bunnies forming pairs, but we're very unsure of the right balance to best suit Madison's needs, and any advice would be appreciated.

We've heard different things from various sources, some say to wait until a few days after recovering from surgery to introduce rabbits together, other things suggest a couple of weeks, others suggest as many as six weeks. All of these cite the importance of allowing hormones to stabilise, which seems to be the one bit of consensus.

We would like to provide Madison with a new friend as soon as possible though, as we're extremely worried about the adverse affect of her losing Chumley. I have read that bunnies can fall into deep depressions when losing a friend, especially if they do not understand that the other rabbit has died and will not be coming back, when they can just pine themselves do death waiting for their friend to return. As Madison was also coming around from anaesthetic, she did not have the time to lucidly observe Chumley's body and come to terms with him being dead, and we were sadly not prepared for the eventuality and so did not think to ask to bring the body home in order to provide that closure.

Do you guys think it would be worthwhile to at least attempt to introduce a new friend to Madison perhaps in a week's time, once she's well recovered physically from her surgery? We have the resources to keep them separate a while longer and introduce them to eachother gradually to avoid aggression and suchlike. Or would it be best to wait until the longest recommended period of recovery to attempt an introduction.

Behaviour-wise, she is getting back to recognisably her former self, although she still seems a little off. What worried me was that she sat/slept up on the bed almost cuddled up to my partner for a good 4 hours last night, which she has never done before, and I worry that might be a sign that she is particularly stressed about missing Chumley.

Thanks in advance for any/all advice. We are first time bunny-parents and trying our very best, but I would love advice from more experienced owners.

I'm afraid I don't know how long it takes a does hormones to subside post spay so normally I'd leave it to the experts but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry to hear you lost your dear friend Chumley. I agree its best to look at another boy to keep her company. I have a bereaved bunny (she is elderly with arthritis so my vet thought best not bond her) & she has gone super fussy with us.

If it weren't for the spay I'd say look in to another bun now (in fact you could still make enquiries) but I don't know about that aspect. Its nice she's a house bun & getting lots of loves & attention from you guys so I don't think you'd need to massively rush. Will you get a rescue bun as good rescues will help find the perfect man for Madison & he'll be neutered & vaccinated already. They'll know his personality too.

Once again, I'm so sorry for your loss

Thank you for your kind words, yes we're looking to adopt from a shelter. We have a gorgeous little boy in mind who's just been neutered today, his shelter is encouraging us to wait the same 6 weeks that he will be waiting to be rehomed, so as long as Madison's mood does not deteriorate (she has been progressively happier in the 60 or so hours since returning home from surgery, I even saw a rather tentative popcorn today!) we might be waiting that period for the boy from the shelter to be ready.

I've been through something similar recently with a re-bond. Firstly, in my own experience recently, it took around 8 weeks for the horemones to subside from the newly neutered male. It was a slow process with us for a few reasons.
However, with our females first husbun, it was a little bit easier as his hormones had subsided and we just had several weeks of swapping environments.
I would personally wait before any formal introductions. Madison will still be tender after her surgery and that has to take priority right now for her physical and mental welfare.
However, her mental wellbeing will be hugely improved (which in turn will speed up the phyiscal healing too), once she becomes aware of another rabbit for companionship. I would support them meeting via some sort of seperation like a child gate (with narrow bars or even better mesh between) or some mesh barrier so they can see and smell each other but not contact just yet.
It is and always will be the very best way forward to provide a companion as rabbits are social interactive animals that do benefit massively from companionship. They will share love and develop together and you are also doing a wonderful thing by looking at rescue and shelter bunnies who need that special second chance.
PLease keep us informed and post photos when you can - we all love to share our journeys and support each other as much as possible.

Awww..... so sad. Sorry to hear that.