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Have I made a mistake? :(

Buka

Warren Scout
Hi all,

I am worried I made a huge mistake :(

I have a female rabbit who is 6 months old and who has not been spayed yet (she will be next month).
I have adopted a neutered boy rabbit who is exactly a year older than her.

I keep them both indoors. My female has always had access to the whole house, but there was one particular room she did not go to too often. She sleeps, plays and spends 99% of the time in the living room.

So I have dedicated the bedroom she doesn't visit much for the adopted boy. I installed a tall pet gate with a mesh in the door and I leave the door open during the day so that they can interact through the gate. They don't actually interact much because she doesn't go there much. I also let the boy roam about the house and I lock my girl in the living room when he is roaming about. I also let him in the living room and I put my girl in his room at that time.

I noticed my girl seems stressed :( She doesn't flop and just seems a bit more nervous. Today I am giving her lots of attention and I am not letting the boy in the living room at all today so she can have her space to herself.

I am worried though that I brought him home too early with her being so young! I also worry I will not actually be able to bond them even once she is spayed because he is an adult :(

I tried researching before adopting him, but I did not find any information about the most compatible age groups. After I have taken him in I found an article saying you shouldn't try to bond an adult and a young rabbit.

What is your experience and what would you advise me?
 
If you own bunnies you'll make mistakes but if you love them as clearly you do they are well intentioned 'mistakes' or things to learn for next time. I think there is nothing wrong with your bunnies ages, once she is spayed & recovered they should be nicely matched on activity levels. Theres a really high chance they will bond when the time is right

What I wouldn't do is let him in her lounge. Its her space & she will be territorial over it & being removed to have another bun in there will make her anxious. He probably won'tcare so much. Until you are ready to bond I'd keep the lounge just hers, she'll be ready to share in good time but no boys in there for now
 
I echo what J&B said. It shoud work out in the end, and rabbits are much better with the company of another rabbit - so it will be worth it.
 
Females tend to be more territorial so she may be feeling his presence, I would leave it as is, let her see him through the gate until she's fully recovered from her spay (I think people recommend 6-8 weeks). My female hated when I bought my male home and it took a good couple of months to bond them but now they're inseparable.
 
Good advice already given, so I'll just say gorgeous bunnies, and they sound very safe in your care :)
 
Thank you all :love:

I am expecting this to be a long process and I’m glad you all think it’s possible to bond them as I started panicking. Thanks again :)
 
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