Instant bonding? Should I trust this?

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BlueMoonBunnies

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So I adopted Illdari 4 days ago! After three days of supervised time in the bathroom and no issues I deicded to let them hang out in Tundras cage! It's been 6 hours now and they are fine! Tundra of course did a lot of humping to begin with but now they are grooming themselves, laying beside each other, sharing food and occasionally lightly grooming each other! I heard bonding can be hard and take a while so I'm not sure if I should feel this is safe yet. Both are females, Tundra is 1 year 4 months and spayed and Illdari is 8 weeks and being fixed as soon as she's old enough! I'd just like an opinion on if it's safe to let them spend more time together yet!
 
It is absolutely not safe and should not be trusted.

Babies almost always get along with an adult. But it is usually temporary. As soon as hormones activate then the behavior of one or both may change drastically.

It isn't advised to allow them to interact at all for this reason. They can live in adjacent housing, but they should not be allowed together. If a fight breaks out suddenly it could prevent a future bond.

Best to wait until after the girl is spayed and healed before allowing them to interact.
 
As a new rabbit owner I'd suggest you read everything you can about bunnies before trying new things like that, just because rabbits can be complicated and they are not like other pets. I do hope that once your new bunny is fixed that they will learn to get along well. I do envy your easygoing approach though, I get so nervous about bonding.
 
I'm definitely not allowing them to be left alone together for a while. Only while I can be there to watch them! I'm calling my vet on Monday to see when I can spay Illdari since I want her done as soon as possible! Currently they live in cages next to each other until I know the bond is solid and hopefully Illdari is fixed! I just was wondering if this is a good starting sign? I'm really happy they seem to get along so far, they haven't shown a single sign of aggression ! I've been researching bonding since I brought Illdari home. I'm getting mixed reviews, some people say it's fine to allow them to stay together and others say seperate before she reaches sexual maturity!
 
I should also say that i moved Tundras cage to a neutral area of my house and not leaving it in her room where both the cages usually are. I figured keeping it neutral and calm would be best for now. :) I just want to make sure both bunnies are happy and healthy! Both get time to run free in my house (Tundra is basically a house bunny) Illdari getsbsupervised time as she's not litter trained :)
 
There really is no one size fits all answer when it comes to bonding. Every rabbit is different, every situation is different. I haven't always followed the usual recommendations as my circumstances have sometimes required that I do things differently, such as having an unspayed female with a neutered male for a while. But if you do vary from the usual recommendation of waiting til both rabbits are adults and fixed, you just need to be very educated about bonding and rabbit behavior, and be aware that this poses risks of ruining potential bonds, fights breaking out, and very serious injuries occurring. Not that it will happen, but these things are certainly possibilities. Plus there is also the possibility that even if you did wait to bond til the baby was mature and spayed, there is no guarantee that they will bond at that point. Essentially it really comes down to the individual rabbits personalities.

I'm not going to say whether or not you should keep them together or separated at this point. I know of others that have had a baby with an adult until it was old enough to get fixed, and had no problems, and I even had to put a baby with an adult for a time out of necessity. But if it is something you are considering, just know that there is always some risk to doing it, especially for the baby, which risk can include serious injury or even possible fatality. So it's not a decision to make without very careful consideration. The one good thing is that you have already got past the initial introduction and your adult female seems to be fine with the new baby, for now at least. That can change, but then it can also happen with two adult fixed rabbits that have been bonded for a while, who can fall out, fight, and the bond is broken. If you do decide to keep them together, just be aware that as the baby reaches about 3-6 months old, when the hormones start coming in, that is usually the time when there can start to be issues and possible fighting. Won't always happen, but it can and needs to be closely monitored.

Like I said, no one size fits all. Bonding is just complicated. A lot of the time I've just had to go with my gut on which direction to take.
 
Everything was said. The reactions of a baby give no real indication about how the rabbits will get along as adults, especially since 2 females is not an ideal combination. But bonding is not always hard, my previous pair (male x female) fell in love at first sight - the doe humped the male for like one minute and the bonding process was over and done with. But I got lucky: the doe was really dominant and the buck was very submissive (he gave her massages, groomed her and let her steal the last piece of carrot ^^) so they complimented each other perfectly.
Considering your baby is only 2 months old, you probably won't be able to spay for a while. Some vets do it very young, but others refuse to do it before the doe is mostly grown (7 to 8 months) because the smaller the rabbit is the more risky the surgery is and also because we don't really know what effects the lack of hormones has on the developement (it's a controversial subject, like with all animals, and people all have different opinions and there are arguments on both sides). I am personnally not comfortable with making a baby go through a very heavy surgery when it's not imperative - I will have males neutered around 4 month old because that's a fast and simple surgery, but for females I prefer to wait just in case. See with your vet if (s)he is confident spaying a baby and if it's something (s)he has done often or not.
 

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