Bunny bonding

Hello there!

I have a 1 year old male bunny and a 4 month old fenale bunny which i got a month ago. The male is neutered while the female will be around the beggining of October. I did some bonding sessions and they like each other, i think it's love at first sight! The very first session they groomed each other and themselves, and cuddled up next to each other's fur and all in all was pretty great! Is it possible for me to bond them even though she isn't altered? Will her hormones rage when she hits sexual maturity? Should i just wait or can i bond them? Thank you in advance! Oh also my male humped her but not for the first session but when they were in the living room

It's better not to bond them now. Not only your female can have a hormonal reaction, but being in contact with an intact female can reawaken 'phantom' hormonal reactions in a neutered male - the humping is likely to get worst with time and the doe might not take it well. A hormonal and violent reaction can be really sudden and unexpected. If they were mine, I wouldn't take the risk to have them fight and make bad memories together especially since you'll have to start over when the female will be spayed (you can't put a female that's just been spayed with another rabbit - her lower belly just got cut opened, she's hurting, and she needs to stay quietly on her own to heal). Considering they seem to get along well, with a little luck they will be easy to bond when the time comes (sometimes it's super easy - the first couple I got met, the doe jumped on the male's back even though he was twice her size, he submitted beautifully and it turned out they were a match made in heaven with a super dominant doe and a really whipped buck who didn't mind letting her have the last piece of carrot and gave her back massages... for real! ^^)

I agree with Aki. There is no reason to try bonding them now. It is very common for a baby to get along with an adult -- but it is just temporary. The risk comes when hormones kick in. Those can affect either or both rabbits (as Aki explained).

By allowing them together now, there is only risk and no benefit -- risk that they will fight and that fight can prevent or hinder future bonding. Don't let cuddles and grooming fool you. It makes no difference. The cuddliest of rabbits in this situation can completely turn on each other with the onset of hormones.

Oh ok. I've read some people have successfully bonded neutered male to an unspayed female. How did they do it? Is it because the female was older and not a baby or???

My vet told me it was my choice. He told me she would try to dominate him, but he said that will be at 5 months so like i shouldn't worry. I took her to the vet a day after i got her so he could examine her, she was 3 months old.

BunnyHugs said:

Oh ok. I've read some people have successfully bonded neutered male to an unspayed female. How did they do it? Is it because the female was older and not a baby or???

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It is possible for such a bond to work on occasion, however, it is usually an unstable bond that is prone to break at the slightest provocation (or for no reason at all).

BunnyHugs said:

My vet told me it was my choice. He told me she would try to dominate him, but he said that will be at 5 months so like i shouldn't worry. I took her to the vet a day after i got her so he could examine her, she was 3 months old.

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Vets are very seldom knowledgeable about bonding rabbits or the intricacies of bunny behavior. It is more common than not that they give wrong advise concerning bonding.

As for time of hormones becoming active, that can vary greatly among individual rabbits. Some start quite early, showing early hormonal signs before 4 months of age. Others go as late as 8+ months of age. It is just plain wrong for the vet to say that nothing will happen until 5 months of age.