Can I bond my two female rabbits?

[Sandracoco]

Hi there:

I have a 1 year old french lop, spayed, free roam, and we have very intact relationship. Three days ago, I introduced a new dwarf chocolate bunny (not spayed female) to Sandra. My Sandra bunny was extremely hostile towards Coco, therefore I separated them two with a exercising pen. She tried to claim her territory by pooping all around the pen and spraying pee. Coco seem to do the same within her confinement. Coco is very friendly to everyone in the family and she is extremely patient with cuddles. Sandra is extremely upset and I can feel that her body is tense even when she tries to rest. When Coco gets close to Sandra, coco does lapses and binkies. Several times coco has tried to nibble Sandra's fur or bite her on the ears. Does that mean that the bonding is working out if Coco binkies around Sandra?

 

[LakeCondo]

No, an intact female can't be bonded to another rabbit until after spaying [ditto for males & neutering]. Keep them as far apart as possible until then. Then perhaps they can bond or at least tolerate each other.

 

[Sweetie]

Females can bond even when one isn't spayed. Males have to be neutered before bonding, because they will fight to the death if they are not neutered. Getting Coco spayed will help in the bonding process. Has Sandra had a bondmate before Coco? How old is Coco? Also another thing that might help in the bonding process is to rearrange things where you have the rabbits, so that everything is like new to them. If Sandra hasn't established territory, you will be able to bond them in the area you have them in. Try a neutral area first and move to the semi-neutral area as the bonding progresses.

 

[BunnyWabbit]

You can't bond them if one of them is not altered. They could seem to get along alright at times but that could change in an instant. You can't trust them together if one is still full of unpredictable hormones.

 

[agnesthelion]

Yep, I agree with the other posters, you cant bond unaltered rabbits.

There may be instances where unaltered females do bond but it's usually by accident or they have been together since birth, that kinda thing, but then as bunnywabbit stated, hormones still play a part so spontaneous fighting can occur at anytime.

House them seperate and get the one spayed. Wait a few weeks after that for hormones to heal and you can attempt to bond again. And for initial meetings, they need to happen on neutral territory where neither rabbit has been, a bathroom, tub, closet, etc.

Also, please be advised same sex bonds are more challenging anyway. Spontaneous fighting can occur even when both are fixed and bonded. Always be prepared to cage them seperately.

 

[meeka85]

I have two bonded females, but it was not easy. I tried at first with one spayed and one intact.. was not pretty. Got the second one spayed and after a LOT of work, they are now bonded.

Listen to Agnesthelion... she knows her stuff. My bonded females are still fresh and they've had one serious fight resulting in one getting hurt. They are okay now, but I have a spare area set up in case I need to separate.

 

[missyscove]

Intact rabbits can bond, but I agree that it's much easier to bond altered rabbits. It would probably be in your best interest to get the new bunny spayed and give her time to heal and for her hormones to die down before you put any real effort into bonding them. In the meantime, if they aren't too stressed out about it, you can continue to house them near eachother so they get used to eachothers scent.