Please can I have some help/advice on bonding?

[colliewobbles]

Okay, I am new here and I really need some help and advice. This may be long so please bear with me:

Yesterday, I gotten a beatiful little BEW Netherland Dwarf bunny, Angel. She is 9 weeks old and meant to be a companion for my other bun. My existing bunny,Buffy, is a Agouti Netherland Dwarf 13 months old. Buffy has been on her own since I had her last July at 12 weeks. In the last few weeks Buffy has gotten rather moody and slightly aggressive towards me, lunging at me when I go to her and growling when I pet her, attacking when i put my hand in her box, etc, so I decided she was probably lonely and needed a friend.

Buffy is not spayed, due to the fact I am scared of taking her to the vet, as my brother had a rabbit who went to have his teeth removed and died under the anastethic, and I am seriously worried about putting her under an even bigger operation, so I thought another bun was the easiest, safest solution.

I have gotten Angel in a cage at the moment, but Buffy is loose as they live in a 6x4 shed with a half floor so they have as much space as possible. I did try them together yesterday afternoon in the living room and they seemed ok until Angel started chasing Buffy round the room and she didn't like it. The cage is on the floor of the shed, so they can see and smell each other through the bars, but when I put Angel on the shed floor tonight, Buffy went mad, chasing her, trying to attack her and then bit me - they were both obviously unhappy so I put them back. I am now extremely upset, as the idea was to give Buffy a friend to play with, now I'm afraid I'll have 2 buns living totally seperate lives, alone, and they'll actually have less space as they're both going to have to go in cages.

Please could anyone advise me as to how I can get them to get along?
Will they ever be Ok together or are they going to have to live alone?
Would I be better off having Buff 'fixed', please can anyone reassure me on this?

I am really unhappy about this, and I most certainly can't (and don't want to) send Angel back, she came from 200 miles away!

Sorry for long post, but figured to get any help I needed to give a proper background incase it makes a difference.

Any help greatly appreciated

 

[dragynflye]

buffy is not acting aggressive towards you because she is lonely, but because she is hormonal and territorial and needs to be spayed. female buns are very territorial when unspayed, so in order to have the best chance at a successful bond, they both need to be spayed. even if you have buffy spayed, wait for her to heal, then successfully intro the two, they would probably start fighting again once angel hit puberty, and would have to be separated until angel was spayed.

 

[colliewobbles]

Thanks for the quick reply! I don't mean to sound like a complete beginner, I've had rabbits before, ( a male and female) and just put them together after a day or so( I was only about 11 then, and didn't know any different) and they were fine, so it's thrown me a bit to have them not friends. Always thought bunnies need other bunnies for company so would get on.

How long after spaying should I wait for? will they forget the slight spat they had tonight by that time? and is spaying safe ( I am really worried about that, know it needs doing but have tried to go through all other options first and unfortunately they don't seem to be working )

 

[dragynflye]

spaying is safe, as long as you have an experienced vet. any surgery in any animal has risks. given the rate of cancer in unspayed female rabbits (around 80%), it's definitely worth it, even if you have to drive a ways to find a good vet. most of what i've read says it can take a couple months for the hormones to be completely gone. until they are fixed, you can try housing them next to each other, so they can see and smell, but not reach (and possibly fight) each other. this can help them get use to each other and can make bonding them easier. my two boys aren't fixed yet, and live side by side.

 

[dragynflye]

sorry for the crazy double post!

 

[colliewobbles]

ok thanks for all your help and informative advice

Looks like I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and book Buffy in, then spend the day worrying lol. I will phone the vet tomorrow and try and book her in for next week.Hopefully, if it all goes ok (and please God it does ray by the time she is back to normal, Angel will almost be old enough to be booked in. I take it that both will have to be 'done' for the bonding to work? the eldest won't just calm down and realise that the other one is younger and no threat to her? hopefully, she will also stop growling/lunging at me as well - would be a nice bonus!:biggrin:

 

[plasticbunny]

Definately agree that it's hormones! And to be honest, two females is the hardest combination to work with, but not impossible. Both of your girls will need to be spayed, and then you will need to wait 4-6 weeks to allow their hormones to die down.

Introducing rabbits to each other and getting them to like each other can be a lengthly process, and can take months of daily "bunny dates" before they can really be trusted alone. It can be a real commitment to bond two bunnies!

Depending on where you live, spaying a rabbit can be costly. My male cost $240 to neuter, and my female will cost $300. I see that you live in the UK, though, and from what I understand it is significantly less expensive there. It is important to find a good vet that works with rabbits. Some vets will offer to operate without realizing the special needs that rabbits have. Here is a link to some spay/neuter info that should help. There is also a link to a list of questions to ask your vet directly, to see if they are the vet for you:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/spay-neuter.html

Hope this helps! I know it seems like a lot to go through, but believe me, having a bonded pair is so worth it.

 

[colliewobbles]

Thank you for your answers and help with this. I have now booked Buffy in for wednesday (1st June) in the morning. I am still extremely nervous about it, but I know it needs doing and that she should hopefully be happier after. However does anyone know if it is possible to sedate her with an injection first, then put her under anastethic, so she is unconcious/asleep, and therefore won't be able to possibly stress out?

 

[colliewobbles]

Thank you to all of you who answered my questions, you really helped to put my mind at ease over all this. Buffy was spayed yesterday and after a very nervous day of waiting has come home safe and sound. Although still rather sleepy she is pretty much herself and is eating small amounts ok. I was so afraid of having this done despite the positives outweighing the negatives, but all your kind comments on here convinced me it would be in her best interest. Hopefully she will start to calm down now, stop lunging at me and going for Angel, and most importantly, I feel happy enough to book Angel in when she gets to around 4 months old. Will be a long road but we'll get there in the end - as they say all things come to he who waits!

 

[plasticbunny]

It sounds like you are going to be one heck of a bunny owner! You listened to advice and are being patient with the process... your bunnies are so lucky to have you. Keep us posted on how your little one is doing.

 

[elrohwen]

Cheers! You're a really excellent bunny owner. They're lucky to have you.

 

[colliewobbles]

Hi everyone, thank you for the kind comments. Just a quick update on Buffy for you, she is doing really well, has completely gotten over the anastethic and is eating well. She is also much more herself in that she's a bit livelier now and is getting cross at being in a cage! ( she's not used to a cage as she has a whole shed to live in usually so she must be missing the space). I know it's really early and maybe it's an after-effect but she already seems much calmer and not growling or lunging at me, and her fur is already starting to grow back so she's presumably getting the right diet. Also I'm not sure if this is normal but her middle/ tummy now feels much thinner- do they really remove that much? She's deffinately not overweight at all, but admittedly she does look better now, and more nethie-like, though how I'm not sure how! Will try and post pics of her and Angel next time I'm on.