Opinions On Rabbit Bonding

So let me start off by explaining my situation. I have four rabbits. I started with two, Pandi (a girl) and Penny (a Boy). They accidentally got out together and Pandi had two baby bunnies; Roo (a boy) and Piglet (a girl). Currently the two boys, Roo and Penny are in their own separate cages. The two girls Pandi and Piglet share a cage together. Now Pandi and Piglet are already bonded. They sleep together and spend all of their time together. On Thursday I'm getting Pandi and Penny fixed. The idea was to get them fixed at the same time so that they can recover together and then be bonded. But should I do that when Pandi and Piglet are already bonded? My Vet told me that I could ideally have them all get along together once they are all fixed. So that I could allow them all out at once to play together. Is this a possibility? Or will the rabbits only get along in pairs? I need to figure out who should be paired together so they can ideally be pen mates. So I'd like your opinion:

Should I encourage Pandi and Penny to become a bonded male/female pair? Then after Roo and Piglet are old enough to be altered I'd try to bond them as a brother/sister pair.

Or Should I leave Piglet and Pandi together as a bonded pair (daughter/mother), and attempt to bond Penny and Roo together (Father/son).

Some Points that are swaying my decision:
-- Because Piglet was never separated from her mother, she is very skittish she runs to her mother to everything. She follows her mother around and rarely leaves her side. I feel like her never being separated from her mother has caused her to never bond with myself or my husband. Her brother Roo who we separated when he was 9 weeks, is extremely attached to my husband and I. Would separating her now force her to become a bit of "independent rabbit"?
--An issue I'm having is the age difference. Pandi (the mother) is supposed to be moved onto adult rabbit food and timothy hay. But it's hard to keep her away from the alfalfa and young rabbit food I feed her daughter Piglet because they are in the same cage.

Sorry this is so long. There is just allot going into the decision.
Let me know what you think! Thank you for your time!
-Jamie

Boys can still impregnate intact female rabbits for 30 days after they are neutered. You won't want to have Penny around his daughter during that time. It didn't sound like you were planning to or anything I just thought it was worth mentioning.

With Pandi and Piglet there are a couple things to think about. Bonded rabbits get very attached to each other and separating them can lead to one or both experiencing depression. On the other hand they could end up needing to be separated at some point due to Pandi's fluctuating hormones post spay or Piglet's budding hormones as she gets older. It's a tough situation and there is really no good answer. I'm inclined to suggest you keep them together unless issues arise.

Your concerns:
1. Piglet being shy. It could just be her personality. Separating could cause her to go farther into her shell or come out of it. There's no way to tell.

2. Food. You can switch Piglet to adult food without too much worry. My baby rabbits were on adult food before 5 months because young rabbit food caused issues for them.

3. Can they bond? I just finished bonding my 5 unrelated rabbits together so I definitely think it is possible to have all 4 bonded eventually. Is it guaranteed to work out, no, but it's possible.

So, my advice is to leave everyone as they are now and get the other two fixed when you can. After everyone is fixed I would try to bond all four. Or, if Pandi and Piglet need to be separated before you can spay Piglet you could try to bond Pandi and Penny.

BunnyWabbit said:

Boys can still impregnate intact female rabbits for 30 days after they are neutered. You won't want to have Penny around his daughter during that time. It didn't sound like you were planning to or anything I just thought it was worth mentioning.

With Pandi and Piglet there are a couple things to think about. Bonded rabbits get very attached to each other and separating them can lead to one or both experiencing depression. On the other hand they could end up needing to be separated at some point due to Pandi's fluctuating hormones post spay or Piglet's budding hormones as she gets older. It's a tough situation and there is really no good answer. I'm inclined to suggest you keep them together unless issues arise.

Your concerns:
1. Piglet being shy. It could just be her personality. Separating could cause her to go farther into her shell or come out of it. There's no way to tell.

2. Food. You can switch Piglet to adult food without too much worry. My baby rabbits were on adult food before 5 months because young rabbit food caused issues for them.

3. Can they bond? I just finished bonding my 5 unrelated rabbits together so I definitely think it is possible to have all 4 bonded eventually. Is it guaranteed to work out, no, but it's possible.

So, my advice is to leave everyone as they are now and get the other two fixed when you can. After everyone is fixed I would try to bond all four. Or, if Pandi and Piglet need to be separated before you can spay Piglet you could try to bond Pandi and Penny.

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Thank you for your input. Our plans are as of right now is; once Pandi and Penny are healed up a bit, we'll let them play together. We'll see how they take and go from there. I'm very hopeful that they will all get along. They are never aggressive to one another through the cages. Sometimes I'll even see Penny lick the other rabbits through the cage. As far as Piglet goes I do think allot of her shyness is just her personality. Lately though I've been taking her out for runabouts on her own. I'll leave her mother in the cage. After a few minutes she'll run around and play with out any thought of not having her mother. I'm hoping this will progress and she'll be much more relaxed in her environment. Thank you for your input, it helped allot!