Bonding and Poop (two different questions)

[selbert]

Hi all I've just got two little questions

I've got two mini lops, male and female, separated at the moment. They will be neutered shortly and at the minute seem very fond of each other through their cages.

1) How long after the castration and spay should I leave it before I get rid of the cage and let them roam free together?

2) The boy seems to have litter issues with poop. Is there a way of getting him to go in the tray more? I have no issues with the girl but I've had her since she was a baba.

:litterfew:

Thank you for the help!

 

[njbunny]

As far as keeping them apart they need to be separated at least two full weeks after the surgery before proceeding with the introduction. To be safe I would honestly wait a bit longer! The house rabbit society has great information on bonding - http://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/

It is not uncommon for bunnies to mark their territory with poops. Even the best litter box habit rabbits will leave a few in their cage (or anywhere they consider theirs) to claim the space. This may be the case with your bun. He may just be marking his space. Keep picking them up and throwing them back in his box and hopefully he will calm down with it after he is neutered. My bun is great with his litter outside of his cage but will leave a poop or two around his cage. It is like he knows that is his space. I keep a dustpan by the cage to just sweep them up quickly and pop them back into his box. Also, my bun will poop when he is stressed or excited. He never poops outside of his cage when free roaming but if I have a treat bag or am getting his food he runs around like a nut and poops go flying! Maybe he is getting excited in his cage and letting them go.

 

[selbert]

Hi thanks for the reply it was incredibly useful! I think it's the stress/excitement, he's excited every time he sees my girl and stressed when he cant get to her! I might have to keep them completely separated until they're both fixed!

 

[Sindri27]

Hi yea when you get a new rabbit they will mark their new territory I wouldn't worry about that too much. However you mentioned that your rabbits weren't spayed or neutered yet how old is the male again I cant remember his age from a previous post you wrote about getting him. If he is sexually mature he can get her pregnant even threw the cage. I have read several post of people having two rabbits in cages side by side waiting to be spayed and neutered to then bond and they have breed threw the cage. Of course that led to unexpected litters.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our vet says to wait 1 month after a neuter. Most of us consider them to be litter trained if they pee in the litter pan. The stray poops are why we have a shop vac, and it's a hard working one too!!

 

[selbert]

Through the cage?! They don't seem to be going at it through the cage, they've been grooming each other through the cage and sleep side by side, but no naughties! They're both booked in on Tuesday to be fixed, which is good because it's hard keeping these guys separated they're so smitten with each other! I'm scared this is all hormones speaking (my girl had taken to digging in her litter tray) Is there any chance that once they've been fixed and the hormones calm down then they won't be as in love as they seem now? I hope not!

 

[selbert]

His pooping has calmed down now and he's taken to the litter tray hurray!