Bonding Neutered Male w/ Unspayed Femaled

[Scarly]

Hi all,

Does anyone have experience in bonding a neutered male with an unspayed female?
I have bonded fixed rabbits 4 times, so I'm comfortable with bonding in general.

I have an unspayed female who has some health issues and is very small so our vet said he would prefer not to spay her and just monitor her for health (cancers etc) so we are not planning on getting her spayed, her litter habits are excellent and she isn't aggressive at all.

We also recently, unexpectedly adopted a neutered male.

In July we are moving across the country by car, and it would be a lot easier if we could just have them in a big crate together as it would provide them with way more space than having 2 separate enclosures for them, as well as having them comfort each other with the car ride. That being said, both of them have long car trips in their past so they aren't too freaked out by car rides.

The female is pretty easy going, the male is a little dominant and grunts when the female tries to chin his enclosure but other than that they flop next to each other (in their own enclosures), eat next to each other, etc. I have not had them together at all yet as we had a few health things we needed to clear up with the male first. At this point, they are in enclosures next to each other and I have been switching them daily, but they have never actually been together in neutral territory.

Any advice from someone who has bonded a fixed and unfixed pairing?
Is the bond less strong / more likely to break?

Thanks!

 

[JBun]

I had a neutered male with an unspayed female for a while, before I was able to eventually get her spayed. My experience was that their bond pre spay and post spay wasn't all that different. She really didn't change much with the spay. He was pretty laid back and tolerant, let her think she was the boss, but he definitely was. When she would get too humpy or bossy he would usually just hop away from her, but if she was especially persistent and he got fed up with it, he would let her know by chasing her. She would freak and run off, then peace would be restored and all would be back to normal.

So they were a good pair pre and post spay. Of course all pairs will be different, so I can't say how it will work out for yours, just that it possibly could work out. It all really depends on if their current personalities are compatible. If one is bossy, it usually helps for the other to be more laid back.