Bonding question

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caitlint770

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Hi guys, so i had a quick question about bonding. So i got another rabbit recently and had him neutered and its been about 2.5 weeks since he got snipped. Ive been keeping him and my female rabbit apart but have been doing gate visits for them to get to know each other's scents. But last night, while i had him out, he managed to jump over the baby gate that stopped them from getting to each other and they ended up cuddling and he was licking her face. Now I'm in a predicament because I feel like i should still wait another 2 weeks until they meet face to face again, whereas my family are saying that since they had a good first meet, i should just start the face to face process now. What do you guys think i should do?
 
Hi, just found your previous thread and since your Bella is already fixed he can't get her pregnant (male rabbits are able to do that up to 4 weeks after neutering). I am very glad to hear that they are getting along well, the only thing could be that George is showing signs of love and grooms her that means most of times that he will be humping next. Which could potentially cause problems because if she doesn't like it (humping, not grooming, grooming like all bunnies) and if he will keep chasing her she can a) find a hidey place and stay there until he calms down and b) can show some patience and when it's gone she can start chasing him back and humping him, which can be pretty bad because can lead to fights and also they can damage each other's genitalia. Which happens pretty often.

I had my girl in a horrible state after she tried humping her new bonding partner (neutered 8+ weeks) and he didn't like it, she was humping his head. He's normally a very calm and sweet rabbit but humping is humiliating. So her vagina and all around was one massive bleeding wound, you don't want to see it. They spend very happy 2 weeks together in a neutral small territory, they loved each other. Then things went wrong.

Another example was successful I adopted a spayed female and bonded with 7 months old intact boy. He groomed her a lot first week or so then started humping and spraying her and walls. I hated it but that girl is very easy going and she didn't mind, I made a few hidey places for her where he can't access her so when he wasn't humping her they were good groomed each other and all, then if he starts humping she's running away and hiding. He is neutered now nearly 8 weeks and since they were together for 6 months and never were aggressive to each other, I didn't separate them at all, after his surgery he kept humping and spraying, but every week it was less, now it happens but really rarely, like once a week. I believe he will stop completely after a few more weeks.

So it's up to you and watch your rabbits. I would personally not let them be together without 100% supervising, at least for another 4 weeks. And if you give them playtime together watch then, he might be humping her soon, watch how she reacts, if she shows any sign of aggression, goes after him, I would separate immediately because fight can go really quickly and you won't be able to stop it even if you are there.

In other words, it is risky. And depends on your girl, but also she can be fine at the beginning but then can lose her patience unexpectedly. If there was a major fight it will be very difficult to bond them after.
 
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I am in a similar predicament, would like to pair them up earlier (2 more weeks to make it 4) he will lick her through the fence between them and always wants to be around her. She licks him sometimes..

Neither one is aggressive, however he does try humping her when he does see her (while I am swapping them around, they get to meet for a couple of minutes) she has weak legs and is smaller than him, so I will lift him off to stop coz I feel bad for her.
He seems more to be a nibbler than a licker too.
 
Update: So i waited a few more days and slowly introduced them by doing longer side by side cage visits and then eventually i let one of them roam around the other ones cage for a bit. They seemed okay enough to try to do an actual face to face meet so i put them in the bathtub together and they seemed fine. My girl mainly was just laying around and occassionally got up and smelled him and my boy was the one who was a bit more active with trying to plan an escape. I kept them together for about 20mins until George started smelling and seemingly nipping at Bella's privates and she kinda did a quick turn at him. No actual aggression happened but it made me nervous enough to call it a day. All in all though I think it went pretty well!
 

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That's great that they're getting along! Next time try and end on a positive note so that the bunnies remember good times with the other rabbit. You can do this by doing forced snuggles, giving treats or if you see them doing anything positive such as licking or even laying near each other. Good Luck!!
 
Great to hear :) my boy is still full of hormones (4 more days til its 4 weeks)
I.. just realised I may have touched rabbit jizz the past few days when I had a pellet feeding session, which ended with him humping and making a "finish" noise, I am so disturbed.
First time there was pee on the floor so I thought he got that on her fur with his feet, til it happened again yesterday.
 
Great to hear :) my boy is still full of hormones (4 more days til its 4 weeks)
I.. just realised I may have touched rabbit jizz the past few days when I had a pellet feeding session, which ended with him humping and making a "finish" noise, I am so disturbed.
First time there was pee on the floor so I thought he got that on her fur with his feet, til it happened again yesterday.
Generally 4 weeks is not enough, 6-8 weeks it says but can take even longer it depends on your rabbit.
 

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