Bonding Unspayed Females

[cirrustwi]

When I got Abby, I found out that she hadbasically been bonded with Thumper (the bunny she used to livewith). They just didn't share a cage, but spent all their outof cage time together. I felt bad for her and was thinkingmaybe one of my girls would take to her. I had hopes forLily, but man did she prove me wrong. She HATES all the othergirls. Tonight, Abby was having play time and she snuggled upto Basil's cage. Basil was sitting there grooming Abbythrough the cage bars. It was too cute. When Ifirst got Basil, I thought she had a bad attitude with the other buns,but it turns out it was Daisy who had the attitude so Basil never stooda chance (Daisy has eyes only for Sage). I'm wondering ifthese two could be buddies. Basil really loved Orion andSaphy, but they are boys and had to go and hit bunny puberty, so shedoesn't get to play with them anymore. Abby is trying herbest to warm up to all the buns, she chins and chins their nosesthrough the cages. No one minds this except Lily, the evilbrat, she made noises tonight that I didn't know rabbits couldmake. LOL

I just want to know if anyone has successfully bondedintactfemales? They both will be spayed soon, but aren't yet.

Jen

 

[naturestee]

I remember reading that wild rabbits would haveclose friends. I think it works less often in our homes because theirterritory is so much smaller. But there's nothing wrong with trying itif they are acting that friendly.

I just remembered about this! These are two rabbits in the WI HRS. Theyare part of a huge flood of rabbits that are in WI shelters now due toa raid on an animal hoarder. They are two previously unspayed girlsthat stayed together even while one was nursing her babies!
http://www.petfinder.com/pet.cgi?ac...c5-app3&display=&preview=1&row=25&tmpl=&stat=

 

[bluebird]

Yes i have some unspayed females that arebonded,im amazed actually how easy it was.there is sometimes a femalethat will not tolerate other females.bluebird

 

[mygrl2k3]

Awww those bunnies are too cute. I hope someone gives them a good home together.

Cristy

 

[Fluffy]

aww those buns are sweet!! it was easy for mecoz my two un spayed rabbits are sisters so theres no need for me! butim sure theres people here always happy to help!!

hope to see some more pics soon!!

 

[rabbitluvr04]

it was also easy for me because my to unspayed rabbits are mother and daughter.

 

[RusselandRoxy]

rabbitluvr04 wrote:

it was also easy for me because my to unspayed rabbits are mother and daughter.

same here!

 

[Zee]

Hi !!!!

I have 3 unspayed females that are bonded.

I have just started trying to bond my sisters rabbit with the others.

 

[LilyxSnow]

I just bonded two unspayed girls. The first three weeks was hard. My first girl Lily attacked me pretty viciously when she smelled our new girl Snow on me. We wouldn’t dare bring snow around her for about three weeks as Lily would try to attack her every chance she got... now about a month later look at them. Both free roaming cage free bunnies... they both now share their food, water, and litter boxes!

 

[zuppa]

Well done, congratulations!

How old are your girls?

I have one bonded pair of unspayed mother and daughter about 3 months, they are fine but I feel that daughter is not happy, they both do all grooming flopping etc but she is less active as when she was living on her own, she has no lust. I keep watching them and thinking maybe I will have to rethink their bond. Mother is 1 year 8 months and daughter 10 months. I think of spaying mother she's very bossy. Will take my time ad will watch them a bit longer. Mother is very happy having a company, she's unhappy alone having fake pregnancies pulling fur etc, she's very bossy with other females and younger boys, but she's good with males so I think maybe to spay her and bond with a male or just bond her with a neutered male, haven't decided yet. I'll give them another month together and will see.

I also have 3 girls living together since they were babies, two sisters and one not related, they are about 6 months now and I think they sorted their issues around 4 months and now are doing pretty well.

Another bonded group mother and three her daughters around 6 months now, I've just separated boys when they were 10 weeks and left girls live together. There was one of girls a bit naughty around 3-4 months but their mother is an amazing mother and they are all very good family now. That can change later I think but hope they will be fine. They never fight all conflicts are sorted amicably their mother is very fair and they respect her a lot.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

I'll look in the book Discarded Rabbits by Lucile Moore with Debby Widolf. They discuss the crisis of abandoned rabbits, and certain rabbit-savvy individuals having large colonies. Does anyone have that book? Will see what their experiences are when hoarding requires intervention? And for lack of better words, they don't have the -- required money -- to spay every single female.

From pictures in Facebook groups wrt female ovarian cancer, I truly understand why responsible humans will spay their females and keep them in their homes. They want their companions to live a long time, and never have injuries due to fights or space. I recall the mother and daughters we took into rescue having severe mounting and dominance concerns. Our DVM showed me the endometriosis pics and the inflamed and pre-cancerous reproductive organs on one rescued bun. Age 5-ish.

If you can't afford vet care of your rabbits, 'tis logical that you'd opt out. BinkyBunny forum is another online source to peruse bun parents comments wrt bonding unspayed females.

Please let us know in 8-12 years how your ladies are doing.

https://www.petmd.com/rabbit/conditions/reproductive/c_rb_uterine_adenocarcinoma

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I just bonded two unspayed girls. The first three weeks were hard. My first girl Lily attacked me pretty viciously when she smelled our new girl Snow on me. We wouldn’t dare bring snow around her for about three weeks as Lily would try to attack her every chance she got... now about a month later look at them. Both free-roaming cage-free bunnies... they both now share their food, water, and litter boxes!

That's great that they bonded! Also, welcome to the forum!

 

[Donna Standar]

That's great that they bonded! Also, welcome to the forum!

I'm not looking forward to bonding mine..I have a male, a female and one of their babies..I had to remove him when I realised she was nesting..Had no idea she was pregnant. She had two, one died. So while she was nursing I had him neutered. As soon as she was done nursing, I had her spayed ( 4 weeks ago now). I allowed them to get close (cage in between them) and he's viscous toward her. So I decided to keep her and baby beside each other , hoping they stay close. I let them visit through the cage and seem to still love each other so I let baby out to see what would happen and she started humping the baby's head. Makes me nervous. I'm not sure what if I should put them together until baby's fixed...the baby is 13 weeks old now... any suggestions?

 

[zuppa]

I'm not looking forward to bonding mine..I have a male, a female and one of their babies..I had to remove him when I realised she was nesting..Had no idea she was pregnant. She had two, one died. So while she was nursing I had him neutered. As soon as she was done nursing, I had her spayed ( 4 weeks ago now). I allowed them to get close (cage in between them) and he's viscous toward her. So I decided to keep her and baby beside each other , hoping they stay close. I let them visit through the cage and seem to still love each other so I let baby out to see what would happen and she started humping the baby's head. Makes me nervous. I'm not sure what if I should put them together until baby's fixed...the baby is 13 weeks old now... any suggestions?

Hi, I think your situation still can change. Even when it looks like they hate each other you can separate them completely by placing their cages far from each other even in the same room but put some sort of screen between them so they can't see each other even when they are out, you can cover one cage while other is out and place something so they couldn't get closer to each others cage. Then if you give them a few weeks or maybe a month they will forget each other and then you can start bonding process properly from zero. Your female will be ready for bonding after 2 months after her spay so one more month and you can try bonding them. It is not impossible, even if there's fight between them they still can be bonded, I have a bonded pair he's neutered but she's intact, they even had a little tornado on the 3rd day of bonding, and she still has a huge scar on her side where fur was pulled with a piece of her skin (my fault as I was sure they are getting on great and was too relaxed on day 3 sitting next to them with my laptop on my lap when it started), but they went through this and eventually bonded they are best friends now very happy together. So don't give up!

So I understand your male is neutered more than 2 months ago, your female is spayed 4 weeks ago and your baby is 13 week old now. Is it a girl or a boy? They stay in separate cages but close to each other?

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I'm not looking forward to bonding mine..I have a male, a female and one of their babies..I had to remove him when I realised she was nesting..Had no idea she was pregnant. She had two, one died. So while she was nursing I had him neutered. As soon as she was done nursing, I had her spayed ( 4 weeks ago now). I allowed them to get close (cage in between them) and he's viscous toward her. So I decided to keep her and baby beside each other , hoping they stay close. I let them visit through the cage and seem to still love each other so I let baby out to see what would happen and she started humping the baby's head. Makes me nervous. I'm not sure what if I should put them together until baby's fixed...the baby is 13 weeks old now... any suggestions?

That's great that they have both been spayed and neutered. What gender is the baby? For males, they can be neutered at the earliest age of 2 months. Females it is 4-5 months. I would not start the bonding process until the baby is fixed, and after s/he has recovered (1 month). Here is a helpful link and video on bonding:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html

 

[Donna Standar]

Hi, I think your situation still can change. Even when it looks like they hate each other you can separate them completely by placing their cages far from each other even in the same room but put some sort of screen between them so they can't see each other even when they are out, you can cover one cage while other is out and place something so they couldn't get closer to each others cage. Then if you give them a few weeks or maybe a month they will forget each other and then you can start bonding process properly from zero. Your female will be ready for bonding after 2 months after her spay so one more month and you can try bonding them. It is not impossible, even if there's fight between them they still can be bonded, I have a bonded pair he's neutered but she's intact, they even had a little tornado on the 3rd day of bonding, and she still has a huge scar on her side where fur was pulled with a piece of her skin (my fault as I was sure they are getting on great and was too relaxed on day 3 sitting next to them with my laptop on my lap when it started), but they went through this and eventually bonded they are best friends now very happy together. So don't give up!

So I understand your male is neutered more than 2 months ago, your female is spayed 4 weeks ago and your baby is 13 week old now. Is it a girl or a boy? They stay in separate cages but close to each other?

Male has been neutered since December 11th. It's 3 weeks tomorrow for her and I can feel a scrotum on the baby. (Pretty sure lol)
They are all in the same room, separate cages. Baby is next to mom. Dad is on others of baby. He can't see the mom. But I'm sure he smells them both as I let each one out separately to give them extra attention.
I was told I could try and bond her at 4 weeks after surgery...
Actually I'd rather her baby back with her instead. I'm just unsure if they would fight once baby tries to mate with her..??

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I would wait until all of them have been spayed/neutered and recovered from surgery. That way you can avoid most fighting, and litter training will be easier. It is 4 weeks to recover from surgery.

 

[Donna Standar]

I would wait until all of them have been spayed/neutered and recovered from surgery. That way you can avoid most fighting, and litter training will be easier. It is 4 weeks to recover from surgery.

Ok thanks...they're all litter trained already though

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Ok thanks...they're all litter trained already though

Well, them being litter trained is a huge plus!

 

[LilyxSnow]

Well done, congratulations!

How old are your girls?
Lily is about 10 weeks and snow is about 7 weeks old. I plan on spaying both of them. Lily was so great going potty only in her litter box until snow came (I was excepting the regression) and Snow will pee in the litter box but will still poop outside of it.... sigh it’s getting better but I don’t think it’ll get to how I want them trained until they get spayed.

And that’s a lot of bunnies you have! Are you a breeder? Or just have lots of bunnies!? I wish I could have so many more !

I have one bonded pair of unspayed mother and daughter about 3 months, they are fine but I feel that daughter is not happy, they both do all grooming flopping etc but she is less active as when she was living on her own, she has no lust. I keep watching them and thinking maybe I will have to rethink their bond. Mother is 1 year 8 months and daughter 10 months. I think of spaying mother she's very bossy. Will take my time ad will watch them a bit longer. Mother is very happy having a company, she's unhappy alone having fake pregnancies pulling fur etc, she's very bossy with other females and younger boys, but she's good with males so I think maybe to spay her and bond with a male or just bond her with a neutered male, haven't decided yet. I'll give them another month together and will see.

I also have 3 girls living together since they were babies, two sisters and one not related, they are about 6 months now and I think they sorted their issues around 4 months and now are doing pretty well.

Another bonded group mother and three her daughters around 6 months now, I've just separated boys when they were 10 weeks and left girls live together. There was one of girls a bit naughty around 3-4 months but their mother is an amazing mother and they are all very good family now. That can change later I think but hope they will be fine. They never fight all conflicts are sorted amicably their mother is very fair and they respect her a lot.