Bunny bonding.

[Lionhead owner]

I have a 5 month old boy and an 8 month old spayed girl. They are biologically brother and sister. We got him so that she could have a friend. We ve been doing the introducing stuff with hutches facing each other etc. she is normally stroppy but he is very laid back. We are now putting them together in a neutral space and he is running round humping her head, her back end her side… anywhere really. He even crouches down to give her a turn. He’s not being rough or biting her, he is just enthusiastic. But she is jumping into my arms and is hiding in my armpit. Do I let her do that until she gets used to him. Do I keep him away from her completely or do I get him chopped at the vets so that he calms down and is less excitable. Any advice would be great. She is a fair bit bigger than him and she will pop up n sniff him if we hold him.

 

[JBun]

He needs to be neutered first. It does absolutely no good trying to have bonding sessions right now before he's neutered, and may even hurt your chances of successfully bonding them later once he's been neutered and the hormones are gone, if your doe has a bad experience with him now.

All he is now is a bundle of hormones, and all he can think about is mating. Any interaction between them now or later before neutering, will be him constantly trying to mate with her. That won't change without him getting neutered and removing hormones from the equation. And his constant attempts at humping before then, will just upset your doe and could cause a fight to break out. Which once that occurs, may ruin any future bonding attempt.

So neuter first, then wait at least 4 weeks for his hormones to settle down before starting bonding, though you may need to wait up to 6-8 weeks if he is still too hormonal at 4 weeks post neuter. Keep them seperated, but they can be kept in adjacent pens/enclosures if there is no aggression between the bars, but make sure it's secure enough that he can't get into her enclosure to harrass her, which could again lead to a fight occurring.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Spaying_and_neutering_rabbits
https://rabbit.org/veterinarians/
While you're waiting for him to get neutered and hormones to fade, I would suggest reading up on bonding and rabbit behavior. It's important to understand the process involved and what escalating aggression looks like, so you know when to intervene in the bonding to prevent a fight breaking out and possible serious injuries occurring.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Understanding_your_rabbit
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/when-to-intervene-rabbit-bonding.104770/

 

[Lionhead owner]

Yes I’ve got him booked in now. We will keep them separate until well after this procedure has been completed. I was told something different by a breeder, that the humping would die down after a day or 2 but it hasn’t so I guessed there might have been a mistake, so I rewatched some YouTube videos and contacted an insurance bunny helpline. But thank you for taking the time to reply. It’s great to have unbiased advice. So appreciate you taking the time.