Introducing non spayed bunnies Can it be done?

[sarahbunny]

Hi there, just to let you in on the situation, i rescued last year a pair of bunnies. . mother and baby who i never had spayed and are very happy together , very friendly and loving towards each other... My niece decided to get a cute fluffy bunny a little female lion head lop ( i think) who is about now 12 weeks old and decided it is no fun anymore !!!!!! :X So i said i would take it on as i cannot bare her taking it back to pet shop and not knowing what sort of life the sweet little girl might end up with..
Now i have bought a seperate hutch, with run underneath and i will get an extra run, all of which i intend to run alongside existing bunnies run and home.. My main questions are
1. Do i need to get any of the spayed.. just the new bunny or will it be all three..? or will they all get on better either not spayed ... hope that is clear lol
2. how do i introduce them together and when and how often as i really would like to open the hutches so that they end up ultimatley with the run of both hutches and runs...but i guess that will take some time.. any help would be really appreciated.. Thank you in advance..

 

[sarahbunny]

Also any ideas on looking after lionhead rabbits would be appreciated too xx

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

You are lucky that your 2 get along without problems. In my experience, intact females tend to tolerate each other, but don't really have a close bond. I am not saying they can't be close, but most of what I have seen is that they are not.

Spaying can help, but it can also break the bond since they need to be separated for a bit. I fostered a pair of intact does who were about 1 year old. They weren't that bonded to begin with and pretty much hated each other after. It was mostly one of them, but they would not have gotten along even a while after. The change in hormones, being separated for the surgery and some other factors can break a bond. I do feel that spaying is important for females as they do have a high risk of cancer.

Bonding trios is hard at the best of time. I have found the girls are harder to bond, but I don't know if it matters if there are males involved. It does take some slow introduction and it can be good to introduce them to each other separately. One risk with bonding a trio is that the new rabbit will bond with one of the older ones and there will be one that isn't in on that bond so you still have a pair and a single.

To be honest, I would stick with the pair and the single and not try to mess around. Rabbits can be fickle with who they like and who they don't.

Lionheads are not usually too much work. You should comb or brush out the mane and make sure the bum is kept mat free. Some need more work that others, so it can depend on the individual.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Agree with the above, but I'd get all of them neutered just to avoid uterine cancer that they will almost certainly get if not neutered.

 

[majorv]

Personally, I wouldn't mess with the bond the mother and baby have. You could easily upset that by trying to introduce a third bunny and end up with three unbonded rabbits. If something happened to upset the bond the two have then you could spay them all an then try bonding them. Just my thoughts.

 

[sarahbunny]

ok so best idea is maybe to keep them seperate? or maybe let them say hello and judge the first reaction.. they will be living side by side with wire in between runs, will that and me handling her be enough to keep her from being lonely .?

 

[Azerane]

Most rabbits are fine on their own providing they get plenty of human interaction, so yes, she will be fine on her own if needed