Is this possible and safe? Bonding question.

[vona]

Hello everyone its been a very long time since I have been on here. I have a question, I have looked it up and read about it on several sites but they only touch on the topic and with my bunnies I NEVER make a final decision unless I am certain it is safe for them. Okay I have Pepper she's about a year and 4 months old, she was spayed in January. And then I have booster he's about 6 months older then pepper.he has not yet been.neutered. I've had them both since last summer. Pepper was our first and shortly after my boyfriend decided he'd like to adopt his own. I did tons of research before even getting pepper so I knew if they were introduced there would be fighting and I knew they could ultimatly produce a litter of kits. However my boyfriend wanted to see how they would react atleast let them know that they were both here. Pepper was upset at first ran away and watched from a distance soon after she came to investigate, Booster never even attempted to mount pepper although she sis him, she's queen b and had to show him. Under very very very close supervision I let them play on the bed which ended up just the two of them cuddling the entire time. After that day I said I didn't want to.risk it at all so they stay seperate. Pepper will run straight to his cage when she's let out for play time and smoosh her head as hard as she can into his cage and he grooms her endlessly, this never changed even after pepper was spayed. So pretty much my question is can they be allowed to be out together? Under close supervision of course. I'd also like to add they have never ever showed any signs of aggression towards eachother. I just want to make sure Pepper and Booster are hoppy and safe
No action will be taken any further until I am absolutely positive that this will be okay. Thank you for taking the time to read this, I'd really appreciate your input.
- Vona

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[geekgirl101]

Since this new bunny just entered her territory she's gonna look unhappy. Usually the best way to introduce rabbits is via bunny dating, which is introducing the female to the male in his territory. If they take to each other they'll just sort of ignore each other a lot and want to explore their surroundings, but bunnies that don't take to each other fight. You're lucky they're not fighting, however she's trying to dominate him for being on her territory. That's what the head smooshing is all about. I would suggest swapping them around the cages for a few days so that Pepper ends up in Boosters' cage and Booster in Pepper's cage. This will mix the scents and hopefully will resolve her dominant behaviour over him.

 

[existenziell]

Well, here's the thing. Your best bet is to have both bunnies fixed because then hormones are not in play. Hormones can lead to aggression, fighting for dominance, and fights. Even if they seem okay together, things can turn quickly if Booster decides he wants to try and be dominate (which is probably what his hormones are telling him to do). Female rabbits can get annoyed with excessive mounting and then a fight can break out. It happened with two of mine.

It's promising that they are showing signs of affection. However, a fight can set back the progress of them bonding. Rabbits can hold grudges, so if they do get into a fight, it may take a lot longer to get them to bond afterwards. So, that being said, the best thing you could do to ensure a smooth bonding process would be to get the male neutered. You will also have to wait about 6 weeks after he is neutered to ensure that the testosterone is out of his system before attempting to bond them.