Neutered Male With Unspayed Female Behaviors

[Bellamy+Lilah]

I have a male Holland lop (Bellamy) and a female english spot rabbit (Lilah). Both are currently not fixed. I am planning to have Bellamy neutered in late August / early September and will get Lilah Spayed either this winter or in spring - depending on how well they interact after the surgeries.

I would like to know what anyone else has experienced who had neutered their male first then after the recommended separation period of a month how the male and female interacted together while she was still not spayed yet.

Right now they act like they are in love with each other - he hardly eats cause he is always so busy watching her and hopping wherever she does along their separating fence. Lilah has a lot more of a chilled out and laid back personality. Sometimes she acts like she wants to come over to his side of the fence but doesn't obsess about it like he does. I have only witnessed or heard her thump for a total of 3 times since I've had her (10 months now) and that has only been when she was pregnant (and during a false pregnancy).

Bellamy only let's me pet him at certain times when he is in the mood for it but Lilah doesn't care what she might be in the middle of doing - if I start petting her 9 times out of 10 she stops whatever she was doing and sits still to be petted.

Has anyone had experience with their female rabbit changing in personality (toward you or their mate) after their mate has been fixed and they haven't been spayed yet?

I'm wondering if she will stop liking me if she becomes frustrated with Bellamy not wanting to mate 24/7 like he used to.

I dont know if she will be frustrated with him or not because he has always been the one constantly bothering her whenever I had them together several months ago. Even then she never got angry enough to where she would nip or circle back to fight him, she always just hopped one more step away from him or would put her butt in a corner so he couldn't get to her when she got tired of being chased.

I just want to prepare myself for any changes in their behaviour and know what I should be cautious to look for. I won't be putting them alone together after his neuter until 1 month after the surgery and when I know they are cool with each other.

Please share your experiences! I want to make sure my bunnies are as happy as possible!

 

[Blue eyes]

I was looking at the photos of your rabbits and they seem to be the about the same size. It may not matter to you about their actual breed, but hollands would normally be half the size of an english spot. I don't think yours is an english spot. (I'll link a video at the end just fyi). And I'm not sure the lop is holland. I'm no expert on breeds but the max weight for a Holland is supposed to be 4 lbs.

Once your male is neutered, it can take up to 8 weeks for hormones to fully dissipate. It may be necessary to wait that long before trying to bond them. However, I'd still recommend getting the female spayed as well. That is important for a female's health and can certainly help with the bonding process. When both rabbits are fixed, the chances are much lower that they will have a falling out later down the road. Their current interaction usually has little or nothing to do with how or if they will get along after being fixed.

You may want to consider having them both fixed at the same time.

Here's that video:

 

[Bellamy+Lilah]

In my thumbnail photo, she was maybe 2-3 months old. She now weighs at least 7 lbs and he weights only about 2.5 lbs and over a year old.

I was told by the store I got her from that she was a dwarf rabbit but she is so huge now I dont believe it was right.

 

[Blue eyes]

English Spots are not dwarf. But neither are a number of other rabbits with similar markings. No surprise that pet stores seldom know the breed. Did you watch the video? Your rabbit doesn't have the telltale stripe on the back.

 

[Bellamy+Lilah]

I was looking at the photos of your rabbits and they seem to be the about the same size. It may not matter to you about their actual breed, but hollands would normally be half the size of an english spot. I don't think yours is an english spot. (I'll link a video at the end just fyi). And I'm not sure the lop is holland. I'm no expert on breeds but the max weight for a Holland is supposed to be 4 lbs.

Once your male is neutered, it can take up to 8 weeks for hormones to fully dissipate. It may be necessary to wait that long before trying to bond them. However, I'd still recommend getting the female spayed as well. That is important for a female's health and can certainly help with the bonding process. When both rabbits are fixed, the chances are much lower that they will have a falling out later down the road. Their current interaction usually has little or nothing to do with how or if they will get along after being fixed.

You may want to consider having them both fixed at the same time.

Here's that video:

It's simply not possible for me to get them fixed at the same time: (1) I can't afford it all at once and it would be harder to give both rabbits the attention and care they will individually need to recover as I work through through the day and only have my mom to assist taking care of them while I'm at work, and (2) this will be my first visit to a vet clinic ever. Growing up, my parents couldn't afford money for pet doctor visits. Also, I wouldn't want to lose both of my pet rabbits at once if this exotic vet clinic turns out to be not as good as it seems.

 

[Bellamy+Lilah]

English Spots are not dwarf. But neither are a number of other rabbits with similar markings. No surprise that pet stores seldom know the breed. Did you watch the video? Your rabbit doesn't have the telltale stripe on the back.

You are likely right about my rabbit not being an english spot, it's probably a mix of other breeds. That was my initial guess because that was the closest to what mine looks like that I could find on the internet. She is definitely bigger and heavier than Bellamy is though. She does have a short stripe down her back but not all the way so she probably isn't.

And yes the pet stores in a 200 mile radius of where I live know nothing about rabbit breeds. When I was looking for a holland lop mate for my male, I called every store around and asked if they had any Holland lops and they had no idea what in the world I was talking about and had never heard of them.

Where I come from, all anyone knows about rabbits is how to hunt/trap/kill them or raise them as meat which horrifies me.

It would be very helpful to hear from someone who has been experienced in the same situation I am going to be in. I just want to know if anyone else personally had a good or bad experience having a neutered male interact with an unspayed female..