Unspayed 7wk old female bonding to a neutered 4 yo male?

[Heather]

Hello all!

First post

I've bonded housebuns before but I have a question about this particular situation. We have a neutered male 4 yo lop mix named Oreo. His english lop wife passed away recently tragically, and he certainly misses her. A bit over a week ago we adopted a 6week old female Flemish Giant, the poor thing was being raised for meat! They have been staying in seperate cages in full view of each other, being let out individually for play time, and flirting with each other through the mesh of their cages. This morning for the first time they were allowed to meet briefly without bars between them in the living room, and it went pretty well.... he humped her a bit but other than that no aggression and she did not seem to mind.

My question is, she's can't be spayed for several weeks from now, we are more than eager to get it done but in the mean time is it impossible to bond a non-spayed female bun with a neutered male 4 yo? Being a giant I'd sure love for her to have the larger bun palace that the male resides in. He's always been a hornball so I'm sure he wouldn't mind having a horny wife (lol) but at the same time she is only 7 1/2 weeks old and I do NOT want to stress her either???

Any advice would SO be appreciated.

Thank you so much!

 

[Blue eyes]

She's too young to bond simply because baby bonds don't count as true bonds. It is common for a baby to get along with an adult. BUT that can all change suddenly and without warning. When her hormones kick in (which could take longer with a giant) then any bond can break. Her hormones may not only affect her behavior but his as well since he will sense them.

Since you can't predict when, if or how those hormones will affect behavior, it is safest to keep them apart until she has been spayed and has had time to heal.

 

[Heather]

Ok, thank you. That really stinks.... he is so absolutely mourning his loss and she (the baby bun) would absolutely love the bunny palace. I'm tempted to switch their cages since he's so lazy and will be smaller but he already lost his woman I hate for him to loose his territory as well

What's the earliest I can have a flemish giant spayed??? I've researched it quite a bit but hard to find any specifics on giants. Seems to be about 4 months? Bummer......

On a side note, she's so freakin' cute and smart! A week in and she's already learned "no" and her name <3

Ok to feed her freeze dried strawberries as occasional treats for training I've read????

Thanks SO much again!!!

 

[Blue eyes]

I would discourage you from putting her in the larger cage already. Females can be particularly territorial and you don't want her to claim that cage as hers or it could cause issues when it comes time to bond. Ideally, the bonding will take place in neutral territory (where neither bun has ever been). Once bonded, they can go together into the large cage. Since it would be new to her, then she isn't likely to stake claim and push him away. In fact, before putting them together into the cage, it would be good to wipe it all down with vinegar and re-arrange items so that it seems more new to your male as well.

If you'd like her in a larger area in the meantime, you could set up an x-pen for her.

She's too young for treats. She's also too young for greens (unless she was already receiving greens along with her momma before you got her). If you don't know if she had greens, then she shouldn't have any until maybe 16 weeks. (Normally they say 12 weeks, but Flemish are the exception since they need more time to grow. Introducing greens too soon can cause digestive upset so I would err on the side of caution and wait until about 16 weeks of age.)

Once she's on a good diet of lots of hay, daily greens, and pellets, only then should she have any treats (fruits or carrots). The greens will need to be introduced very slowly and one at a time. Here is a guide on how to do this. Treats are also explained on the site.

For training in the meantime, you can use her pellets. Just offer them by hand and they "become" treats.

How soon to spay a Flemish depends on when the vet feels comfortable in doing so.

She sounds like a sweetheart!

 

[Heather]

Thanks SO much for the reply...

OMG!!! I had *NO* idea about the greens and we've already been giving her a variety of greens already daily as we do our other bun. She's already had her first cabbage, first celery, broccoli, and I think dandelion greens and baby spinach. Oh NO! What to do? So far poops are normal, just discontinue it all until she's older or now that she's had it, it's ok to continue????

Thank you so very much again!

 

[Heather]

Oh and PS, just spoke with the Vet... they want to wait until she's 6 months old for the spay. UG (facepalm).

I will post some pics of miss Molly and Mr. Oreo laters in a new thread, thanks again <3

 

[Blue eyes]

If her poos are normal and she seems to be tolerating the greens ok, then that is fine to continue. I would suggest clicking on that link to get an idea of what greens are fine for daily feeding and which ones should be fed more sparingly. If you want to introduce any new types of greens, be sure it is only one type at a time (several days). That way, if she does react to it, you'll know exactly which green is the offender.

If you're concerned about her space (since you have to wait awhile for spay), you may want to consider that x-pen idea.

 

[Heather]

Wanted to update, and thank you Blue Eyes for all the help!
A few weeks later and they are definitely bonded. They groom each other and cuddle when they're allowed out together. He loves when she "comes over" his place for a visit and she loves it in his bun bun palace, does binkys in there and everything.

It's true though, they cannot live together until she's spayed so they only get supervised time together as they are both absolute horn balls LOL. Cannot wait to get her spayed ! ! ! ! Poor Oreo the buck gives us the stink eye when we tell him not to hump her. The poor guy gets so close and yet so far LMAO. You would never know he's neutered.

She's started digging and chewing literally EVERYTHING..... my sweet lil baby bun is growing FAST and turning into quite the headstrong doe. Even though I know she knows what no means, you can tell she loves to defy you when it comes to this new found love of digging and chewing up everything especially the couch. Sitting right next to her it doesn't matter. So we keep our laser eyes on her at all times. I'll start a new thread with pics in the next day or too. Thanks again.