my dwarf rabbits

Question
I would like to know when I can reintroduce my male and female rabbits back together ,the males have been recently neutered,and should I also get my females spayed so that they may get along without worry of effects of being in heat. They are house rabbits, very happy and healthy but I keep getting contradictory answers from my vet and books I am reading.Right now the females are in the shed until it's safe for all of them.

Answer
Hi Elizabeth,

It is so nice to hear very good questions from very responsible owners.  So many don't have their rabbits (or any other species) spayed/neutered and so many unwanted animals suffer the ultimate decision because of it.  Props to you!

I would spay the girls before reintroducing them....for several reasons.  First, when they are spayed, their body scent will be different.  Since rabbits know each other by body scent, neutering/spaying at different times in a bonded pair, trio or group can often break that fragile bond they have.  Next, rabbits don't technically have a "heat" cycle but are induced ovulators.  Each time a male mounts a female, she becomes fertilt shortly thereafter....so that can make hormones go crazy and cause problems....and the males will mount her even after they are neutered (and males can store sperm for several weeks and we have known neutered rabbits to impregnate females for weeks after their surgery).  The girls do seem to have a few days in which they can't conceive and some period of time that they are more likely to conceive...but they tend to be very fertile.  And finally, unspayed females are very prone to some life threatening issues.  This is due to the tremendous levels of hormones in their bodies.  They can suffer from a non-life threatening but very stressful psuedo-pregnancy...aka false pregnancy.  This is a time when the hormones in her body reach such a level that her body responds as if she were pregnant.  They becomes very stressed, agitated and can become very aggressive.  Most will have very wide opened eyes with a look of panic.  They will build a nest using any available material....and pull huge amounts of fur from their dewlap and sides.  They will do everything except have kits.  A note of this, if an unspayed female displays this behavior, we always provide her with a nest box and plenty of nesting material.  We allow it to run it's course.  It only adds to the stress level if she can't build a nest....or it's destroyed before the end of her issue.  But there is a much darker side to unspayed females.  The raging hormones can cause a condition many human females suffer from...a very painful condition called endometriosis.  I won't go into details on that since I'm sure you are aware of this female condition.  This can led to uterine cancer and studies have shown that a very high percentage of unspayed females will develop uterine cancer.

Having said all of that, my suggestion based on the bonding processes of rabbits, the potential hormonal behavior and the high risk of uterine cancer is to have your girls spayed before reintroducing them to the boys.  That way, hopefull once they are rebonded, the bonding will be for life.