Dwarf rabbit behavior questions

Question
Hi Lee,
Thank you for answering my questions before, they were very insightful. Sagi, our male dwarf, is four and a half months now, and doing well. He just got neutered last week, and some questions:

* Pre-neutering, he learned how to jump on our bed. We were fine with that, because he was enjoying himself running around on it, climbing up on the mountains we made with our blankets, and running over it as he was running laps around the room. However, he started to poo, and much worse, urinate on the bed. The first time he urinated, it was more than a lot, but we cleaned it out with vinegar. The next night, he did it again, only much more. That left us confused. I read about rabbits marking the bed because it smelled like the owners, but that amount of urine had to be way more than a simple mark. We haven't let him on since, except when we put a plastic tablecloth down over it. He still poops, but we don't give him enough time to urinate on it. Do you have any idea of why he is doing this, or how we could discourage him? He's very good about not pooping outside his pen, so the amount of poop he leaves on the bed when he's on it is confusing.

A few weeks ago we adopted a 14 week old female dwarf rabbit and we named her Momo. Momo lives in our living room (as opposed to Sagi in our bedroom), because they were both not neutered and we do not want babies. Some questions about her:

* When we let her out of her cage at night to wander around, she occasionally thumps her foot, and we can't figure out why. She would be randomly exploring, then just thump her foot.

* Momo "nips" at my boyfriend's ankles and feet. He spends the most time with her right now, so I told him it is because she likes him, since he's the only one she does it to, but he is wondering about that.

* Momo is all white (except for grey spreckles on her ears and a grey smudge on her nose) with red eyes. I noticed that the back of her legs were a bit yellow and tangled (she's currently shedding). However, I checked her underside, and she is clean there. We think that it is from the wet hay in her box (either from the litter pan or the hay under a leaky water bottle, or both). Is this something to be concerned about? Because of this, we changed her from a bottle to a bowl, to try and eliminate one probable source.

* Sagi has never shed since we've had him, but Momo was shedding even before we got her. I brush her every evening. I don't get huge clumps of fur, just a small hairball's worth when I clean the brush. Fur also comes off just a little bit when I pet her vigorously. How long does a shed last? And any other things I can do to help her out with it?

* I eventually want to bond Momo and Sagi so they can live together. As Sagi was just neutered, how long do I have to wait to introduce them through fencing, or putting them together? Momo is scheduled to get spayed on the 4th of December, which might affect the bonding process? Should I wait until after she gets spayed before I put them together? And how long?

Thank you for all of your help,
Casey

Answer
Hi Casey,

wow, lots of stuff.

Sagi on the bed:  He just got neutered, so hormones are still driving the marking behavior.  Put a litterpan down where he goes on the bed and see if that solves the problem.  Often just by putting a pan where they go they accept it and use it.

Momo thumping:  thumps can mean different things depending on context.  It can mean: I'm here, warning/danger, alert, I have an announcement, I found something of interest, I heard something funny, a weird smell to watch out for, etc.  If she does it while she's running it's just a fun thing.

Momo nipping boyfriend: could be attracted to boyfriend and trying to groom him/his pants.  She is not spayed so this could be likely reason.

Momo's back yellow legs: she's getting a little urine on her legs, and if she's shedding and getting tangles back there you may want to get a safety scissors (no sharp tip) trim off (if you can't pull off or brush off) the matted hair for her.  

Sheds vary in length and all rabbits don't shed the same or exactly at the same times.  Some shed in clumps, some in wisps.  Some all over, some start at one point and migrate out from there.  As for helping out, brushing when shedding is heavy is good as they won't haveto ingest as much hair grooming.  Giving a small dab of petromalt each day helps to keep things moving, and lots and lots of hay to help move the hair through the gut.

Bonding, waiting:  Don't bond until 4-5 weeks after Momo's
spay.  Rabbits need 4-5 weeks after being fixed to get all the existing hormones out of their system.  It is never good to mix altered and intact rabbits.  One has a turbocharged hormonal system and one doesn't - fighting often occurs.

Lee