Living situation

I'm a new owner and I have NEVER owned rabbits before. I went to a petstore to pick up some supplies for my rats and fell in love with three baby boys. The man that ran the pet store told me he's owned many rabbits and was very experienced. He said all three boys would be fine living together and that I would have no problems, so I took all three.

Now after doing some research I'm finding out that's not true.. I'm a little worried. They should be about 10 weeks now. They are all friendly and great I haven't had any problems. Will I have to seperate them? If I do can they live alone?

I'm very attached to them so please don't suggest I rehome any, I have the space to house them all seperately, I just want to know if it is possible to house them together.

On a side note, since he has given me false info I'm also worried that he didn't sex the rabbits properly. One is clearly a boy, but the other two I'm not sure.. is there a possibility that I just can't see the testicles on the other two yet? I don't know exactly how old they are but somewhere around 10 weeks.

If you neuter them all as soon as possible, they absolutely can live together. They are coming into puberty now, and if they aren't neutered soon, fights are very likely! So I'd book them in with a rabbit savvy vet right away for a general check up, where you can find out their genders and talk about neutering/spaying options. If you don't neuter, you will have to house them separately - although since they will still be able to smell each other, they will start marking urine, which is just smelly and awful.

Highly recommend neutering. I had two brothers I neutered at 4 months old and they lived together very happily until one got in an accident and passed away.

Thanks for your reply! What if two are female? Will a male go crazy for a female in the same room?

If you have females, you have to wait till 5 months old to spay. If you neuter the male right away and spay the females as soon as the vet will allow, there should be minimal craziness. A neutered, settled male will not have any interest in mating at all.

Spayed females and neutered males can definitely live together, but keep in mind hormones take around 6 weeks to disappear after the surgery so if they start fighting before or right after their neuter/spay, it's best to keep them divided until their hormones calm down.

ok so I couldn't house them if they weren't neutered? For example if two are females could I get the male neutered and house him with one intact female? and then get another neutered male for the other female?

Intact females are highly unlikely to bond with another rabbit. They can be difficult enough when spayed.
If you have all males, even if they are neutered, threesomes can be difficult to maintain. It is possible it may work, but I wouldn't count on it. Two may work. Three is unlikely.

If you have intact 2 females, they are also unlikely to get along. Once spayed, they may bond. (Baby bonds don't count as true bonds.)

I'm afraid hormones can cause all kinds of havoc. You'll need to keep a close eye on them to prevent sudden aggression.

I have heard many, many stories of pet stores not correctly sexing rabbits. I wouldn't at all assume that he has it correct.

Having all rabbits fixed gives the best chances for bonding. Male/female bonds are considered easiest, followed by female/female.

Two males are most unlikely to get along if there is the presence of a female anywhere around.

I don't mean to sound so negative, but some rabbit bondings can be difficult or impossible. There are exceptions when bonds do go quite easily, but that is not to be expected. I would hate for you to think that everything will be rosy and easy.

You might want to take a peek at these 2 bonding sites. They show 2 different methods for bonding. I especially like the one from the UK because it has videos that show different types of bonds (easy, hard) in progress.


http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/matchups.asp


http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

Thanks for all of the info..

Sorry for all of the questions but can rabbits live alone? I have three so should I seperate one and let two bond and find the other one a new partner? Or is it ok to leave them alone?

At around 12 weeks old your buns will start to show signs of hormones emerging. Usually manifests with trying to hump the other rabbits. Spraying, nipping, honking, and moodiness can also start to occur. At this time it is best to separate if you are unsure of your rabbits sexes, or if any turn out to be females so that you don't risk a pregnancy(as this can be dangerous for such a young rabbit). Depending on your buns, if you have two females then you may be able to keep them together until they are old enough to be spayed, but you always have to keep a close eye on behavior changes and signs of aggression or irritation towards the other rabbit, so that you can separate before fighting starts to happen. But if you have more than one male, usually you can't keep them together past 3 months old, as the hormones and humping tends to aggravate the other rabbit and can easily lead to fights. I've only ever seen one pair of unneutered males get along once full grown. This is a very rare occurrence and can be very risky, as males very often will fight and these fights can result in serious injuries and even death. So best to keep separate until neutered.

If you end up having two females, not spaying and keeping them with your male once neutered may have a slight possibility of working out, but it really depends a lot on your rabbits personalities once they mature. Generally it is always recommended to spay so that hormones aren't getting in the way of trying to bond your rabbits. Also, non breeding female rabbits tend to have a higher risk of uterine cancer, so spaying is recommended to eliminate this risk.

Even with all rabbits spayed and neutered, rebonding can sometimes be difficult or impossible as some rabbits just don't get along once fully matured, so you always need to be prepared for this possibility and that you may have to house your rabbits separately.

I didn't know it would be this difficult.. so I still have to neuter them if they all live seperately? I guess I'm just going to seperate them all. I checked their gender again and I'm pretty sure they are all male.

I think the easiest thing would be to get all of them fixed right away, before the fighting starts, so that post-surgery they will retain their childhood bond and live as a happy trio. If you choose to separate them and not neuter, they will still be miserable because they can smell each other as intact "rival" males near their territory. Neutering really is the best way to go.

I would separate them now, in case you do have mixed genders. Some rabbits can get pregnant from 12 weeks of age, so I would be careful about that until you can figure out 100% who's going to be getting desexed and who's not.

If you have all three neutered, you do stand a slight chance of getting all three to bond together. However, if you only bond two, you don't need get another rabbit to bond with your third one. Rabbit's can do just fine alone providing you give them lots of attention

The pet store guy definitely lied to you, which is not uncommon. Unneutered males can have terrible fights which cause severe injuries and sometimes death. You could have two of them neutered in order to bond a pair, and leave the one not neutered and separate, however there's no guarantee that the two neutered bunnies are going to get along. It's all rather complicated with rabbits sometimes I'm afraid