Bonding my two boys

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Sophie92x

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So for the past week and a half I have been slowly trying to bond my two neutered males, both just over a year old.
I started off by doing dates upstairs in my room in the evenings, they went fantastic, both buns were totally chilled out, grooming/eating/laying with eachother. They were probably spending up to 5hours together in my room, which got to the point that I could leave them unsupervised.
I decided to buy new hutches and runs a couple of weeks ago and made the decision that I would move them in together (I bought two of the same hutches/runs and connected them with a runaround connection kit). I moved them in one of the hutches/runs together and blocked the access of the other for now, but one of the rabbits started chasing the other and pulling his fur out. When they are in the hutch itself, they are fine. But in the run, he starts the chasing. I don't know what to do because the one getting chased feels like he can't do anything.

FYI everything is brand new in their new home, run floor was scrubbed before I built the new hutches and runs.

Do I just leave them to it and just make sure no injuries happen? Is it actually normal what they are doing?
 
If given too much space too soon, they are more likely to have territory issues. Best to start small-- maybe just the hutch for now. Let them do well there for awhile before allowing access to the run. Depending on the size of the run, it may be to your advantage to block off part of it so that they only have access to a portion of the run (for starters). Increase size gradually.
 
Unfortunately, they have to establish the hierarchy and it isn't always pretty. I would follow blue eyes advice if there is no fighting at all in the hutch. In places where there is chasing, make sure there is no place where one rabbit could be cornered as rabbits can inflict ugly injuries in a split second. When you try to give them access to the run again, keep a spray bottle filled with water so you can intervene if it gets rough. As long as it's only a bit of chasing, fur pulling and humping it's fine and normal. It will stop when the submissive party will bow. But keep a close eye on the bunnies because if it escalates, you'll have to separate. Also, make sure the weaker party can sleep, relax and eat fine - some bunnies are real bullies when they aim to be top rabbit and just too much stress can lead to GI stasis and a world of issues. Two bucks isn't always an easy pairing to stabilize and I personally never had the guts to attempt it as it is sooo much easier to pair a buck with a doe. I hope it works out!
 

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