Two Male (?) Rabbits Issues

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euphoriax

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Hello, this is a bit... weird.

I just got two male(?) rabbits today. They're Lionheads, and I was told that they're 9 months old. I was told that they areneutered, but they arent acting like it at all. I got them as a pair, and they told me that they were inseparable. But as they told me this stuff, they didn't seem... genuine. When I brought the bunnies home, and let them explore and such, I noticed how they got very... active with each other. Running everywhere, humping each other, circling each other. It made me wonder if I really need to neuter them or something, but then I hear that bonding them after this is hard? I'm just so confused and worried because I'm in love with these two hardcore.

And, I can't make an appointment until tuesday because Monday is Labor Day. Not to mention, I cant get another enclosure to separate them because my mom said I can't since I've brought so much stuff for my room for it already :/
 
Please house then separately from now on to avoid any risk of injury to each other if you are seeing signs of fighting. Humping is a dominance behavior, so it can happen very frequently in fixed rabbits when trying to work out a social hierarchy.

If they don't have balls, they are probably neutered (though male rabbits can suck them in and hide them, so keep that in mind).

If indeed they are neutered, what likely happened is that they had what's called a baby bond (Bonding Bunnies) which is now moot due to being post-puberty and they were never formally bonded to create the true, stable bond.

If both neutered, you can read here for the bonding process to go through with them: Bonding Archives | BinkyBunny
 
I think that the change in environment disturbed their hierachy and bond, it's a huge thing for rabbits, that they have to sort out who's boss at the new place. I don't know if separating them is the best or only course of action, it might well be permanent then. How much space do they have now, is it more than before?
It might be necessary to separate to prevent a fight which would make things worse, can't tell how likely it is with neutered males, if they were intact I doubt there would be much humping before fur flies and real fights break out.

They are way past baby bonds, and if you haven't seen some spraying going on I would believe that they are neutered, but have a close look anyway.
 
Oh yeah, they've got a lot more space now since they'll be free roaming my bedroom. And, I don't think they're neutered because one keeps spraying. It just worries me because the place I got them had them together in such a small place for a month and they said they were fine? It's so weird. I can't get an appointment for a neuter yet because... well, its labor day, but I will tomorrow.
 
They can be checked to see if there are any visible testicles, making sure to handle them correctly while doing this so they don't accidentally get injured. If there are testicles visible, they definitely need to be kept separate until both are neutered, wait 4-8 weeks post neuter for the hormones to fade, then go through the bonding process. If you keep hormonal male rabbits together, you risk a very serious or even fatal, fight breaking out. Once they fight, it'll decrease your chances of successfully bonding them once they have been neutered. If you aren't comfortable safely handling a rabbit to check for testicles, it's best to transport them in a pet carrier to a rabbit vet to do this.

https://www.rabbitnetwork.org/educa...rabbit-care-articles/how-to-sex-your-rabbits/
Medirabbit: safe examination of a rabbit

https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/opcare.html
If they are both neutered, like Preitler mentioned, the change of environment, but also increasing their amount of space too quickly, can disrupt a bond. So you would need to carefully supervise reestablishing that bond as they settle in. Circling behavior is a precursor to a full out fight breaking out. This needs to be stopped immediately. Until you've read up on bonding and rabbit body language, in particular the signs of aggression escalating(circling, tails raised, ears pinned. leaping over the other rabbit, excessive chasing, excessive nipping, excessive humping), I would keep them separated. So that when you do start to rebond them you'll know better what you're doing and what to watch for.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/bonding-bunnies.html
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Bonding_rabbits_together
https://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/
http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
 
Hello, thank you! I managed to separate them thankfully, and whenever I do, they start freaking out and looking for each other. But, I manage to hold. ack and keep them separate. I ordered another temporary enclosure for one of them to be sure by side much easier, and another litter box for tomorrow. And since today is labor day, I will be calling multiple vets to schedule got them neutered!

Thank you for all the advice! :)
 

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