Advice about second rabbit

[jfinner1]

Tomorrow, I'm going to be getting a second rabbit. This is sooner then I had expected to get my next bun, and I'm a bit unprepared. They are both males, and currently intact. (full storyhere) So I have some questions that I was hoping to get some advice about. Currently, Xenos has full run of the basement whenever I'm awake and at home. I do not have an exercise pen yet, so when he's not out, he's confined to his cage. Aparently, the other rabbit is never confined to his cage. He has the run of a spare bedroom, even at night. So now I'm going to have two rabbit that are used to having lots of pace to run in, and only one space for them to share... once they are both neutered, I'm hoping that they will bond and be able to play together, but until then I'm not sure what to do. It's a big basement with 3 rooms, the computer room, laundry room, and the bunny room, but there are no doors, and I have no real way to separate one space from another. I was thinking I could let them out one at a time, but I'm worried they will start spraying. I'm also worried that if I let one out, he will harass the other one through the cage. I might be worrying too much... Also, is there anything else I need to worry about during the time that they are still hormonal? The new guy will be getting fixed in about 3 weeks, and Xenos should be going in slightly after that, so I'll going to have to deal with this for about 2 months...

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I was in the same situation. Personally, I would separate them completely, as much as you possibly can. That should diminish any spraying levels.

I would suggest that you grab yourself a baby gate, or some NIC panels to build some blockades.
For me personally, I think that my two guys would have ultimately gotten on better together if they had adequate territory away from eachother. Apparently, 5 feet is just WAY too close for my guys.

Has Xenos ever been around another unfixed male bun? What is his personality like?

 

[jfinner1]

Xenos is very curious, and seems like he really wants to play with Salvataggio (the new bun). He's had 2 other intact male friends. He and Mouse didn't get along too well, and if they got out together they would chase each other around trying to hump each other... So I kept them separated. He and Patrick loved each other, which surprised me to no end. It might have been because Patrick was so old (he was 13 when we got him). They ended up sharing a cage most of the time, sleeping together, grooming each other, you would have never known that they were both intact males... It was strange.

Salvataggio (Ggio) doesn't like Xenos at all... I haven't dared let them loose together, but I did let Xenos out of his cage so he could go inspect Ggio through the bars. Xenos was doing the happy, curious, come play with me dance. Ggio lunged at him through the bars... Fail... So I'm hoping that once Ggio gets neutered and his hormones settle out, I'll be able to let them play together (supervised) before Xenos gets neutered. For now, I have a third cage set up upstairs, so when one bun is let out, the other is put upstairs, and then I switch them. I'm hoping that this will also act as neutral ground and help them get used to one another's scent. So far no spraying, though they have both been pooping more then normal, which I've heard is another way to mark their territory. I don't mind that, it's easy to clean up.

And now I gotta go clean cages, lol. Thanks for the advice so far, and if anyone has anything else to add, it would be welcomed!