Advice needed - two young intact males

[Faye HP]

Hi all,

New to Rabbits Online and panicking

A couple of weeks ago me and my husband got two male 11 week old rabbits from a large chain pet store. I'd done quite a bit of reading on diet, bedding etc. but I didn't know the ins and outs of bonding.

Our rabbits are now 13 weeks old - it doesn't look like either rabbits testicles have descended yet (but i am a complete amateur when it comes to rabbit genitals) and up until now they've been happily sharing a hutch and living space (they're indoor rabbits, they have the run of the living room most of the day and are put in a two storey hutch overnight - each floor of the hutch is approx 4 foot long by 2 foot wide, 2 foot tall). They're very friendly with each other, groom each other etc. and haven't shown any territorial or aggressive behaviour so far.

The staff at the pet store assured us that having two male bunnies would be fine and we just had to get them neutered. They also told us never to separate the buns or their bond will be broken and they won't get on again. However, i've been reading up about bonding and sexual development and i'm now really worried that if we leave the bunns in their hutch together unsupervised overnight they could become hormonal and fight/attack each other. I'm also a bit worried about the possible outcome that not both of the bunns are male (looking back i'm starting to question how good the staff in the pet store were - they couldn't tell us what breed etc the rabbits were)

We plan to get them neutered as soon as possible but the vet won't perform the surgery until 18 weeks.

So, a few questions:
- Is it possible that we have a male and a female rabbit?
- Should we separate the buns until after they've been neutered (and had a few weeks for the hormones to leave their systems?) Or should we wait until they start showing aggressive behaviour?
- The top compartment of the two storey hutch we have can easily be removed so that it acts as two smaller hutches. What I was thinking was to take the top section off and put it directly next to the bottom section overnight and keep a bun in each and then rotate which bun is in which section, and let them have supervised run of the living room together as normal. Would this be OK? Or would it be better to leave them in the same cage?
- Would it be better to completely separate them (i.e. have one bunn living upstairs for instance)?
- Should i be concerned about separate hutches possibly breaking their bond? I've seen people saying that a baby bond isn't a 'real' bond anyway but the pet store staff were pretty clear that we shouldn't separate them for any length of time

Tl;dr We bought two intact male rabbits (now 13 weeks old) who currently live in the same hutch. I'm panicking in case they hurt each other (but no signs of aggression currently.) Should we separate them until after neutering?

Thank you!

 

[Winston]

I’m new to the bunny world (1week so I am useless by way of helping) but I am very curious to see what advise you will be given because I too want to get a second bunny after I get Winston nutured. I had my first vet appointment today and I cant get mine fixed yet either, so I am just going to keep reading and trying to learn while hoping I dont screw up. What are your bunnies names?

Also, I gave my bunny the run of the living room on day one, but after reading posts on here I quickly changed that. I put a water proof camping blanket down within the playpen area that surrounds his temporary cage, I did this because of litter training tips I got from this forum. Day one he was going everywhere but after this forum, and changing to the tips posted he stopped, and now is only using his litter box (thanks to posts). I dont want him to start spraying either (marking) before I have him fixed, so sadly I guess I’ll keep him confined till the vet can neuter him. Then I’ll let him begin to have more and more space. I’m nervous about messing things up but this forum seems to have some really smart bunny people

 

[Faye HP]

At the pet store they had signs up saying that they preferred to live in twos and when we visited prior to getting them they said that they don’t usually sell them individually, unless you already have a bunny etc so that’s why we got two but I’m starting to worry

They’re called Marshall and Edgar. Marshall seems to be mischievous and adventurous, doesn’t mind being handled and Edgar is a simple soul who’s happy with hay and cuddles.

I don’t think they’re litter mates because Marshall is 1200 grams and Edgar is only 900 grams but they were together in the pet store.

Your bunny is adorable

Just after writing this post I decided to try putting the two parts of the cage together with one in each - the top part is enclosed but the bottom is open at the top (you just place the upper section on top of it) but i didn’t think that would be an issue as the walls of that section stand at 3 feet tall... I’ve just come down to check on them and Marshall has managed to jump out of it (lord knows how)!! That’s that plan put on hold until I can get a top for it

 

[Winston]

Do not take my advice cuz I’m soooo new to bunnies, but from what I have been reading I “think” at the age they are they will be fine together for at the very least a few days until you get a response from the smart bunny people on here. Your bunnies look super cute too. I’ve also read bunnies prefer to live with another bunny but I dont know if its true.

 

[Faye HP]

Ah yeah we kept them in their cage a lot more in week one and slowly introduced them to the house.. they seem to have litter trained really well, I put their litter trays in front of their hay feeders inside the cage (with a gap of about 5cm between them as Edgar liked to pull all they hay out of his feeder and then wee on it) and put some hay in the corner of their big litter tray that’s in the corner of the living room and although we get pellets on the carpet now and then they only wee in their trays now!

 

[Winston]

Your bunnies look like siblings to me They look really cute too. Do you have photos of them seperate? I dont think different coloring would mean they are not related, and Im guessing they’ll be fine together at their age but Im still curious what ull hear from others.

 

[Faye HP]

I don’t unfortunately, I only have that one (the rest are on my husbands phone and he is sound asleep
It’s mainly the huge weight difference that makes me think they might not be siblings because the pet shop staff said they were both 11 weeks old. I’ve watched what they eat carefully but if anything Edgar (the smaller one) is the eater out of the two. He feels a little bit skinny (you can feel his bones more clearly than with Marshall) so I’m gonna wait and see what the vet says

 

[Winston]

Sounds like you have a good system going

There are some pretty amazing “photos” of bunny set ups on here, and I want to try to make one for my bunny over the next month. The inspiration is pretty awesome. In the mean time this is my set up, and my main goal is free roam with a home he can return to as he likes. I wish I could do free roam now but I’m afraid of him starting to spray before he is fixed, so Im going to try to keep to this plan for awhile longer. I worry so much over my choices and hoping im making good decisions.

 

[Winston]

Um I know with other animals you can get one that is more dominant and gets to eat first, so that might be a thing, and getting vet advice might be good cus if one is keeping the other from food you might want to seperate or feed in different locations, but Im not sure how you’d do second cus mine seems to eat hey all day long. I’d be worried too I guess if one is under weight but that doesnt mean they are not siblings, one could also just be a girl. I wish I could be of more help, sorry and I hope they are both ok.

 

[Faye HP]

I’m pretty sure they’re eating the same, if not the little one eating more... he’s mad about food and the bigger one loses interest easily! The bigger one is definitely the more dominant one though, Edgar follows him around like a little brother, if Marshall shows an interest in something or is getting a pet then Edgar must be there too whereas Marshall’s more independent

I’ve only had them for two weeks and I could talk for days

 

[Watermelons]

You are best to seperate them but keep them side by side until they are both neutered.
Sadly pet stores are one of the worst possible places to get animals from and they definitely gave bad info.
They could easily fight and one or both rabbits could end up seriously injured.
Baby bonds are not real bonds.
The sooner you can get them neutered the better.
These rabbits are plenty old enough for hormones to start kicking in and then it could get ugly.

 

[Winston]

I’ve only had Winston for 1 week and I could talk for days too. He just makes me sooo happy and I wish I’d known about bunnies forever ago.

 

[Faye HP]

Oh no Ok I’ll separate them from now on.

Is it ok to let them play together with me in the room? Is there anything subtle that I should watch out for?

Also is there anything I can do to increase the likelihood of them forming a real bond after being neutered?

Thanks so much for your reply

 

[Winston]

WOW, that answer shocked me, but I love how smart everyone is on this forum cus I just learned something new.

 

[Watermelons]

Its difficult to say if they can keep playing because all it takes is 1 to do something towards the other. Bite. Nip. Box. Etc... and yes this can happen unprovoked, just hormones.... and the other could a grudge.

I got my brother/sister pair fixed at 3months i think. I wasnt going to risk any fights or babies. So for them i didnt seperate except for a few days while their incisions healed.

 

[Faye HP]

Ahh what a shame, Ok. I think I’ll need another rabbit house then.

Thanks for your help