Help, advice or reassurance needed!

[Ronnie&Reggie]

Hi,

So I am a first time rabbit owner and I have two mini lops, both brothers... Ronnie and Reggie.

I need advice and help about whether the outside run and hutch I have built for them is good enough please ??

I have uploaded a picture of when I just completed building the run and hutch for them.

They 're 9 weeks old now and after having them a week they won't stop licking me and love snuggles with me at night but I want them outside in a more natural habitat for them.

The hutch now I have put a big thick doubled up Curtan going around the wall of the bedroom, a thin foam layer on the floor then lots of hay. A cardboard box down stairs with hay along with a lot of hay downstairs too. Then the left hand wall has another thick Curtan nails to the wall to give extra warmth. With hay leading to bedroom. Outside the left hand side of the hutch has tarpoling fitted going round the back so it's covered on the side too to prevent wind and roof is felted. Is this enough for them as I am concerned it may get a little cold for them in England at times ?? I am also going to fit some perspex over some of the meshing doors of the hut to prevent wind and rain.

I can post a picture of what hutch is like bow if it helps any advice please.

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

The hutch looks good. That little bunny is adorable. The run looks like chicken wire? Which I’ve heard bunnies can chew through, so if you could use something a little studied, like metal wire or wire mesh. It’s quite hot in England at times but it also gets cold, it was hot yesterday and it’s cold now. You can use a run cover to protect the cold from getting too cold. Rabbits do better in the cold than they do in the heat but having straw or hay in the hutch will help too.

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

The hutch looks good. That little bunny is adorable. The run looks like chicken wire? Which I’ve heard bunnies can chew through, so if you could use something a little studied, like metal wire or wire mesh. It’s quite hot in England at times but it also gets cold, it was hot yesterday and it’s cold now. You can use a run cover to protect the cold from getting too cold. Rabbits do better in the cold than they do in the heat but having straw or hay in the hutch will help too.

Thanks for your input means a lot. I'm aware it may not be the best suitable wire now, I do only use the run when I'm out with them so as long as they don't chew through the hutch meshing I will be okay haha

I have put lots of hay in and obviously the curtans were expensive ones, very thick and they are doubled over so there is comfort for them, just like tonight is very windy and bit of rain so I'm gonna have them in house again tonight as I haven't got the perspex over some of the hutch doors yet.

Thanks though.

Attached a picture of them now chilling in there little cosy dog bed I got for them haha

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

They’re very cute

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

They’re very cute

Haha thanks, they are adorable. To say the have only been here a week and it's first time owning rabbits, they don't stop licking and always playful and they are beginning to really lay out and chill so I've read that means they like and trust you which is nice. Can I ask some more advice from you please ??

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Haha thanks, they are adorable. To say the have only been here a week and it's first time owning rabbits, they don't stop licking and always playful and they are beginning to really lay out and chill so I've read that means they like and trust you which is nice. Can I ask some more advice from you please ??

Yes, that’s what I’m here for . I’m not as good as some of the others on the forum but I know a fair bit

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

Yes, that’s what I’m here for . I’m not as good as some of the others on the forum but I know a fair bit

I'm grateful very grateful as I'm not experienced at all, and googling everything sometimes you can't get the correct answer for your concern.

So Bonding with each other is fine they are brothers and will be getting neuted at 6months. Bonding with me is what I would like help with, should I keep giving them lots of affection and snuggles at night before I put them outside in hutch or does that annoy them ?? Also this is what it looks like at night time, is it okay to have lights round for them ??

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

They’ll likely have a baby bond (also called a false bond) until their hormones kick in, sometimes as early as 3 months old. When their baby bond breaks, you’ll need to seperate them as they’ll fight. Some vets will neuter at this age.
You can do what you want when it comes to hugging them and playing with them and whatever, as long as they don’t mind of course. I’ve found my (adult) rabbit won’t really get annoyed with me, he’ll just thump and I’ll give him a treat and he’ll get over it. But all rabbits have different personalities. The lights are very pretty and I’m sure that it’s fine as long as they can’t get caught in it.

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

They’ll likely have a baby bond (also called a false bond) until their hormones kick in, sometimes as early as 3 months old. When their baby bond breaks, you’ll need to seperate them as they’ll fight. Some vets will neuter at this age.
You can do what you want when it comes to hugging them and playing with them and whatever, as long as they don’t mind of course. I’ve found my (adult) rabbit won’t really get annoyed with me, he’ll just thump and I’ll give him a treat and he’ll get over it. But all rabbits have different personalities. The lights are very pretty and I’m sure that it’s fine as long as they can’t get caught in it.

Wow so they will not stay as they are now?? They proper love each other... it's hard to think they will fall out!!

And yeah they love being cuddled and the lights are only solar panels so they not too bright.

I'm gutted to know they have a baby bond that is false, they are actual brothers does this not matter ??

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

They can go back to loving each other but as their hormones kick in they’ll likely fight for territory and dominance, so the sooner you can get them neutered, the better. No it doesn’t matter that they’re actual brothers.
Did the breeder not tell you this?
A few months after they are both neutered they can both be introduced and bonded together again.

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

They can go back to loving each other but as their hormones kick in they’ll likely fight for territory and dominance, so the sooner you can get them neutered, the better. No it doesn’t matter that they’re actual brothers.
Did the breeder not tell you this?
A few months after they are both neutered they can both be introduced and bonded together again.

Absolutely gutted! Ha

I've already rang vets about neutered and they said bring them in at 6 months they should be fine till then but you said 3 months and I've got to bond them again so it's a lot earlier and I got them from a pet shop place and they didn't say too much to be honest. Except better as a two for social reasons.

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

As if these two will fall out ?? Look how cute they 're together! You sure they will fall out??

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

@Blue eyes has a good website. Rabbits Indoors
And I’ve found it very helpful. It’ll explain about bonding and what baby bonds are. Petsathome isn’t the most informative place when it comes to animals unless it’s dogs.
I’m quite sure that their baby bond will break, and it’s not that it’s because they’ll hate each other or whatever, but they’ll be driven by their hormones, after neutering they will be a lot calmer and they’ll be easier to bond. After you bond after neutering, they’ll bond for life.

 

[Preitler]

Wow so they will not stay as they are now?? They proper love each other... it's hard to think they will fall out!!

No, they will grow up, and some things will change. Two males are the most difficult combination, and most likely there will be tensions when hormones kick in. Impossible to tell how severe, that really depends on the individual characters, but if it escalates that can happen from one second to the next. Even if both survive that they can remember, and bonding them later can be difficult if not impossible, so it's better to seperate them in time, have them neutered, and do a proper bonding once hormones subsided.

Neutering them early, before they go through puberty, mostly prevents that. Obviously some vets prefer to wait until their balls drop and the surgery is easier to do, I would keep looking for one with experience with that.

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

So I have already booked a vet but they said at 6 months, so maybe I should take them around 4 months ?? They are like 2 months now so another 2 months and take them to be neutered, do you think that's a good idea and leave them with each other till then ?? I only built one big run and I got a big hutch for them to share will this mean I have to get a separate hutch ?? And also split the run in half ??

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

4 months doesn’t sound too bad but if they start to fight you will need to separate them ASAP. If they fight you can keep one in a hutch and one in a temporary cage inside maybe?

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

4 months doesn’t sound too bad but if they start to fight you will need to separate them ASAP. If they fight you can keep one in a hutch and one in a temporary cage inside maybe?

Yeah I actually have the cage still set up in the house cause I have only had them a week so maybe if gets too cold like tonight they can stay in house but yeah I'll keep the cage set up regardless now. How do you know if they fight I've never seen a rabbit fight ?? Haha

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

Rabbit fights are not at all as cute as they can sound. Rabbits (especially males) will fight till death. I’ve seen rabbits in shelters that have ears lost because of fight. They can get be very serious.
look for:
Blood
Scratches
Bite wounds
Fur loss
Any kind of signal that they’ve been fighting.

 

[Ronnie&Reggie]

Rabbit fights are not at all as cute as they can sound. Rabbits (especially males) will fight till death. I’ve seen rabbits in shelters that have ears lost because of fight. They can get be very serious.
look for:
Blood
Scratches
Bite wounds
Fur loss
Any kind of signal that they’ve been fighting.

Ahhh that's very alarming that they fight till death, at min I think they are okay but as they grow I will keep an eye for changes in behaviour cause I don't want them outside together all night if they start to fight and I'm asleep in bed,that's not good at all. Maybe split them early rather than risk being late and unaware. Thanks for that

 

[zuppa]

Hi.

They can be neutered as soon as their testicles are visible, your vet said 6 months probably because by that time all males have them already dropped, but they can drop as early as 12 weeks, just keep checking. Also are you sure they are both male?

If they are both male as above it would be best to watch them closely around 12-16 weeks they can start circling, humping each other and fight for dominance, it really depends on personalities but mostly two males will fight when hit puberty. Unfortunately it happens too often that pet stores sell two brothers because they are best friends at 8-9 weeks, and usually problems start at 12-16 weeks. Only case they can stay together would be if one is dominant and other submissive and will accept that constant humping (it is not only sexual but showing social dominance and quite humiliating). In this case one will be bossy and other will accept everything.

But best would be separate them immediately after first signs of circling/humping/fur flying and keep separated until 2 months after neutering, when their hormones calm down. So just neuter them as soon as testicles dropped maybe at 4 months and keep separately. If they will start hating each other it can be very bad and just one fight can be enough they can damage each other really badly or even kill each other, so better be safe than sorry and separate at 12-14 weeks or when you see first signs.

I have adopted two brothers from same situation, they were from petstore because two will be better and they started fighting, they had to go to vets for some stitching and were neutered, then people tried to put them back together after one month and they had a very bad fight, with blood and screaming so kids were horrified and brothers were rehomed immediately.

Also it is quite common situation that people buy two 8 week old brothers and after a few months one of brothers has a surprise litter of 6 babies, they are so small at 8 weeks so missexing is very possible, so keep checking every couple weeks. If one of them is a girl you will also have to separate them at 10-12 weeks to avoid early pregnancy.

So. I really hated telling you that since you are so happy now, as all new owners I have to say, but you better be prepared.