HELP! I'm freaking out..

[Beck]

Okay, I got my two boys late last year. i had them both de-sexed when they were about 5 months old. They're now 9 minths old and still living together happily. I've been doing a bit more reading about rabbits and lurking on rabbit forums over the past few days and am now freaking out because I've been told that it is very unlikely that males, even if fixed will stay bonded..

Has anyone ever kept two fixed males together successfully?

Also, has anyone had males that have gotten along for a long time then needed to be separated?

Any experiences/advice is very much appreciated!

 

[Flashy]

You might find that now they are bonded and happy, it could stay that way. It's very true that male to male is harder to bond, but it seems like you have done it successfully.

We have two unneutered males living together, and they are now 8. that's even less likely to succeed than neutered males, but it can work, my boys prove that.

They have even had to be separated on a few occassions due to operations or such like (on teeth) and have gone back together with absolutely no problems at all.

Generally whether or not it will work depends on the personality of the bunnies involved. I guess problems occur if both bunnies are totally dominant and none gives into the other.

Try not to panic about your two. You have done the two hardest bits, which is the neutering, and the rebonding. Maybe have a contingency plan so that if something happens you know you have a backup plan. Most likely it won't happen, but sometimes it helps to know that if it does, you have a solution.

 

[Beck]

Ahh okay I feel a little better now. They were actually from the same litter and have as far as I know, only spent one night apart (I bought Jiminy home first then went back the next day & got a litter mate - Devillan as companionship for him). The day they were neutered, they were put back into the same cage as they were recovering and stayed together all through the healing process, no probs! So I actually haven't had to ever 'bond' or 're-bond' bunnies and that's the part that really scares me!

When we were getting the buns, we discussed what would happen if they fought and decided we'd just have to get two seperate cages for them.. I assumed that if they were not going to get along, it would have shown by now but apparently they can start fighting even after being bonded and living together for a while :shock:

 

[Flashy]

It's good that you have a contingency plan Just remember that even though some rabbits do fight after a long time, that doesn't mean it will happen with yours. Also, I'm not sure, but I would suspect that something could unbalance it to start them fighting, like an illness, or a new addition to your household (rabbit or not rabbit), something like that that might unsettle them.

Hopefully yours will be fine together Also remember that if they unbond and end up in separate hutches, you could always take them non 'bunny dates' to find a lady friend for each of them from a rescue or something.

When reading things, it can be really scary to learn things like that. I regularly get terrified when I read things, but then I figure ignorance may be bliss, but it can also be dangerous too. At least knowledge is power, so I will catch anything at the first sign. You sound like you are well aware of what can go wrong, so I suspect that you would notice any subtle changes in behaviour, which is important.

Also maybe read up on bonding rabbits together, so that if they do fight and have to be separated, you can put into place things that might help for a future rebond, like having them facing each other, changing bowls and toys so they can smell each other, etc.

 

[JadeIcing]

9mnths old is good. Yes there is a chance of the bond breaking but sounds like you are on the right track. I am crossing my fingers that it sticks.

 

[HoneyPot]

If you're already at 9 months old and no fighting so far, you'll probably be totally fine!



_____________
Nadia

 

[Aliena]

My friend had three uneutered male rabbits all living together and they were happy for two years until one day all hell broke loose and she went outside to find one very injured bunny and one very unhappy bunny (and one that was fine, I guess he came out on top). Now they are all separated and she has since got two other male baby bunnies and put one each with two of the three original males. I suggested she get the three boys neutered and then get them girlfriends but she couldn't afford the op. It will be interesting to see how it all works out for them.

 

[neri18]

I actually had two dwarf hamsters that that happened to. They were brothers and got along fine for the first 8 months and then they started to have little tussles and eventually I had to seperate them because they'd go at it if they even saw one another. I'd had male hamsters before together though with no problems, so I guess it just depends on the personality of each animal and whether they each feel they have their own space.

 

[Agustina]

Beck wrote:

Has anyone ever kept two fixed males together successfully?

Also, has anyone had males that have gotten along for a long time then needed to be separated?

Any experiences/advice is very much appreciated!

I know at least two pairs of bonded males. I have 2 bonded unspayed girls, also bonded with a neuter male. A male and a female were introducd when they were babies and they stayed bonded, and still are bonded.

I pay no attention to sex or age, i only pay attention to the bunnies and help them work out their difference when they have them.

 

[Gordon]

My two mini-rex boys have been bonded since about four months after their neuters, in September of '05. It took awhile for their hormones to settle down, and I had witnessed several wicked fights, but they eventually laid down the carrot and are best buddies nowadays. They're brothers too, btw.



Gordon