Housing Young Male Rabbits Together

[Abby A.]

I’m hoping for some advice. I recently took in two young male siblings that were being re-homed after an accidental litter. First vet appointment is still pending, but since they are about two months old I think they will have a bit of a wait until they can be neutered. They enjoy each others company and I would be sad to separate them especially with them having recently changed their living situation, but I’m also terrified of the idea that they might flip at any moment and severely injure each other. They have 24 sq ft of space now and I’m hopeful that in a few weeks their litter box habits will be better and I can give them more space. I’m not sure if lots of room would help with the potential problems. Obviously the vet appointment will give me some additional insight (like how soon they can be neutered). I was wondering whether it would be reasonable to keep them together and monitor or should I separate them immediately. If I do keep them together for now, is there an age where the risk becomes too great? I really appreciate your advice.

 

[zuppa]

Hi. They are 2 months old now and it is still safe to keep them together for a few more weeks. It also depends on their breed, some dwarf rabbits mature very early even start humping at 9 weeks, so you can have them together if you can monitor them all the time, and watch for signs, first they will start circling and attempting of humping when you see it it would be best to separate immediately and do it so they can't see and smell each other, they will calm down and will stay sweet for longer, they won't get bad habits of humping/spraying and if you neuter early they will just stay off that humping/spraying experience and will be easier to bond them back after 2 months after neutering.

But it depends on personalities and how their mother raised them as well. Max in my experience boys were friendly to each other until 5,5 months but this would be rather rare, usually 3,5-4 months and they would start humping/circling then fighting, so 3 months is an average safe age to keep them together.

What breed are your rabbits, any pics?

 

[zuppa]

I would also advise do not give them more space before neutering +2 months after. I'll tell you why.

When they will be ready for bonding (2+ months after neutering) they will need to meet each other in a neutral territory, otherwise they can be trying to protect their turf and it can go into a fight. They are 2 months now, maybe they will stay together for another month or a bit longer so they will be 3-3,5 months, when they start showing signs you can separate them and place each in their individual cage large enough for baby rabbit, min I would say 100x50cm standard rabbit cage with a plastic high base or if you have a dog crate they are high enough to make 2nd level so they can have some exercise, then you train them to use their toilets in a small place, then you can attach a playpen and let them be out of cage for 2-4 hours a day, but stay focused on that their base is their cage and they go back to it for toilet, food and water. When they get that you can make playpen a little bigger or just keep it minimal.
That will be their time between say 3,5 months and 4-4,5 months when they get neutered, so only 2-4 weeks and you use that time for training. Then they are getting neutered same day and go back to their cages for another 2 months, first week they will need to stay with min space so they don't exercise and you remove any shelves to keep them on one level, then they go back to normal and can stay in their cage+playpen until they are ready. Then you create one completely new bonding space for them where they never been before so it's completely new territory for both, and you start from a very small playpen usually, well there are many different methods of bonding you will see and decide later. But in my experience when you keep they space restricted before bonding and then gradually extend their territory they learn your rules much better and all the process gets so much easier since they don't have their places in your home that are their own and don't have to protect them from another rabbit, so they will just start exploring their new territory together, again it's good if you let them do it gradually, expanding their territory gradually over a few weeks or months. It is also important to keep their toilet habits reliable on each level, so they will always go back to their toilet in their homebase when you let them free roam. I know it takes a few months all together but it is rewarding.

Just want to add, you maybe want them to be separated but stay together and communicate through the gate, but I would say they will get stressed more and will keep marking their territory because there's another male rabbit so they will pee into a corner that is closer to the other rabbit, that's for sure. If you completely separate, to put a solid wall between them and maybe you can put them into different corners of the room or in to different rooms and so they can't see and smell each other, they will stay less stressed and in my experience they just stop spraying when they stay completely separated and don't see any competitor around. They are easy to manage then and you can use that time for training.

 

[Diane R]

You should be able to keep them together IF you can get them neutered at 12 weeks or as soon as testicles descend. Good luck!