Introducing two male rabbits

[Romeo-Girl]

I introduced them, knowing that most males will end up not liking each other, but I thought I'd give it a shot. I wore oven mits (haha) in case they hurt each other -- but they didn't! Although, they were determined to mount each other... which is a dominance thing, right? That's all they did. They wouldn't ignore each other, they just kept trying to dominate each other. Is that normal, for them to not give up? Does it mean they're both equally dominant? If I bond them more often, will they stop? Is the only answer to neuter them?

It's not important for them to become best buddies, I'm not going to home them together or anything, I just thought it'd be nice for them to have each other's company. It'd be nice to be able to have them be out together in the kitchen (under supervision) or something. Will that ever be possible?

Sorry for all the questions, I'd just like to have the best for both of them and am inexperienced when it comes to bonding them.

On the same topic, can you bond a young, two-month-old MALE bunny with an adult MALE bunny?

 

[Tweetiepy]

I can't speak for anything except the last question (I'm planning on trying to bond my two boys too - but mine are fixed)

I tried putting my 2 month old baby with my older fixed bunny and there was lunging & grunting - didn't see who it was, but I split them apart pretty fast. Now I think it may have been the baby (he's really feisty).

I think it depends on the disposition or personality of the rabbits - I too, thought I could put a baby with an adult no problem and that they'd at least get along... Still now after 4 months nearby, the younger one still lunges through the grids at the older bun...

I hope you get your answers

 

[Flash Gordon]

2 unaltered males is a BIG no no.

 

[Romeo-Girl]

Flash Gordon wrote:

2 unaltered males is a BIG no no.

I understand that this is frequent advice, but my males didn't fight... They didn't show any aggression at all, only dominance...

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I agree with Lisa. Everybody gets a neutering before attempting to bond.

 

[Sweetie]

How old are your male rabbits? That is what determines if they will fight or not. If they are younger than 4 months then they won't fight, but if they have reached puberty and are adult bunnies say 4 months and over they will fight. They should be neutered before bonding as a fight between two males will break up their bond in a heart beat.

They may not have fought now but eventually they will if they are not neutered. I have two rabbits, male and female and they had only one fight before Sweetie was spayed. I kept an eye on her aggressiveness towards Prince before her spay and after until her hormones calmed down. They have not fought ever since. I still keep an eye on Sweetie and Prince for aggressiveness, mainly Sweetie because I had to get her spayed when she was 1 year and 3 months. Prince was neutered at 4 months. They bonded before getting fixed and kept the bond.

Please do not assume that they will never fight, intact males will eventually fight. Please get them neutered before bonding them, it will go much more smoothly for you and them. Plus their bond will last longer.

 

[Flash Gordon]

Romeo-Girl w

I understand that this is frequent advice, but my males didn't fight... They didn't show any aggression at all, only dominance...

u get a bonded pair by one of them being dominant and the other submissive as u already know..but unaltered males are not going to back down and be submissive....and one of them is going to get awful annoyed by getting humped..theyll do exactly what their instinct tells them to do...fight.
im not sure if uve seen buns go at it, but first time i saw it ...it shook me up pretty good..its vicious.

 

[Romeo-Girl]

Sweetie wrote:

How old are your male rabbits? That is what determines if they will fight or not. If they are younger than 4 months then they won't fight, but if they have reached puberty and are adult bunnies say 4 months and over they will fight. They should be neutered before bonding as a fight between two males will break up their bond in a heart beat.

They may not have fought now but eventually they will if they are not neutered. I have two rabbits, male and female and they had only one fight before Sweetie was spayed. I kept an eye on her aggressiveness towards Prince before her spay and after until her hormones calmed down. They have not fought ever since. I still keep an eye on Sweetie and Prince for aggressiveness, mainly Sweetie because I had to get her spayed when she was 1 year and 3 months. Prince was neutered at 4 months. They bonded before getting fixed and kept the bond.

Please do not assume that they will never fight, intact males will eventually fight. Please get them neutered before bonding them, it will go much more smoothly for you and them. Plus their bond will last longer.

I never assumed they'd never fight. Milo is around two or threeyears oldand Romeo is around a year old. Romeo is hopefully to be neutered soon, but since Milo's not my rabbit (he's my sister's), I doubt he'll be getting neutered. Therefore, they won't be together anymore.

 

[Sweetie]

Sorry for the mix up. That is good that Romeo is getting neutered soon. It is less invasive and cheaper than spaying a female.

Maybe talk to your sister into getting Milo neutered so that both bunnies can be together.

 

[Sweetie]

Flash Gordon wrote:

Romeo-Girl w

I understand that this is frequent advice, but my males didn't fight... They didn't show any aggression at all, only dominance...

u get a bonded pair by one of them being dominant and the other submissive as u already know..but unaltered males are not going to back down and be submissive....and one of them is going to get awful annoyed by getting humped..theyll do exactly what their instinct tells them to do...fight.
im not sure if uve seen buns go at it, but first time i saw it ...it shook me up pretty good..its vicious.

Flash Gordon: I have seen my two rabbits fight, it was not pretty. I had to separate them and even got bit because I tried to separate them. They haven't fought since then, but since then I had Sweetie spayed. She has been spayed since January 2010 and Prince has been neutered since February 2009.

 

[Flash Gordon]

Sweetie

Flash Gordon: I have seen my two rabbits fight, it was not pretty. I had to separate them and even got bit because I tried to separate them. They haven't fought since then, but since then I had Sweetie spayed. She has been spayed since January 2010 and Prince has been neutered since February 2009.

im glad u got em fixed..i dont blame u i wouldnt want a repeat performance with any rabbit fight...the first fight i saw they latched onto each other and they pulled them apart and one of em had the others cheek in his mouth still....the size of a half dollar...yowza...i was so upset and mad at the people that thru them in together that i took their bun that was injured and told em they werent getting him back..hehe..man that was ballsy now that i think of it..oh well anyways his cheek as since healed and hes got a fabulous home now and thats all that matters...
i didnt see my Petunia beat up Flashie but i saw the aftermath..and i never wanna see orange fur all thru my house again..my poor booger got beat up...i found him hiding under the living room curtains still breathing hard...he was ok...nobody messes with Petunia around here..shes my bad to the bone bun..shes vocal and she tells u off all the time..she also hates my cats ..shes plowed into them pretty hard a couple times.......we dont mess with Petunia ...she runs the show around here and nobodies gonna challenge her......hehe
are Sweetie and Prince bonded now?? or did u have second thoughts about bonding after the boxing match they had>?.

 

[Sweetie]

Flash Gordon wrote:

Sweetie

Flash Gordon: I have seen my two rabbits fight, it was not pretty. I had to separate them and even got bit because I tried to separate them. They haven't fought since then, but since then I had Sweetie spayed. She has been spayed since January 2010 and Prince has been neutered since February 2009.

im glad u got em fixed..i dont blame u i wouldnt want a repeat performance with any rabbit fight...the first fight i saw they latched onto each other and they pulled them apart and one of em had the others cheek in his mouth still....the size of a half dollar...yowza...i was so upset and mad at the people that thru them in together that i took their bun that was injured and told em they werent getting him back..hehe..man that was ballsy now that i think of it..oh well anyways his cheek as since healed and hes got a fabulous home now and thats all that matters...
i didnt see my Petunia beat up Flashie but i saw the aftermath..and i never wanna see orange fur all thru my house again..my poor booger got beat up...i found him hiding under the living room curtains still breathing hard...he was ok...nobody messes with Petunia around here..shes my bad to the bone bun..shes vocal and she tells u off all the time..she also hates my cats ..shes plowed into them pretty hard a couple times.......we dont mess with Petunia ...she runs the show around here and nobodies gonna challenge her......hehe
are Sweetie and Prince bonded now?? or did u have second thoughts about bonding after the boxing match they had>?.

WOW! I like that story. Glad the bunny got a good home.

Sweetie and Prince are bonded and they will stay bonded. I will make sure of that. I always supervise their play time with each other even though they are bonded, they could still have a fight so I want to be there so that I can break it up quickly and put them in their neutral corners to calm down. I remember having to have them separated because Prince broke his leg. When I had it fixed and after he healed from it I bonded them back together. Sweetie thought that he was a different bunny, I just told her that he is the same bunny and she accepted him again.

I don't think that I had second thoughts about bonding them because I got them separated in time so they could calm down. I am so glad I have two bunnies who love each other and that I am a good rabbit owner as there are a lot of good rabbit owners on here as well.