My bunnies won't be friends!!

[parsnipandtoffee]

Hello I'm new, my name is Robyn and I have 2bunnies Parsnip and Toffee. They are 14 week old brothers and are lionheads Parsnip is White and an adventurous little man, Toffee is abrowny beige and a big chicken!

They love playing and causing touble:bunnydance:

We got them at 6 weeks old and they were best friends for a while untilat 10 weeks they started to wee on each other and try to make babybunnies!!! They toffee started biting big chunks from Parsnip and givehim a big bald patch on his back. We spoke to the vet who agreed tocastrate them at 12 weeks. The op went well and Parsnip is now a littlestar. he has the run of the house almost and is well toilet trained(only the odd chew now!) Toffee however is a monster! We have kept themapart since a week before the op and are trying to intergrate themslowly. Every time they are together Toffee attacks Parsnip and triesto do rude things to his head. he is also still biting. Parsnip is socute and lovely on his own but always looks like he wants to cry whentoffee is around, he just crouches in the corner trying to fend off anattack.

Will it get better or is Toffee just a big bully?

We'd really like to put them in the same hutch again and we want totake them on holiday but can't take 2 hutches and garden runs.

 

[naturestee]

Hi! Welcome to the forum!

Sometimes it's really hard to get boys to get along. Theywere only neutered two weeks ago so they still have some "manly"hormones running through their symptoms. Plus some of thismay be from age-related behavior. They're still youngteenagers, and will act like it.

So what does this mean? You'll need to give them sometime. Toffee might calm down eventually. Try goingthrough the whole bonding process in a couple of weeks. Youcan read more about bonding in the Bunny 101 thread here:
Bonding Bunnies

And this site in particular has helped me a lot:
http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Thankyou I'll keep them apart for a few weeks until his hormones have settled and read up on bonding and try to make it work.

I'll post a pic when I figure out how!

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

This, I hope is Parsnip gurading our dining room door so we don't get ambushed by intruders!!!!!

 

[Blyre]

Parsnip is adorable. I may consider trying to get a Lionhead as a pal for Munchkin after the move in July.

Givehim a pat for me, okay?

Blyre

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Hmm the picture seems to be slightly larger than anybody elses? I shall try again with Toffs

Toffee has aquired the nick name of 'fat hamster'! Which might be why he has obviously got an inferiority complex!



http://i3.tinypic.com/xbzou9.jpg

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Oh flip, I suppose practice makes perfect!

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Thankyou, Parsnip is Very sweet. It's best whenhe plays in the garden and the breeze blows his hair about, he spendsages grooming it and it just gets blown about again!

 

[Blyre]

Toffee is another adorabun. I love his coloring.

I'm pretty new to rabbit parenting but I would suggest separating themand slowly reintroducing them until they (and you) feel comfortablethat they won't start fighting.

Hope this helps

Blyre

 

[Spring]

I think they are, but is Toffee neutered too?I'd keep them sepreate for maybe three weeks just so they can settledown from the neuter and their hormones to settle down. Sometimes whenyou try to bond them when they are in this kind of state it just makesit worse when trying to bond them later on.

Hope everything goes well, and I have a lionhead too btw! Very cute little things!

 

[bunnybunchof4]

Yep, that's pretty typical with male rabbitsonce those hormones kick in. I'd give it several weeks for the hormonesto get out of their systems before trying to bond again, now that theyare neutered. It can be a slow process to rebond them, and even thenthere is always the chance that they may never be able to livepeacefully in the same cage again (I think a lot of people don'trealize this when they buy two rabbits, a second cage is always a goodidea to have in case it doesn't work out, even after neutering them).Good luck!

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Thankyou! I've read up on bonding and feel quitepositive about it. We have a week off work in 3 weeks so we'll trythen. Hopefully Toffee's hormones will have settled and we'll have somesuccess/ I'll keep you posted as to how it goes!:elephant:

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Rainbows!

 

[BunnyLover]

Oh Rainbows that is adorable! I'm going to have to make one of those.

Parsnip is such a cutie!

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Thanks Rainbows, That's so cute! Maybe I shouldprint it and put it in my front window to scare of undesirables,they'll run with fear!!! He actually had a fight with a toilet rolltoday so maybe he really is a force to be reckoned with!!!!!

I do think I'll cut it out and put it in my class room, the kids will love it!

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Just checking that my Avatar has worked. I hope so

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

I'm confident this time that the boys will be there!

 

[naturestee]

I see them! If you still can't, try hitting the refresh button.

 

[parsnipandtoffee]

Yep, it worked. It only took 1 hour!!!!!!! I know for next time now though!