My two boys and their bonding

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Nadezhda

Nadezhda

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Feb 17, 2006
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Location
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Fred is a sweetheart. He loveseveryone! He was doing circles around Zorro's cage, becauseapparantly he loves Zorro too. Fred is going to be neuteredsoon.

Zorro has been neutered for about... a month a half orso. He still doesn't like Fred. He doesn't growl atFred through his cage bars anymore, but yesterday, I had Zorro's cageon my bed, and Fred running around, and Fred managed to climb on thebed when I was out of the room. He stuck his nose at Zorro,and Zorro gave him a bite on the lip. Fred looks fine, but myproblem is now this:

I found some Rubbermaid grids that are pretty much the same as theNICubes. I'm going to build a cage for one rabbit, and havethe other in the giant store-bought cage until they getalong. The cubes, of course, are a large grid all the way tothe floor, so there's no lip of plastic o hide behind.

I'm trying to figure out which bun is going to get the fancy cage(probably Fred) and how I'm going to protect Fred from Zorro until theyget along. The giant cage is hard enough to lug onto my bed,and I won't be able to move the NIC cage at all.

I think I'm going to have a friend over, and we'll stage a date on mymom's bed on the weekend. The bunnies have collars, and I canfashion leashes so I can yank (eep, cruel!) them apart if I needto. I'm thinking I may have to stick them in a box on top ofthe dryer or in a car, but I wonder how I'll keep Zorro from chompingwhile they're both in there. Hopefully the datewill go ok....

I want my bunnies to be friends. I don't want Fred to get hurt.

Good news though, we finally bought a vacuum cleaner that is light, yetpowerful. No more lugging the giant heavy old monster!
 
I tried to introduce them last night.

Fred immediatly tried humping Zorro's head, and Zorro pulled out a couple tufts of Fred's fur.

I put them away, and I'm going to wait another few weeks, to see if Fred's hormones will settle down and he'll stop trying to hump Zorro.

I did buy more grids, though, so I'll make a cage for Fred next to Zorro's. Then they'll be next to eachother, far enough that they can't bite, and see eachother all the time. I'm going to try switching their litter dishes in the afternoons, and maybe switching thier towels and stuff. I'm a bit upset, it's horrible to see your babies fighting!

I'm very open to any suggestions from people! What can I do to get my bunnies used to eachother before I try introducing them again? I don't want them to be hurt by eachother.
 
Not to discourage you-but it's rare that two boys (even neutered) bond. Some people can accomplish it, though! I'd wait until Fred is neutered to introduce them again, he's already hormonal and such, and you don't want him hating Zoro before the operation, he just might still have enough bad feelings for Zoro before the op and continue the naughty behavior after he's been neutered.

Good Luck!

Ellie and the Buns :bunnydance:
 
Fred has been neutered for about two weeks, and has healed up really well. He's always really liked Zorro. I will keep them apart for a couple more weeks at least until I meet them up again. I know that the bonding will be hard, but I can't see myself giving either of them up!
 
I can't even get my 2 once fully bonded and neutered males to get along. :disgust:But I'd suggest neutering both, it's extremely hard to bond un-neutered males, even if only one is. Be prepared, bonding 2 males could take a year but I don't think it's always impossible, some pairs just don't get along and never will though.

Good luck with it though!

EDIT: Didn't see you say that he's been neutered, definitely wait a few weeks for the hormones to calm down.
 
Did you introduce them in a neutral area? That helps a lot.

After you give Fred some more time to loose the hormones, you could also try them in someplace like the bathtub. Put something down so they don't slip. It's a wierd enough place to them that they'll be a bit uneasy and might be less likely to fight and will get used to each other. It doesn't work for all of them though.

Switching cages every few days helps too. It breaks up their sense of territory and makes them deal with the other rabbit's scent more.

I don't know how long your session was, but it's okay for them to only be together for a few minutes at the beginning if they're being aggressive. A start is a start, no matter how small.:)
 
Nadezhda wrote:
I'm trying to figure out which bun is going to get the fancy cage (probably Fred) and how I'm going to protect Fred from Zorro until they get along. The giant cage is hard enough to lug onto my bed, and I won't be able to move the NIC cage at all.
Click to expand...

I have Charlie in his NIC cage, and then around the NIC cage is an X-Pen, so although he and Misty can see and smell each other, she can't bite him through the cars and he can't bite her.

So far it's working - they are getting used to each other being around.

________
Nadia
 
My bunnies were housed side by side for 6 months prior to even attempting to bond them but I was being cautious and wanted to get my doe spayed and wait to make sure she wasn't going to hit the teen years. I think it helped, bonding could not have been easier but then again, it's a male/female pair.

As for them getting along before, how old are they? My boys got along great until about 10 months old (both were neutered 5 months prior) and now they can't be near eachother. So saying they got along at the pet store means absolutely nothing in some cases, it possible one of them hit the teen years and that's why they don't get along anymore.
 
Fred is about 6 months, Zorro is about 8 months, they're both neutered.

We just got another couple of packages of grids, and I moved some furniture around a few days ago so that I can build the cages right next to each other, as soon as I get some zip ties.

I think I may keep them side by side like that for a few months, and then I'll start switching cages.


I put them together in the spare room, which neither of them has been in. It's just across the hall, and they've both been in the hall, so maybe I'll take them elsewhere, farther away. They were only together a few second before the humping/fur pulling began, and it looked like they wanted to get at eachother after I separated them.

Thanks for all the suggestions and encouragment! Next time I remember, I'll try to get some pictures!
 
ugh! i know just how hard it can be with two boys,my two boysJack and Pippi(who was supposed to be a girl lol)and neuteredwere ok with each other until they hit a year old and then all of a suddenPippi started chasing Jack all the time,the main culprit was Pippi he wanted to be head honcho,and he would just not back down stubborn little creature,but the end came when i woke in the morning to find fur everywhere,there was more white fur(Jack's)than there was brown fur(Pippi),so i immediately seperated them and they have been seperated ever since, it's been just over a year now,i have never tried to rebond them as i get to nervous when i see them start to fight,i have a baby gate that seperates them and they will both sit on either side and they will glare at each other,and then Pippi will just flop down and pretend Jack isn't there anymorelol

not long ago Jeremy my son didn't close the baby gate properly and Jack bumped into Pippi and they started to fight,i had to quickly seperate them.



i hope the bonding goes well for you as i know it can happen,i also have another boy Cassidy and Jack doesn't really worry about him there has been no fighting or anything,so anything is possible,they may just need time



cheryl
 
Dont get discouraged! I have two boys and they hated eachother at first. My first rabbit, Basil, was neutered when I brought home what I thought to be a little girlfriend for him. Needless to say, this little girl was actually a boy. I had him neutered before any further introductions. At first, they really tried to kill eachother. I couldnt even let them in the same room.

Reading an article on rabbit.org, I started taking the two of them on car rides. I would sit them on the seat next to me and drive around the neighborhood for about 10 minutes. Being so frightened, they snuggled up next to eachother. After each car ride, we would go in the bathroom (a nuetral area) and let them run around. Whenever they would try and bite one another I would squirt them with a little toy water gun...and when they were being nice I wouldpet them and praise them.I know it seems awful but it worked! After a few weeks of this they no longer fought in the bathroom. They started to snuggle and lick eachother and I was able to move them into the same room in one cage. Two years later, they're best friends and inseparable.

Good Luck and dont give up on them! The rewards are so fulfilling!
 
I took my bunnies to the vet a couple days after I got them, so that the vet could prod them and do snuffles tests and stuff, and I had to put them in seperate carriers because as soon as Fred was put in the box with Zorro, Zorro tried nipping Fredm and Fred did a giant leap out of the box. I ended up burrito-wrapping Fred and placing him butt-down in a small waste-basket. He looked adorable, but my point is:

How do I keep them from fighting while they're in the box?
 
Until they're bonded, I dont think theres much you can do to keep Zorro uninterested in Fred while they're in such close proximity to one another. Before my guys were friends I had to take them to the vet in two separate carriers (if they were going at the same time) and house them in two separate rooms. You can buy those cheap plastic cat carriers at walmart and they work great for car rides:)

:bunnydance:
 
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