New with questions!!

[Bunnies_Cavies]

Hi!
I recently adopted a pair of 2 month old lop mix
Brothers from the shelter. We already have 6 cats and 6 guinea pigs. From the reading I have done, it says 2 male rabbits can never be housed together once they reach puberty of course I will get them neutered as soon as possible (they are too young and small now) but is this true?? If so, when should I separate them and will they need a female friend?
I have 3 male and 3 female piggies and each sex gets along although the boys are going through puberty so they bicker, but nothing dangerous. I am hoping Cadbury And Mika might be able to stay together too!
Help!
Also, does anyone use fleece as bedding? I am working on litter training, but they still poop outside the box!
Thanks for reading!!
Sarah

 

[HopsAndPaws]

Well for the males yes you do have to separate them well you might not have to actually if they bond but if you see that they are starting to bicker then I would recommend separating them and it is always great to have a mate for them like a female or another rabbit because rabbit do tend to get lonely often also do not worry about them pooping outside of the litter box rabbits are hard to get 100 percent litter trained. And about the fleece bedding yes I would recommend it actually it's very good for them and also rabbits do tend to get sore hocks very often so yes I do believe that you should use fleece bedding!! and also I would love if you could send me a picture of your rabbit cages because they do need space to run around and it would be very great if you let them run around daily and interact with them very often just incase you have to separate them and you don't have the money and time to get them A friend for them to hang out with in the cage because rabbits lonely very often. Hope this was helpful HopsAndPaws!!!!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Male rabbits, and any unbonded rabbits, can get into same nasty fights. They can be ok if they have a lot of space to get away, but in a confined area, fights can be deadly. Intact males also tend to go for the testicles, so that can lead to a big vet bill. Rabbits can be picky about who the like and don't like and will let you know if they don't like another rabbit.
Once they are neutered and reintroduced property, they can be fine together. A lot depends on the individual rabbits. Being siblings, raised together, or even previously bonded doesn't mean they will get along again.

I use fleece and don't worry too much about poops. They are easy enough to clean up and a few here and there isn't a big problem. Intact rabbits tend to not have as good litter habits and it usually does improve once they are neutered. As long as they pee in the box and most poops end up in the box, I don't worry.

 

[Bunnies_Cavies]

Thanks for the information! I guess I will have to wait and see now. They are small now (2lbs) so they live in a 24x48 cage that I got a 8 panel playpen to attach to it so they have 2 areas to occupy. Once they are bigger (or if they need to be separated) their setup will change. Any more advice is always welcome! Also, other enclosed cage options (not playpen a) would be helpful!
Sarah

 

[Azerane]

Hey there, males can bond if neutered, though a bond is never certain until they have matured. From about 12 weeks of age you will probably start to see the hormonal behaviour where they may start to pick fights with each other, it may be miner or it could be extremely serious. If this starts happening, you will want to separate them, however I would probably keep them within sight of each other (unless they start to spray urine) so that they still get to "hang out" through the cages. Make sure if you have to separate them, that there's more than one layer of fencing between, as bites through the cage can be nasty.

Once they start showing the behaviour, and their little man bits drop, then you can get them neutered. It can take 4-6 weeks for the hormones to fade, and it is best to wait until after then to attempt any reintroduction.

On the other hand, you may get completely crazy lucky and they continue to get along, but it's very rare when it happens.

As for the litter training and fleece, how many of the poops are ending up outside the box, just a few scattered ones or a large number of them? If you haven't already, I would set up the hay you have available for them so that it's either in one end of the litter box, or it hangs down above/next to the litter box so they can sit in the box and nibble. It also might be worth removing the fleece, as that can sometimes help to train them. Depending on how long you've had them, they may also simply still be marking their territory. Rabbits tend to drop a few poops around in new areas sometimes for a couple of weeks until their satisfied that they have claimed the territory.