How long?

Hello everyone!! =)
Havnt been on here in a while!
Well... I have just got my other boy, cookie neutered last wednesday (so he has been done a week tomorrow) and I was wondering how long I would have to wait for his hormones to settle as I would like to bond him with Pepsi my other neutered male who I had done about 2 months ago. Also should I bond them in my garden or in my nextdoor neighbours as niether of them have been there and she said I could use her garden to bond them. Does anyone also know if bonding two boys is quite easy? They are not realted boys and cookie is about 8 months and Pepsi is about 15 months. Thanks x

anyoneee?.....

Bunnyx said:

Hello everyone!! =)
Havnt been on here in a while!
Well... I have just got my other boy, cookie neutered last wednesday (so he has been done a week tomorrow) and I was wondering how long I would have to wait for his hormones to settle as I would like to bond him with Pepsi my other neutered male who I had done about 2 months ago. Also should I bond them in my garden or in my nextdoor neighbours as niether of them have been there and she said I could use her garden to bond them. Does anyone also know if bonding two boys is quite easy? They are not realted boys and cookie is about 8 months and Pepsi is about 15 months. Thanks x

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I'm not an experienced bonder and neither have I bonded two males but I have heard of many successful male:male bonds. The only problems are longevity, in that it is thought that non male:female bonds are more likely to break from outside influences/stresses....or are more prone to breaking should I say. However, the normal rules apply - you need to make sure both are neutered, recovered from their ops - I would give a 2 wk minimum as both operations and bonding are stressful events and buns need time to get over stress before you put another one on them. Male hormones can persist for up to 6 wks at the outside I think so I would be cautious and give it a few more weeks perhaps?
I would then make sure you use neutral territory with space to get away from one another and plenty of distractions - toys, food etc scattered around. If your garden can be made neutral by setting up a bonding pen in it after rain has washed scent away then this would probly be ok. Otherwise use a bonding pen on your neighbours lawn - good idea! Then just take it moment by moment based on initial meeting. Good luck

A bonding pen set up on neutral ground is your best bet. I think it is more difficult to bond boys together than it is doing a male/female bond but by no means is it impossible.

I would allow at least a month for hormones to settle but I am not 100% how long it takes for boys to settle after being done. Hopefully someone else can give you some more detailed/experienced bonding advice!

Good luck x

Not having much luck
its now about a month since cookie had his op and about 3 months since pepsi had his well the other day I took them both round my neighbours and just let them both hop around the whole garden they started rubbing each others noses and hopping together which looked fine then all of a sudden cookie (who was only done a month ago) jumped on pepsi and started fighting then they both started and fur went everywhere i was so scared it was so hard for me to stop them because they started to go for me and become aggressive towards me! in the end i managed to grab one of them tho! im gutted i dnt kno wot to do now!! i never wanted 2 separate buns thier runs are right next to each other and they seem to always be sat next to each other and there is no aggression...i think it may be because cookie still has some hormones cuz it always seems to be him who starts the fights i dont kno whether to try again or not if i lost one of them cause of them fighting i would NEVER forgive myslef

Sorry it didn't work right away
I'm not sure, but I think 4 weeks might be a bit quick, I'd wanna leave it about 8 just to be 100% sure that the hormones had died down.
Did you give them the whole garden? I think it's easier to bond in a smaller pen rather than a large area.
Hope it works out in the end

Some people do have success with this but in all honesty i personally would not attempt a male/male bond again. I bonded 2 males and female in a trio, it went very well then it all broke down 3 months in with a fight leaving one of my boys injured. I ended up having to rehome a pair leaving me with my poor injured boy. I know siderus(?) on here has been through the same.

If I were you I'd get 2 lady buns and keep 2 pairs, if you are able to.

I think by giving them the whole garden they got too much space too soon.

You need to put them in a very small neutral space, like an indoor cage with easy top access, ideally no bigger than 5ft x 2 ft. They need to be kept in there and monitored closely with a spray bottle and a pair of old trainers on hand in case they need to be separated. Obviously provide hay, food and water but no litter tray. I would leave them in here for 36-48 hours and if they are getting on ok you can gradually increase their space. I have bonded successfully 4 times with this method and I find it's the least stressful on the bunnies and the hoomans!