Got the weekend free for bonding two males - UPDATE had to separate them!

I have two neutered males which I am attempting to bond. We have neutral territory, big thick gloves and a spray bottle for me, lots of food and hay and a small bonding pen. So far George is doing all the fighting, running up and biting Errol on the nose. Errol is not retaliating but running resorting in a chase. Currently, they have both eaten, George has groomed himself and they are sat about a foot apart.... bonding pen is in the lounge so I can sleep on the sofa if needs be

I'm hoping that so far these are good signs... I've bonding male-female pair and a m-f-f trio before but this is my first male-male combination. eeeeeek! stress!

Oooohhhhh... good luck...... let the fun commence!!!,!.......

Keep us posted..

Fee x

Going well so far....

So there has been a LOT of chasing. George has been chasing Errol but we started the bonding 6 hours ago and I've just seen grooming of each other. Here's the latest pics

How did you get on with bonding your two boys? Have they started to settle down?

Hi! Well so far so good. Lots of humping on Saturday night... George the little brown one (who is older I think - no idea how old Errol is) was humping Errol a lot. But Errol just sat there eating hay and let him get on with it. There has been lots of grooming of each other and no more chasing or humping. Eating well and lying next to each other stretched out. To be honest it has gone FAR better than I could have imagined but I was prepared for the worst.

I've now given them a litter tray (washed in 50:50 white vinegar and water to remove old rabbit smells) and there is no fighting over who sits in it so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Now they are bored of being in the bonding pen but as they are indoors I'll have to keep them in until after this cold spell I think. I can extend the space they have to a full room but I'll have to get the vinegar out again to neutralise it as Errol was previously living in it.

I'm getting ready to bond two males. One i've had for 8 months the other is a new bun. The one I've had for 8 months isn't neutered but I was told the from the place i adopted the newer one from that it IS neutered. So i have to wait two weeks till i can get my bun to the vet for a neuter. Is it bad that i've had them in the same room with each other for the time being? (separate cages)

Good luck hope all goes well. Hope to bond my two this weekend weather permitting.

It so nice to hear stories of other people doing male-male pairings instead of the usual male-female pairing, as I am due to bond my two boys George and Hershel over the Easter holidays.

George was suppose to be a female but turned out to be a male back around February time. Since then we have had both boys neutered and it will be around 6-7 weeks later at Easter. Personality wise, they are both well handled friendly bunnies, although George who is full of energy (in a good way) can be impatient over food and Hershel is a very quiet shy snuggle bunny, so hopefully they will complement each other.

We have had the boys in separate hutches next to each other in an 'L' shape so they could see each other and get use to each others smells. I've also read that some people have used a Snuggle Safe Pad or a stuffed toy as a bonding aid to introduce the potential partners smell to each other.
Last week we tried this and it seems quite postive, as George sat on his pad sniffing Hershel's and Hershel was sat grooming George's. So hopefully they are quite use to each others smells and fingers crossed they will accept each other.

Update - had to separate them!

So I spoke too soon.
All was going well and they had been in the bonding pen for over 48 hours with no issues, lots of grooming. Chasing and humping had stopped.

Unfrotunately I think I may have messed up ... I moved the pen out of the lounge and into another room where Errol had been living for a while. I did neutralise it with vinegar and water but possibly missed some. Anyway, George managed to sneak up behind Errol and bite him around his genitals (ouch). I washed and checked the area and it appears a small surface wound so I used some anti-inflammatory, anti-biotic cream on it and this morning it looks much better (vet visit today just to check). Anyway, they were fine together all night but this morning I heard a commotion and they were fighting and fur was flying everywhere. I had no gloves on so did the only thing I could think of and poured a bowl over water over them which stopped the fight immediately. I checked them both over and can see no injuries. Put them back again and they were eating hay and sat next to each other... 2 mins later they were fighting again. I had to go to work and couldn't risk leaving them together so have split them up.
I am going to take them to the vets together in the same carrier and start the process again. I'm still fairly confident this can work as they were grooming and choosing to sit near each other. I think I may have just rushed things a bit.

I'm going to need more white vinegar!

Any other suggestions always welcome

I think you are probably right that you moved them too soon. When I've done male pairings they've needed that little bit longer to adjust everytime something changes, when you eventually increase the space I'd advise doing it very slowly and don't worry if you need to go back to the smaller space and try again. Good Luck.

Awww what a total bummer , just when all looked good.

Cant offer advice but hope thungs can be salvaged!

Fee x

oh no, it sounded so promising. I think you should try again after letting them settle, and leave them toggether for at least a week before moving them, just to make sure the bond is stronger before moving.

Took them to the vets this evening to check there were no serious injuries (there wasn't). They traveled in the car in the carrier together fine and I put them back into neutral ground. But they won't stop fighting now (nothing like the nipping when I first tried on Saturday) - the white rabbit Errol who was the submissive one has now started attacking george. The last fight I couldn't get them separated quickly and Errol was hanging off George's face. I've checked again and seems to be no injuries just more missing fur. But for the moment my nerves won't take any more so I have separated them. I may try again in a couple of weeks... other wise I'll be looking for a lady friend for each of them!

Anyway, for anyone trying to bond two males. Don't do what I did and try and move them too quick! I'm convinced this is what messed things up and am kicking myself for it.

These were taken before I attempted to move them :

Admitedly mine are M/F but we really had to perserve with them to bond. They started off bonded and then we had to separate for an op on one of them. Re-bonding was a dreadful experience and did not happen in one attempt. Fur flying and airborne - the lot! My nerves were also totally shattered and it did take several attempts but we managed it eventually.

Don't be put off! Good luck

it might be that ther neutral territory isn't neutral and since the fight they're scared of each other so fight first. Are you able to bond them somewhere else? Like a rescue or a friend? Completely neutral territory might work.

Thanks all.
I've run out of neutral territory here but I may try again in a couple of weeks when I've worked out where I can take them to try again. Have to chill out first before next attempt! x