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Is it a good idea to get two male babies?

Hazel172

New Kit
We are getting two male baby rabbits who will have been together from babies. We are getting them from 8 weeks and plan to neuter them as soon as possible. We have been told it is ok to do this but someone has recently told us it's not a good idea. Anyone else done this?
 
I had two boys from the same litter. The issue is that as they mature they can start fighting as their hormones kick in and so may need separating and re-introducing later. There is always the risk that they won't get on when they are reintroduced. Fortunately, my two boys seemed to get on well, but sadly one of them died whilst they were being neutered- it's rare for that to happen though. Hopefully someone else will have more experience for you.
Would you consider getting rabbits from a rescue? They often have young bunnies in through no fault of their own and will always take a rabbit back into their care if the worst should happen and a bond breaks down. They often have happily bonded pairs who have been neutered and vaccinated - having just paid £140 for a spay, trust me their adoption fees are amazing value for money!
 
I have looked at the rescues and they are all quite timid. I want the children to have younger ones so can get confident handling them etc. I just don't know what to do. Have chosen two and meant to be collecting soon. Breeder said 2 males was fine but don't want to get it wrong.
 
I got 2 boys from the same litter and didn’t have any issues with them fighting. I had vouchers from the rescue to pay for neutering as they were too young when I adopted them and I had them done as soon as possible to reduce the risk of them falling out. They are now coming up on 3 years old - there has always been a little bit of chasing between them but no fights.

They now have a (shared!) lady friend but they still chase, it just goes 3 ways now :lol:
 
I have looked at the rescues and they are all quite timid. I want the children to have younger ones so can get confident handling them etc. I just don't know what to do. Have chosen two and meant to be collecting soon. Breeder said 2 males was fine but don't want to get it wrong.

Rabbits as a general rule don't like being handled as they are prey animals so you need to be prepared to have rabbits which won't like it and the children will need to respect this.
 
I got two babies from a pet shop (bucks) impulse buy. I handled them every day. They fell out when their hormones came in. I had them castrated (80 pounds per rabbit) and bonded them back together after a few weeks apart.

They do not like being handled. They will accept strokes and are happy to be hand fed. I also added two does from a rescue when I bonded the bucks back together (paid 50 per rabbit and they were already spayed so a bargain there).

The four of them live happily in a shed/run in the garden.

Rabbits are great pets but are not usually cuddly creatures. Good luck.
 
I second rescue rabbits as the cheaper & least stressful way of achieving your objective of having a bonded pair of bunnies. Rabbits often enjoy human interaction (given lots of quiet time in their presence to build up trust) but very rarely enjoy handling & cuddles. Two brothers may well work out fine but a male - female bond is considered to be the safest option
 
I second rescue rabbits as the cheaper & least stressful way of achieving your objective of having a bonded pair of bunnies. Rabbits often enjoy human interaction (given lots of quiet time in their presence to build up trust) but very rarely enjoy handling & cuddles. Two brothers may well work out fine but a male - female bond is considered to be the safest option


I agree. Bonding, neutering etc ..... too much stress :lol:

Rescue rabbits have my vote too.
 
Agree with the other posts, although I’ve had my bunnies since they were babies and they have lived inside with us as part of the family the 2 boys don’t like being handled. My female tolerates it better yet she was found as a stray (estimated age around 3 months when found, no one came forward to claim her) so not the best start in life but she has always been the friendliest of the 3. Personally I wouldn’t get babies again, I would always go for older buns whose personalities and temperament are known. Each to their own though, everyone has their own preference :)
 
I had two boys from babies, planned to neuter the boys as soon as possible and the DAY BEFORE their neutering they had an enormous fight and I had to separate them. :evil: After that awful fight it was very difficult to re-bond them and I had to pay a rescue to do it for me which took weeks. If you do get two boys, make sure you have space to keep them separately just in case there is a fight.

As others have said, not all rabbits like to be handled. I have three rabbits, all of them I've had since they've been babies and they aren't keen on being handled. The current three are playful and will come up to me and climb on me, one loves getting under a blanket and snuggling up with me but they don't like being picked up at all. In fact one rabbit I had since she was born, the sweetest little thing, handled all the time and when her hormones kicked in she would bite me so badly, not just a little nip but actually clamping down causing me to bleed everywhere and leaving some nasty scars. I've had a lot of rabbits and been keeping them for a long time, most of the rabbits I've owned have come to me as babies, well handled, not one enjoyed being picked up. Some would tolerate it but try jump out of my arms when they saw something they could land on, some would scratch, one would bite, some were well behaved when in my arms but hated it so much that they lost trust in me and would run away when I tried to stroke them. It's also important to note than even the sweetest, well handled baby rabbit can turn in to a monster, a bit like children really, hormones can do crazy things :lol: If you get a good tempered rabbit that's been through puberty at least you know they're very likely to stay good tempered :)
 
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