Advice need on bonding 2 boys

Hi,

I have been trying to bond some of my rabbits together for over a year. Because of one of them getting ill and my heart not been able to take it we have stopped and started.

A couple of weeks ago we heard some banging and found that one of the male rabbits had managed to get out of his hutch and was now in the play area of another male. We have tried bonding them both with mixed success. As this meeting went without injury we decided we might be onto something.

Over the past week with the weather so nice they have played (both free to roam) in the garden for least 4 hour hours each night. Playing and laying together. It was great.

Yesterday as it was raining they had to stay in. We decided to try them together in their play room. All went well for 2 hours and then one of them got very aggreasive and lots of fur was lost.

Is this the end or just a hiccup???

I was so excited that I might have bond 2 of the buns!!

Quick question - are the boys neutered?

Yes both boys are neutered.

Harvey is approx 2 years old (neutered for 1.5 years)

Jasper is approx 4 years old (neutered for 3.5 years)

Thanks

i dont normally recommend pairing up 2 boys, but i know a lot of people on this forum have paired up boys successfully.

can the 2 boys see each other at all times?
how come you started pairing the 2 up then stopped?
have you tried taking them out for car rides together, as this normally stresses them out and the 2 go to each other for company.
can you let them run on neutral territory.

sophie

Hi,

We have 7 unbonded rabbits. As most of them are rescues we have ended up with 5 males. One of the females has just been neutered and the other is very nippy towards these two males (especially Jasper).

Harvey has had several infections over the past year so we have stopped the bonding process so not to pass it on.

Both Harvey and Jasper are in the same room and can see each other when the other is out playing. They have been like this for about a year.

We have tried them in the Kitchen together a few times and are friendly, but its very small.

Thanks

I have successfully bonded 2 boys on 2 seperate occasions.

Harry and the dear departed Duke, took about 2 months to bond, went through the usual fur flying and peeing on each other.Then once Duke had been neutered they use to sit and groom each other for hours.

Harry then bonded very quickly with Smudge. These two chose each other when I went to adopt a rescue bun. They spent an hour in the pet carrier on the way home. As both were neutered I have had no problems with either.

I've found bonding boys easier than bonding 2 girls togther. Marmalade and Treacle are getting slowly better, this has only been 2 months but time is the best thing when it comes to bonding.

I succesfully bonded my three boys and it went very smoothly.
They were always able to see and smell each other 24/7 when i put them together it was love at first site, I guess I was lucky, no aggresion at all. I would deffo try the trip in the car.

5cutebunnies, i still cant believe that you paired up 3 boys and the pairing up went so smoothly! i guess it depends on the rabbits really, how long did you have them all living near each other before you let them all run togther?

how is the introducing going???

sophie

When Harvey and Jasper are in the garden they seem to love each other (mostly sat next to each other in the coolest area). So much so I feel confident at leaving them unsupervised. Only found a small amount of fur floating around after one unsupervised period (no damage or obvious marks on either bunny).

Not sure wether to try the inisde room again. As the weather is good (at the moment) I will keep putting them in the garden together when I get home from work and leaving them for as long as possible.

Its good to hear it is possible to bond boys. I would love to get 3 together.

Is 2 boys and a girl a good combination???

Obviuosly having 5 boys means I need to get at least another 2 on sniffing terms! Either that or convinve the OH that we need another girl (or two!!) - Highly unlikely!!

sophiemarmion said:

5cutebunnies, i still cant believe that you paired up 3 boys and the pairing up went so smoothly! i guess it depends on the rabbits really, how long did you have them all living near each other before you let them all run togther?

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They all shared the shed for nearly 6 months, originally I thought that living is close proximity was the next best thing to them all being bonded. I had trawled the Internet reading as much as I could on bonding boys and the general consensus was it wouldn’t really work. (That’s what led me to this site )

I guess I was lucky in that the three boys were all lovely natured and very laid back bunnies. I have to say that the help, advice and support I had from this site made me go for it and put them all together. They were all so loved up immediately and once the initial humping was out of the way they lived in total harmony, I have never even seen one of them get slightly grumpy with another. I guess you can tell from all the photos I post, that I am totally besotted with them, I spend any spare time sitting with them and watching them soak up each others love

Gooey I know but I just love them to bits.