Bonding neutured and un-uneutered males

[Mistical]

Hello :wave: I'm looking for some advice.

I have a male (half lop-eared?) rabbit, Toffee, who is about 4 years old. He doesn't like being handled as he was locked up by his last owner for over a year. We just let him do his own thing with access to a run and sometimes the garden. He lives with 2 guinea pigs and gets on well with them (one of them sleeps on top of Toffee!). We got him neutered about 2 years ago.

We found out recently that someone that lives near us is looking for a new home for their rabbit. It's a dwarf male rabbit that has been living alone in a garden for at least a year. I'm not sure how old it is, but I do know it has not been neutered. I told the owners that I'd think about taking him (I've had my eye on him for a long time!), but wanted to check about how he would bond with our rabbit Toffee.

So they are neutered and un-neutered males. Does anyone have any advice about how well they would bond? Would it make a difference if we got the new rabbit neutered too?

Thanks

 

[lilbun]

Attempting to bond an unneutered male with another male is almost certain to end in bloodshed I'm afraid.
If you were to take the male on and keep him completely separate from the other bun, get him neutered and wait a mimimum of 8 weeks before introducing them on neutral territory there is a chance they might bond, but there are no guarantees that it would work xx

 

[Dustyrabbit]

What lilbun said.

Also hello and welcome:wave:

 

[youthnovels]

Don't even think about it.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=223547&highlight=urgent

Particulary post #18.

My poor baby He's still recovering from it.

 

[*Spider*]

We're they un neutered?
I didnt' know that.

I agree, I wouldn't chance it.
You could always however take him in, neuter him and give him a loving forever home.
After all, I have 6 neutered boys happily living together!

 

[youthnovels]

We're they un neutered?
I didnt' know that.

I agree, I wouldn't chance it.
You could always however take him in, neuter him and give him a loving forever home.
After all, I have 6 neutered boys happily living together!

Archie was done. The "gentleman" (wrong word possibly?) I got him from told me that Leo had been done. He hadn't. :evil:

I hate that thread. Makes me cry each time. I'm going to have to go and give my boy a cuddle.

 

[*Spider*]

I remember the thread well. So glad he pulled through

 

[youthnovels]

I remember the thread well. So glad he pulled through

He's still not out of the woods yet. Got his buster collar on (and it will remain on for at least another two weeks :shock because he's still healing. It's more a preventive measure at the moment to make sure he doesn't get at his wound, possibly cause himself a bit more damage effecting how he wees. If he does that he'll most likely have to be PTS.

The little mans in tip top condition though other than that and has been throwing round his toys for most of the day, chewing off sky remote buttons and weeing on my mums carpet. :lol:

Thanks though hetty, it means a lot

 

[Nicola1]

He's still not out of the woods yet. Got his buster collar on (and it will remain on for at least another two weeks :shock because he's still healing. It's more a preventive measure at the moment to make sure he doesn't get at his wound, possibly cause himself a bit more damage effecting how he wees. If he does that he'll most likely have to be PTS.

The little mans in tip top condition though other than that and has been throwing round his toys for most of the day, chewing off sky remote buttons and weeing on my mums carpet. :lol:

Thanks though hetty, it means a lot

I know, I remember this thread. Poor boy, I'll keep sending vibes for him.

 

[Nicola1]

I can only agree with what the others have said, I tried to introduce my two boys Zero and Harvey a few times and they would have killed each other if I hadn't torn them apart, it was a really serious fight. The first time Harvey had been neutered and Zero hadn't, the second time Zero had been done but was still a bit hormonal.

Zero also tries to fight with Castiel through the bars, even though they are both neutered. Zero and Castiel are both still recovering from their neuters though so could be hormonal, but I would never risk a neutered/unneutered pairing, especially after reading youthnovels' devastating thread.

We just let him do his own thing with access to a run and sometimes the garden. He lives with 2 guinea pigs and gets on well with them (one of them sleeps on top of Toffee!).

It's normally not recommended to keep rabbits and guinea pigs together :wave: although I know some pet shops say it is fine. I know a lot of people's piggies have sustained serious damage from a rabbit kick, even if it is not aggressive, just an over-excited binkying bun! When I was younger I had a rabbit and guinea pig together, and the piggie had an awful head injury that could only have been from the rabbit.

Having said that, if they've been together for a long time it should be fine, just be aware and keep an eye on things

 

[Mistical]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've had my eye on him since last year, as he looked very bored in the garden he's currently living in. Worse than that, recently I found out that someone broke into the garden and into the hutch and threw him around a bit. They injured his leg and no doubt scared him lots So, after hearing that I decided to ask the owners if they wanted to find him a new home, and they did.

From what I've read I definitely wouldn't put them together until the new bunny has been neutered and had time for his hormones to settle. I need to figure out if we can definitely take him first though.

It's normally not recommended to keep rabbits and guinea pigs together :wave: although I know some pet shops say it is fine. I know a lot of people's piggies have sustained serious damage from a rabbit kick, even if it is not aggressive, just an over-excited binkying bun! When I was younger I had a rabbit and guinea pig together, and the piggie had an awful head injury that could only have been from the rabbit.

Having said that, if they've been together for a long time it should be fine, just be aware and keep an eye on things

I took all 3 of them as they had all been locked in a hutch together for about a year. Thought Toffee might like some kind of company, and luckily, they all get along great! Toffee loves the attention and the pigs love having a nice warm friend to snuggle up with Thank you though, I know you're just concerned for their welfare. We keep an eye on them!

 

[Nicola1]

no worries, I know you only want what's best for them if they've been together so long it might be worse to separate them as they might miss each other? You know what's best for your rabbits and piggies would be careful putting a new rabbit in with the guineas though.