advice needed

I have two lovely 6 month old boy rabbits [ smokey and bandit ] I had them both neutered at 4 months old as they were getting too friendly with each other after I had the first one done the vet suggested keeping them apart until the wound had healed then the following week had the second one done and again was told to keep them apart.so when I put the boys back together was in total shock when the started to get quite vicious with each other and since then have had to keep them apart but they use to love each others company its quite sad as there brothers and are house rabbits so I have had to separate there cage into two. I have a out door run they go out in during the day that I have also had to separate but there fine while in there run and don't seam to be overly bothered by each other and when I try them together they get quite nasty again. so any ideas on how I could get them back together would be very helpful thanks x

You should be able to get them back together by bonding in a totally neutral area. Have you got somewhere where neither have been and you can monitor them 24/7 ? There are lots of bonding threads on here to give you a guide and if you feel you can't some rescues will bond for you for a small donation. If you want to give it a go we are all here to help :wave:

So sorry your boys have fallen out. It may well be possible to get them back together again. If you're not confident putting them together in a neutral area yourself, find someone (bunny boarder or rescue) who may be able to take them away and bond them for you. This will give you a chance to totally clean the area so that when they return there's no territory issues.

Good luck, and welcome to RU :wave:

I really do hope you can this sorted. It must be so upsetting. When my 2 boys were neutered, my rabbit savvy vet, recommended doing them both at the same time, for this exact reason and so that they did not have to be split up, and nothing has changed with their bond.

If you do manage to get them back together, I would really try not to split them up again. Good luck and hope it all goes well.

thanks for your helpful tips what would a neutral area be? I have been told I should just let them sort is out them selves but I am worried they will seriously hurt each other. I have tried putting them back together and they seem to be ok for a min or two then they just take lumps of fur from each other. I would just love them back together I feel so mean keeping the apart.

Bonding or rebonding can be very stressful especially if you haven't done it before. A neutral area is a small place neither of them know or have marked as their own territory. Have you a room that neither have been in? What area do you live in as we might be able to point you to your closest help.

The same thing happened to my boys. They weren't raised together. My dwarf lop was 4 years older and he was so placid even before neutering him. He bonded with my then baby Dutch. They weren't housed together as they had a wire mesh in the centre but they played outside together. As soon as my Dutch (Meadow) was old enough to get neutered we took him to the vet.

What I got back was a different bunny. He actually turned aggressive and bit me on a few occasions. I couldn't go any where near his hutch even without him grunting. I honestly, don't know why his behaviour changed all I could think of was that he lost his trust or something had happened to him to him at the vets as before then, he was so laid back. I did a lot of research on his behaviour but that's a different story

First, I had thought that I had to build my trust back with Meadow before re-bonding him with Nuggs. So many times, I tried putting them in neutral ground e.g. the kitchen and as soon as they seen each other they would fight (often Meadow picking fights). It got to a point where I thought it was impossible. I tried swapping toys, putting them in the bath tub, literally every suggestion on the internet.

I continued to let them have their separate exercise area's and they still lived where they could see each other. I think then Meadow was a few years old I decided to try the approach again. I gradually let them see each in the kitchen and they started to groom each other. I continued this for just under a year. Meadow was chilling in the garden and I let Nuggs hop out. Since Meadow was the 'aggressive' one I was a little worried him seeing Nuggs as an intruder and if they started to show aggression (circling each other). My dad was standing next to me to help me if a fight suddenly broke out. Meadow was sprawled out and Nuggs hopped over to him and to my surprise they just lay down next to each other and started grooming, like they did in the kitchen. From that day on, they played in the same run and instead of binkying around they just enjoyed each others company.

Nuggs sadly died a few months ago but Meadow (he's 7 now) has gone back to his normal self with years of building up trust. He doesn't grunt when I touch his bowl or toys or even when I put fresh hay in his tray. He loves to lick my nose. I can now stick my head in his hutch and rest it next to him and I trust him 100%

I hope you find it easier than I did as I had one bully bun on my hands and he's now the most caring, sweet natured boy.
My suggestion is you never rush them and always sit next to them in a neutral room and start stroking their ears so they can then start to groom each other.

It's good that you have separated their cage. I honestly just found my boys preferred their own space, where they could see each other (mesh in the middle of the hutch) and have their own space to get away and just enjoy play time together. Similar to how we have our own bedrooms. Have you parted it with mesh? It will be easier as they still see each other but still have their own space.

So sorry for the waffle I hope I have given you some useful info

Thanks Ayshajane I feel after reading your thread that I am doing the right thing. I would do any thing to see them back together but I guess its a slow process but I now feel it will be worth it in the end. They are two lovely boys and bandit wants to be friends but somkey is a grumpy bun at the moment they even started grooming each other a few days ago so thinking they wanted to be friends so I put them back together big mistake on my part as a fight broke out . Today they are back in their run separate of course but seem pleased to see each other. thanks for giving me a light at the end of my tunnel and hope that one day they will be back together.

Frosty and Snowflake came from our local petshop and fell out badly just after being neutered (a few days apart).

I kept them separate for a while until they had forgotton all about each other (no sight, sound or smell).

I rebonded them with two does in a space where none of them had ever been (my bedrom). This was in October 2013. They are fine now. It took a while for them to rebond and Snowflake went from being afraid to trying to be mr head of the herd. Now that he has accepted Frosty as boss, all is well!

Hope you manage to rebond your boys in whatever way works for you.

Things are looking up. The boys were in there indoor run today and they settled down by each other with no fur tugging and ear pulling through the mesh. I am soo happy