Separated boy bunnies need bonding with girls? Help please!

Hi all :wave:

Been a bit of a lurker & finally plucked up the courage to join in & I'm in need of some advice from knowledgeable bunny owners please! Bit of a long story, I'll try to be quick...

Me & the OH are 1st time owners, we have 2 boys from same litter bought at around 10 weeks old and kept outdoors mainly. They are Dutch crosses & very cute (to me!) 1 called Jasper & the other called Zucc. We had them neutered asap at 4 months old and then the problems started sadly, but I guess inevitably.
To cut a long story short, what started as a lovely sibling bond has ended in complete separation. A week or so after neutering small scratches/bites were found on both repeatedly, us & the vet thought it was a night time issue (not a space problem tho) so they were given a hutch each and I kept an eye on them in the day more and still saw no signs of aggression from either one so we thought problem solved. But no. A week later, I went out for a few hours and came home to find fur all over the hutch and one of my poor bunnies cowering in a corner.. In addition to the fur he had a very nasty cut to a front leg that required stitches and various other scratches. Not nice. So that was that, complete separation, and that was a few days ago.
Since then I'm a bit of a emotional mess trying to know what's best to do, we thought we were going to have to get jasper rehomed (logistical issues but we've solved them) but couldn't so we've bought a new run for Zucc (the injured bun) and kept him well away from jasper. He's still out of sorts, not himself yet & I'm trying my best to settle him down. (A really bad, traumatic baytril battle is not helping things!)
So there's some background, and my question is really, what to do about getting them new friends? Personally I'm not sure jasper wants a companion? He seems pretty content by himself but I guess it's very early days.
But it's Zucc I'm wondering about the most, im worried about him getting lonely, but also about trauma if he thinks a new bunny will attack him too, I know it's probably better if he has a girl companion than none at all, how long should I wait! Questions questions! Basically I just don't know what to do, I want to keep him happy and as de-stressed as possible.
Sorry for the essay. I'm just a worried new owner trying to do her best, any advice much appreciated. Thank you

Were they starting to fight before they were neutered or were they still living happily together?

we only noticed after they were neutered, there was some chasing and food related agression before but not full fighting

I'm sorry to hear your bunnies have fallen out, you must be super stressed. I'd look at getting both buns a girlfriend & make it easier on myself by getting spayed rescue buns, ideally with a rescue that would bond for you. I'd make a few calls & explain your situation. Maybe look at getting Zucc paired up 1st. Good luck

I think your boys will be better paired off with girls. Now they have fought as they have there is very little chance of rebonding them, sadly.

I had this exact scenario.

Frosty and snowflake fought after being neutered. I was advised to separate them til the end of the breeding season. No sight sound or smell of each other.

I then introduced them to my other rabbits in a neutral space where none of them had been before.

I will try to find a link ...

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...pdate-now-a-quad-More-pics!&highlight=Bonding

They are still happily settled in their 8 x 6 shed with attached aviary of 10 x 6. Lots of space definately helps with groups. They did have one litter tray per rabbit but are now down to three for the whole group.

Plenty of patience is required and let them go at their own pace. Good luck.

tulsi said:

I had this exact scenario.

Frosty and snowflake fought after being neutered. I was advised to separate them til the end of the breeding season. No sight sound or smell of each other.

I then introduced them to my other rabbits in a neutral space where none of them had been before.

I will try to find a link ...

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...pdate-now-a-quad-More-pics!&highlight=Bonding

They are still happily settled in their 8 x 6 shed with attached aviary of 10 x 6. Lots of space definately helps with groups. They did have one litter tray per rabbit but are now down to three for the whole group.

Plenty of patience is required and let them go at their own pace. Good luck.

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Thanks for that! Wow that's quite a feat! I'll have a read I've just had 4 weeks off work & it's a good job after all the trips back & forth to the vets, and it's luckily given my plenty of time to spend with my recuperating bunnies, I'm so sad to be going back to work next week, but least I dont have to worry about them being in the same run. Now I'm just worrying they will be lonely all day! This morning jasper was standing up, clambering to get to me every time I was in the garden so I fished him out for some love & he sat cuddled in for a good 10 minutes- he's usually fighting to get back down after 1! So now I'm worried he is missing his friend. Wish I was a bunny mind reader & knew what they wanted me to do!

Tonibun- Yeah Id discarded the chance of them ever being together again sadly. Now I'm worried what would happen if bonding with girls isn't successful, I definitely can't keep 4 bunnies separate!

joey&boo said:

I'm sorry to hear your bunnies have fallen out, you must be super stressed. I'd look at getting both buns a girlfriend & make it easier on myself by getting spayed rescue buns, ideally with a rescue that would bond for you. I'd make a few calls & explain your situation. Maybe look at getting Zucc paired up 1st. Good luck

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll see what I can find out

Jasperello said:

Tonibun- Yeah Id discarded the chance of them ever being together again sadly. Now I'm worried what would happen if bonding with girls isn't successful, I definitely can't keep 4 bunnies separate!

Click to expand...

If you approach a rescue who can pair up your boys with a female each (which is by far less stressful than trying to sort this yourself)the rescue should have a policy whereby the females can be returned to them should anything go wrong.Most rescues will do this but obviously its worth checking this out before hand.Its also very rewarding adopting a rescue bunny and would take the pressure off you.If youre unsure of where to go to find a reputable rescue in your area you could start a thread in the "rabbit chat"to ask.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Hi there. I have just recently got 2 boy bunnies. They are due to be neutered next week. I'm finding it really stressful as one runs away from the other in a real panick every now and again. As far as I can see, when they're in the hutch things are okay. They sleep next to each other and groom each other. When they're out, they seem fine a lot of the time but sometimes one chases the other. He doesn't look too aggressive when he does it but the other one runs away and looks pretty stressed so it makes me wonder if there is something I'm not seeing going on. I'm so scared to let them out in the run when I'm not there. I never intended to keep them cooped up though. They're supposed to have access to the run all the time. I don't know what to do. Perhaps I should separate them before they have a full on fight.

More than anything, I'm really annoyed with the shop that sold the bunnies to me. Why didn't they explain that they may not get on? Why didn't they suggest that male female pair would be best. I really didn't know bonding was such a big deal. I researched breeds and housing. All the info said pairs are best. The shop said any combination is fine as long as neutered. No wonder so many rabbits are abandoned! It's the poor information you're given. My vet also recommended the shop I used so I trusted the.

I don't want to end up keeping two lonely bunnies and I can't help having ill feelings for the chasing bunny (who is also not very friendly and runs away from us all). It's all very stressful and it sounds like neutering isn't the answer anyway!