Ok, so I've read a lot of posts and articles over the last few weeks in preparation of bonding two boy rabbits. This was my first rabbit bonding. A lot of people including a few vets have told me that two male rabbits are close to impossible to bond and that only maternal brothers who have grown up together could work. Lucky for me they were very wrong. I had two maternal Dutch brothers Biscuit and Cadbury both 5 yrs old who were bonded from birth, but unfortunately Cadbury passed away earlier this year. I opted to get a new baby and as circumstances had it, I got another little Dutch boy of 3 months called Milo. We didn't have the opportunity to arrange dates between the two.
We had Milo neutered at 4 months and kept him on his own for at least two weeks after his operation, however, as my rabbits are free roaming in the house they had a shared litter tray in our living room and frequently saw each other from a distance. We never put their hutches side-by-side etc. So on a sunny Autumn morning at around 9 am I put the two boys outside in a run within an area where neither has been for at least two weeks. To start they didn't pay any attention to each other, but after a minute or so they got into a massive brawl, we separated them but then put them back together, they had another fight so we separated them and put them back together in the run again. To be clear this was very stressful and all we wanted to do was give up, but some people online said that once you've put them together don't take them apart unless it's to stop a fight, so the little voice inside said that we should persevere.
We kept checking them both for major injuries, and they looked fine - it appeared to have been a wrestle and kicking rather than biting. From there on they never really fought again, it was just circling and chasing, Biscuit who's older was chasing Milo mainly. This kept going for several hours, they were munching away on the grass then chased. At roughly 13:30 we put them in a carrier without touching either (this was quite a challenge), the idea was to be very noisy so that they were more worried about what was going on around than biting each other. From there we took them for a ride in the car. After about 20 min in the car we put them in Biscuit's hutch (this was thoroughly cleaned and deodorized beforehand), that's when they started huddling together and being more friendly. At this point it still wasn't perfect and Biscuit was still nipping at Milo. At roughly 9am the next morning Biscuit started humping the little guy and everything settled down. There were still a bit of biting etc, that gradually got better. Milo now has a few patches of fur missing here and there, but they're super happy - licking each other and cuddling.
Biscuit has always been dominant, even with his brother, so I was quite worried about the whole process. Our only motivation was that our rabbits are literally part of the family and has the run of the house so I couldn't imagine having to separate them for the rest of their lives. As I said above, I really wanted to give up a few times as it was painful to watch them at times, but I'm glad that we have let nature run its course as the two boys appear to be super happy.
I just wanted to share our experience for other bunny parents who are attempting the same thing - the best appears is not to separate them unless there are serious injuries. From our experience it's ok to break up a fight to avoid injury, but put them back together as soon as possible.
My advice to anyone attempting this, don't give up, it might feel cruel at times but if a bonding session that looked like a disaster at the start turned out well for us then there is hope for you.
We had Milo neutered at 4 months and kept him on his own for at least two weeks after his operation, however, as my rabbits are free roaming in the house they had a shared litter tray in our living room and frequently saw each other from a distance. We never put their hutches side-by-side etc. So on a sunny Autumn morning at around 9 am I put the two boys outside in a run within an area where neither has been for at least two weeks. To start they didn't pay any attention to each other, but after a minute or so they got into a massive brawl, we separated them but then put them back together, they had another fight so we separated them and put them back together in the run again. To be clear this was very stressful and all we wanted to do was give up, but some people online said that once you've put them together don't take them apart unless it's to stop a fight, so the little voice inside said that we should persevere.
We kept checking them both for major injuries, and they looked fine - it appeared to have been a wrestle and kicking rather than biting. From there on they never really fought again, it was just circling and chasing, Biscuit who's older was chasing Milo mainly. This kept going for several hours, they were munching away on the grass then chased. At roughly 13:30 we put them in a carrier without touching either (this was quite a challenge), the idea was to be very noisy so that they were more worried about what was going on around than biting each other. From there we took them for a ride in the car. After about 20 min in the car we put them in Biscuit's hutch (this was thoroughly cleaned and deodorized beforehand), that's when they started huddling together and being more friendly. At this point it still wasn't perfect and Biscuit was still nipping at Milo. At roughly 9am the next morning Biscuit started humping the little guy and everything settled down. There were still a bit of biting etc, that gradually got better. Milo now has a few patches of fur missing here and there, but they're super happy - licking each other and cuddling.
Biscuit has always been dominant, even with his brother, so I was quite worried about the whole process. Our only motivation was that our rabbits are literally part of the family and has the run of the house so I couldn't imagine having to separate them for the rest of their lives. As I said above, I really wanted to give up a few times as it was painful to watch them at times, but I'm glad that we have let nature run its course as the two boys appear to be super happy.
I just wanted to share our experience for other bunny parents who are attempting the same thing - the best appears is not to separate them unless there are serious injuries. From our experience it's ok to break up a fight to avoid injury, but put them back together as soon as possible.
My advice to anyone attempting this, don't give up, it might feel cruel at times but if a bonding session that looked like a disaster at the start turned out well for us then there is hope for you.
