Bonded or not?

Hello all,
I'm new here and also an inexperienced rabbit owner!
To cut a long story short, I took in 2 brother rabbits last year in pity as they needed a home. They were in their previous home for 8 mths and we've had them for the last year. In that time I've had them both neutered and and fully vaccinated and they live the life of Riley. However, I wasn't told the truth when I took them in - i.e. they have to live separately!!
This is the reason I got them neutered in the hope that they'd become friends and also to stop the territorial spraying.
We tried them together last year - resulted in fighting so since then we've kept them apart in 2 separate hutches with separate exercise time, etc (running in the garden).
However..... over the last few weeks when they've been sat out in their wire pens on the grass, I've noticed they've been lying next to each other (wire separating them) but now also the big one has started grooming his brother through the wires (it's never the other way round).
I'm tempted to try again but it's always the big one who does the biting!! and I hate to see fur flying, etc.
Any advice much appreciated. Thanks.

Hello, and welcome to the forum:wave: if you do try bonding them again, the bonding needs to take place in a small area neither of them have been in before. Unless they fight I would keep them together and not move or extend the space until there hasn’t been any chasing or fur pulling for at least 48 hours . Some fur pulling and chasing is to be expected but watch out for circling as this can often lead to fighting. There’s some useful info on this thread http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...d-Useful-Topics-Bonding&p=6880530#post6880530

Zoobec said:

Hello, and welcome to the forum:wave: if you do try bonding them again, the bonding needs to take place in a small area neither of them have been in before. Unless they fight I would keep them together and not move or extend the space until there hasn’t been any chasing or fur pulling for at least 48 hours . Some fur pulling and chasing is to be expected but watch out for circling as this can often lead to fighting. There’s some useful info on this thread http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...d-Useful-Topics-Bonding&p=6880530#post6880530

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Thank you for replying. I shall have a read at the thread you've recommended. It would solve all our problems if they'd just get on with each other!! It's sad that they have to live apart - they seem to enjoy looking at what the other one's doing from afar!! Their hutches enable them to see each other - just not live with each other at the moment.

Good luck, I haven't had two males together so not experienced.

Even though they are happy to sit together with wire between, once you put them together they will have to sort out their hierarchy, so there will be chasing, fur pulling and mounting for a while.

Barn Yard Bunnies said:

Good luck, I haven't had two males together so not experienced.

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Thanks, it's been a steep learning curve- me & hubby are in our 50's and have never had rabbits, ever!! As I said, they weren't planned - but they've got a safe, kind home with me now.

Hi Tonibun - that's the bit that scares me! When we last tried it there was fur flying everywhere!! and quite a bit of nipping.

You might find that with the extra time they've had for the hormones to fully leave their systems and the experience of living side by side it could be easier this time.
I found it easier to watch the initial fighting during bonding if I had a tennis racket or colander to put over the aggressors head if i needed to. Rarely resorted to it but certainly felt better knowing I could stop it quickly if I needed to.

If it still doesn't work could you possibly adopt two females to bond as a quad or two pairs? Sometimes an extra rabbit or two in the mix eases tensions between two rabbits of the same gender.

BattleKat said:

You might find that with the extra time they've had for the hormones to fully leave their systems and the experience of living side by side it could be easier this time.
I found it easier to watch the initial fighting during bonding if I had a tennis racket or colander to put over the aggressors head if i needed to. Rarely resorted to it but certainly felt better knowing I could stop it quickly if I needed to.

If it still doesn't work could you possibly adopt two females to bond as a quad or two pairs? Sometimes an extra rabbit or two in the mix eases tensions between two rabbits of the same gender.

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Yes, I thought about their hormones being less now - they were neutered in July 2018 so enough time has passed I think.
I hadn't thought about introducing any more rabbits into the mix. I'll have a go at bonding these 2 again, perhaps it'll take lots of goes!

We have two boys and had the EXACT same problem of having to keep them separate, but they would groom and lie next to each other through the bars etc. We sent them to a lady in oxford to bond then for us as we weren’t sure how to go about it, and she did it with pretty much no trouble at all. If you look up Rabbit Rambles on Facebook you’ll find her. She’s very knowledgeable and helpful, even when they had a post bonding fight (we gave them too much space too soon) she was so helpful and even offered to drive down to see them. It can be done! Good luck!