Sibling Brothers Living Together

Hi, everyone,

We adopted two sibling brothers from our friends, one is gray and one is black, and I will refer them so. We had a happy time with them, until today we realised there are some potential risks. We learned that rabbits will fight with newcomers, or two separate rabbits will fight when one entre the territory of the other one. Rabbits will not fight if their social class has been set (perhaps)?

I would like to know:
1. Are they bonded? Do two bonded male rabbits fight?
2. Will they fight? Do I need to separate them?
3. Does neutering prevent fight absolutely?

Here is everything in my mind, and I would love to provide any relevant details.
1. Their father is Netherland Dwarf rabbit, mother is not.
2. They were born on 17/07/2021. Came to our house on 01/09/2021.
3. They live in a big two stories cage, use the same litter, food bowl and water bowl since then.
4. We let them out almost everyday, about 8am-8pm, indoor and outdoor (sometimes in winter and almost everyday in autumn).
5. They stay (and lie down) calmly and closely together in cage and under sofa. They mostly stay together or move together.
6. Black is brave, gray is timid. Black always lead gray to explore. Gray always escape from us first then black.
7. We offer them several cardboard boxes to chew and play with. They always chew and play with the same one.

8. They have probably hit puberty, eggs are easy to find.
9. Black spray urine out of litter sometimes, gray pee (not spray) urine out of litter sometimes.
10. Black often mount gray, gray sometimes mount black. There is no fight during mounting.
11. When black mount gray, gray simply make one step forward, black mount again and gray escape again...and vice versa.
12. Black now prefers to stay on the upper floor, gray on the bottom floor.
13. Black sprayed urine onto gray today.

They seem to be happy with companion and we don't want to separate them if possible. Please would anyone share some experience?

Are you 100% certain that Grey is male ? To me it sounds as though you have a Male (Black) and a female (Grey)

Unneutered males will fight on reaching puberty, often causing serious and potentially fatal injuries. A bond as pre-pubescent babies is not a true bond.

Same applies for unspayed females

Unneutered male + unspayed female = eventually a pregnant female. Pregnancy lasts about 32 days. If the male is still with the female when she gives birth he will impregnate her again and a second litter of babies will arrive about 32 days later. Average litter size is 6-8 kits.Males become fertile at about 12 weeks, females at about 16 weeks. Earlier in some cases.

Rabbits do not lay eggs, so I don’t know what you mean by finding eggs ?? Are you certain you have not found newborn kits ( baby Rabbit) Kits are born bald, blind and deaf and look nothing like a Rabbit at all.

Or do the ‘eggs’ look like small bunches of dark grapes ? These would be cecotrophs which Rabbits should eat directly from their anus as part of the normal digestive process.

So it is essential to be 100% certain of the genders of Black and Grey and to have them neutered/ spayed ASAP. Males can be neutered at about 12 weeks of age, females spayed at about 5 months. The Rabbits must weigh at least 1 kg.

Re the cardboard boxes. They are fine to play with but do make sure that neither Rabbit ingests the cardboard. Doing so can result in a GI tract obstruction.

Someone has pointed out to me that when you say that ‘eggs are easy to see’. Do you mean testicles ? If so do both Rabbits have them ?

If the answer is yes to both then you do have two males and they do need to be separated, neutered and then rebonded 6-8 weeks after neutering. It takes that amount of time for post neuter hormone surges to settle.

The best thing you can do is to separate the Rabbits and get their genders confirmed by a Vet. Then get them neutered. If you do both of these things BEFORE a true fight kicks off you have a much better chance of getting them back together again.

For a vast amount of information about all aspects of Rabbit Care take a look on here

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

I second everything Inspector Morse has said. Please separate now before it is too late.

I would get them booked in at the vet ASAP for neutering, before they start to fight and the bond breaks down irretrievably. They are old enough, even if one is female (usually done at 6 months, males from 12 weeks). Un-neutered mature rabbits (which yours are) will fight and inflict bad injuries on each other - it's just a matter of time before it happens. It takes around 6 weeks for hormone levels to drop after neutering, so you need to allow for this and be prepared to split them up and rebond if necessary.

There is every chance that they will live happily together once neutered, healed and given a few weeks to settle.

They also need vaccinating - one jab every year. Rabbits can die suddenly from some really nasty viruses, which the vaccines protect against. You need to leave a gap of a couple of weeks between neutering and vaccinating - rabbits are easily stressed and need time to recover between each procedure.

Re: Inspector Morse
Yes, I mean testicles. That's why I am certainly sure that they are male.
As for the cardboard, they just chew and tear, so no worries.

Re: All
Thanks everyone. I will separate them immediately and take them to vet ASAP. Fortunately none is injured.

Zehong Song said:

Re: Inspector Morse
Yes, I mean testicles. That's why I am certainly sure that they are male.
As for the cardboard, they just chew and tear, so no worries.

Re: All
Thanks everyone. I will separate them immediately and take them to vet ASAP. Fortunately none is injured.

Click to expand...

Ah! Well done!