I’m sorry you had to witness such a terrible situation. It’s great that you’re reaching out for some aid. Yes, bonding is something you should stay away from attempting at this time, not only because of inexperience, but also because these two are not in a state where that’s possible. The fact that they’re brother doesn’t mean anything to rabbits – they do not register family.

Definitely keep the two separated and no where near each other for a long time. They have very bad experiences with each other and that needs to be long forgotten before they get near each other again. In addition, they’ll need to be neutered to facilitate a healthy bond. Again, that’s very long down the road.

I think you need to give both some time to themselves. Before bonding with you, they need to feel secure in your space. Instead of just presenting them the food, give it to them in methods that can let them interact with their environment. Stuff some hay in toilet paper tubes, feed pellets in a toilet paper ball, things like that.

Thank you for saving these rabbits!

Two intact male rabbits will fight, and they will fight fiercely -their fighting can result in death. So the two boys must be neutered before any attempt can be made to house them together. I think your best bet is to separate them (if they’re not already) and get them both neutered asap. Hopefully that will help them bond after they e healed from their neuters, because they are still in a new environment where they don’t know anything except each other. If they have stopped fighting now when they’re in your care it is just a kind of “truce” and it will not last unless you have them neutered.

They will get used to you with time. Two rabbits that are housed together (even if they’re in separate enclosures/cages) will turn to each other for comfort and company, that’s their nature. Your buns have had really bad experiences with humans, so it will take them longer to trust you than if they’d come from a loving home. That doesn’t mean they won’t be happy in your home. They will just be wary of you until you’ve proven to them that you are a great resource. You will prove to be a resource because you bring food, protection, medical care if they need it etc. I don’t know where my bunny Bam came from, but it took him a whole year to start trusting me, and he befriended my dog before he allowed me to pet him.

Many bunnies are highly territorial and especially so if they’ve experienced shortage of food. That’s most likely why they won’t let you take their food bowl. You could use gloves until they’ve understood that when you take the bowl, it soon comes back refilled. Food aggression is a very difficult problem to remedy completely though, because it’s so intimately tied to survival.

We would love to hear more about your rabbits and you. I hope you’ll stick around, we’ll be happy to try and answer the questions that crop up as you go along. There are always lots of questions when you are a new bunny owner!

ETA: I added a warning to the title of the thread because of the horrible way the previous bun owner attempted to handle the fighting/chasing situation.

It personally think it’s best if the’re housed in the same room, within hearing and smelling distance. That will make them feel safer, plus they won’t need as much reintroduction later on. They should however not be in cages so close that they can reach to bit through the bar grids, or they will do that and grave injuries to lips, cheeks and/or eyes could potentially result.

Another method would be to separate them completely in the hope that they forget the bad blood between them. It’s very difficult to hide the presense of another bun for a bun, though. They pick up on molecules of scents. We have a member that was attacked by her bun because she volunteered at a rabit shelter – it only stopped when she put away all clothes she’d worn at the shelter and took a full shower before she went near her own rabbit. Normal hand hygiene and switching clothes didn’t help – that’s how sensitive rabbits are to scents.

It’s lovely to hear that Staches is warming up to you.

Carrot tops might not warm up to anyone for a long time because of what he’s been through. I don’t know much about bonding so I can’t help you there, but please report that man. To the police or your local SPCA, just anyone. Make sure he is banned from owning animals. He is clearly irresponsible and cruel and he cannot be allowed to have any pets, ever. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that people can do that, when animals are the most innocent beings on the planet. Their whole lives are controlled by humans, and it’s basically a lottery getting either a responsible, loving owner or an abusive, cruel one. Thank you so much for saving them, their lives will be so much better than they could have ever been with their previous owner.