They are probably either trying to mate or trying to establish dominance over each other. Personally I wouldn’t take the risk of putting them together at all unless I want baby bunnies. There is no way to pinpoint (like 100% sure) WHEN they will actually become fertile – not even a vet could do that. So it could be any random day when you are sleeping that Ollie decides to impregnate Toby.

Hormones in nature are too unstable (which is why people often use the word “hormonal” when it comes to describing PMS etc. for humans), meaning you really won’t know when exactly something will happen. Whether a deadly fight, or a pregnancy.

As usual, the best way is to keep them separate until both are fixed, especially since they have started this behaviour. Once they are both fixed and hormones aren’t at play anymore, go through the bonding process. If they start holding a grudge toward one another due to fighting etc, the future bonding process will become much more difficult, if not impossible.

I agree with kurotta’s precaution. Testes descending are not a good indicator of reproductive potential, since rabbits can suck testes up. Wick’s did not drop until he was 8 months old, which is very late and by all online estimates, is much past the window when a male rabbit can begin to reproduce.

You’ve chosen a good course of action to separate them permanently. I believe members mentioned this in a past post, in addition to kurotta’s mention, but as a reminder, they cannot be put back together until both are fixed and there’s a couple months of continued separation so each of their hormones can regulate after being fixed.

You’ve been warned before not to let them play together whilst they’re not neutered or spayed.

You say you’re well informed on what you should and shouldn’t do but you have been voluntarily putting two unbonded rabbits together for play time despite having been told how risky it is. Please understand that we are not saying this to be awkward. People have kept bunnies together because they seemingly got along fine and then without warning – one or both attack. It can happen within the blinl of an eye so even if you are supervising them very well, they can hurt eachother before you’ve had the chance to react.

According to a thread you made in June, Toby was 4 months old so she’d be 5 months if not closer to 6 right now. Ollie might not yet be fertile but you are playing with fire putting a hormonal female with him. Again, you were warned against this. Females are notoriously territorial so your boy would be at risk and of course if he responds to her aggression…again, they could both be seriously injured. Bunnies that have fought can be trickier to bond too.

You’ve also been told that your vet is not rabbit savvy as he/she said you could ‘bond two unaltered rabbits’ I’m asking out of concern, is your vet capable and confident with performing surgeries on rabbits? Some vets are perfectly knowledgeable in regards to how to treat rabbits but know little about their complex relationships so I would double check that they know what they’re doing (you can just ask them how many rabbits do they see and what their success rate is for spaying and neutering)

Something like this is not really open for negotiation – rabbits need proper bonding or they can literally kill each other. This is no joke. Please listen and actually keep your rabbits separate. If you separate them completely before anything bad happens, you’ll be more likely to have an easy bond which would obviously be better for all involved

It’s always good to get other people’s opinions based on other experiences. Even among rabbit vets, there’s wide treatment deviation and beliefs, and that’s a lot due to the lack of communication and accessibility of rabbit information. One vet may know of a great way to do XYZ, while another vet may believe ABC is the only way.

Bonded rabbits, in terms of how many BB users and vets see it, are two rabbits who have gone through the formal bonding process successfully, which includes being fixed as the starting point. Baby rabbits have a “baby bond”, in a sense, where they get along like bonded rabbits, but it’s mainly because they do not have any hormones present. Once they develop hormones and are spayed/neutered, a formal bonding process needs to be done to turn a baby bond into a true bond.