Bonding Beginner With 2 Males

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Hi Guys!

I am new to this community!
I have had my original bunny (Rasta) for about 9 months now. He is about 1 year old and neutered.  I have always considered getting him a partner and have realised it is the right decision as I noticed he was bored and getting up to trouble when no one is home.

A few days ago we introduced Rasta to Rory, who is a similar age and was neutered 2 weeks ago. At the shelter Rory was incredibly friendly towards Rasta and was sniffing him, however Rasta was running towards me for safety. I ended up taking Rory home as it seemed like the two didn’t hate each other and I could work on their bond.

Now that Rory is home I have kept him in the bathroom until I can set up a pen next to Rasta in the loungeroom. I take turns letting each bunny out and explore the house (with my supervision), as Rasta has always been free roaming when we are home. Rasta has become incredibly upset with the changes and every time he is in the room that Rory was previously in, he thumps and grunts and runs to me for pets, and then will bite me. 

My question with this is, is this a bad thing (to have them share a space taking turns before they have bonded). Will this hinder progress? I have found that Rory is still very territorial and is urinating and leaving his pellets around the room. 

Each day I have had the two in a pen of about 1mx1m and the last session ended on a low note (I did not know not to do this until after the incident) where Rory mounted Rasta and bit him and Rasta ran off. (I also realised afterwards that biting while mounting is normal)

*EDIT* I had the pair bond again tonight and things are slowly progressing. Rory mounted Rasta a few times and Rasta just stayed in place, I think he was pretty stressed out as he barely moved during the entire bonding session. However he did approach Rory and sniffed him, and Rory gave Rasta lots of licks. 

After a while when Rasta wouldnt respond, Rory started thumping frequently and running around Rasta and licking him, then attempting to mount him again. I perceived this as frustration. Is there anything I can do to help the process?

I apologise for sounding so amateur. Rasta is my first House bunny and everything we do together is a new experience!

[LBJ10]

Keep in mind that Rory is still hormonal since he was neutered only 2 weeks ago. Hormones won’t completely settle until 4-6 weeks post-neuter. This might interfere with the bonding process, especially if Rory is feeling territorial.

Having them in the same room, but separate cages isn’t necessarily a bad idea. Some have found that it helps the bunnies acclimate to each other without actually doing bonding sessions yet. You can also try switching litter boxes to get them used to each others’ scents.

Once Rory is done being hormonal, you can try some stress bonding or bonding sessions in “neutral” territory (some people like to use an empty bathtub). Hope that helps!

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Thank you so much for your advice! I am going to set them up side by side in separate pens, however I am waiting to receive the second pen.

During this time I have been continuing the mini dates in a pen in neutral territory.
Since then Rasta has become more confident however has turned quite aggressive towards Rory. At first I thought Rasta was licking rory, but it appeared more like nipping at his face and rear. Then he would continuously stick his head underneath Rory near his genitals, and I could not see what Rasta was doing.
This made Rory uncomfortable and would run away (now it seems like the tables have turned since the start of their bonding).
Today I had them in a session again, and Rasta was continuing his behaviour and it got to a point where Rory was so annoyed and possibly being hurt by Rasta that it turned into a fight. I separated them in the pen for a few moments then made the pen much smaller so there wasnt much room and attempted to stress bond them with the vacuum cleaner.
Rory went straight to Rasta for comfort and continuously licked and snuggled him, however Rasta was incredibly unresponsive and almost as soon as it stopped, Rasta began nipping/biting again which quickly turned into another fight.

At this point I wasnt sure what to do, so i put both bunnies pack in to their own areas.
I know this is negative and probably going to prevent progress but I was too scared to leave the together and attempt another stress bond.

Should I just leave them separated until I can get the pen to have them set up in the same room and have them become used to each other this way?
I feel like things have gone backwards.

Rory seems to be really lovely and adores Rasta however Rasta just does not want anything to do with him!

Please, any advice would be wonderful, I am at a total loss!

[Sindri]

You may want to separate them and take a break for a bit. I then would bond them in a small space. I had an extremely aggressive male who would attack my female. Bonding in a box is what I finally found to work. Then I moved up to a bigger box then eventually I moved up to a xpen in a neutral territory. I did a lot of stress bonding like moving the box around it helps break up any fights, or take them for a car ride. There are a lot of different forms of stress bonding. So perhaps try a box or laundry basket something small like that it may help you out.

I think really you should keep them separated until you can get a stronger bond going. It took me about 8 months of off and on bonding to finally get mine bonded and I think if I had started out in a box in the first place less fights would have happened. The fights really hindered my progress. my female liked my male at first but after awhile she finally had enough and she started fights. You don’t want that. They definitely can hold grudges against each other.

I understand that you feel like things are going backwards I have been there. So like I said take a break for you and for them and then start back up. I wish you the best of luck in bonding your bunnies!

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Thanks! I will let you know how it goes

[Sindri]

I hope it goes well!

[Author]

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