Bonding brothers

[Smokeyandthebandit]

Hello all, 
Smokey and Bandit are littermates and I have had them since they were 6 weeks. They lived together in the same pen until hormones kicked in and they began to fight, we separated them right away and they were neutered on Aug 4th. I hadn’t attempted to bond them because there fighting freaks me out, I know that is the lamest excuse EVER. , however the live in side by side pens and have been sniffing each other and even laying next to each other since the neuter. This morning I got brave and loaded the boys in the tub for a trial run. They did a lot of sniffing and staring each other down, one would stick their head under the other and leave it there until the other moved. They did groom each other and Bandit humped smokey which is not new behaviour and Smokey didn’t care which is also not new behaviour. Then Bandit did the “dead bunny flop” and smoke went over and also dead bunny flopped beside him to snuggle. This has to be good news right?! I mean I know this does NOT mean they are ready to live together in the same pen however there was no real aggression that I could tell, Bandit did smell a little onion-y  is this normal?! I haven’t smelt that since before neutering and they were leaving me territorial onions poos. 

Any advise would be welcome!!

[Sirius&Luna]

That sounds like a very positive start. Some territorial poops are to be expected. Just because it’s started positively, they still might have some scuffles, and that’s not necessarily going backwards. They will need to sort out dominance, and that might result in scuffles, although it sounds like Smokey might be happy to just give way to Bandit.

I would keep going with bath tub sessions if they’re comfortable in there. If they seem like they want more space, you can try the bathroom floor instead (assuming it’s neutral). I made much more progress with mine when they had a bit more space, they absolutely hated being in the bathtub.

[Smokeyandthebandit]

Thank you for the advice! 

Smoke has always been happy to be the Beta male lol. Hes been getting his head humped since week 3 LOL 

The bathroom floor is Semi-neutral, however Bandit is out for his morning bun-run and just got himself in the bathtub looking for his brother. He’s currently trying to chew the wooden pen to bust Smokey out of bunny-jail haha, and Smokey is on the inside binkying cause he thinks this will be successful…Bunny logic. 

[Sirius&Luna]

Haha, sounds like you might have an easy bond. You should always stop head humping, as the bunny humping might get his penis bitten.

They sound very cute! Let us know how the bonding sessions go. I would keep going with the sessions, gradually increasing how much time they’re spending together. Once they’re happily spending a few hours together you can try adding litter boxes and see how that goes.

[Deleted User]

Sounds like a good start! They seem to already have an idea of who is going to be “top bun”. Mine have been bonding for about a month and they still haven’t totally figured it out….

I was terrified of bonding because I just can’t handle seeing them fight. You get used to it though and you get more comfortable with it as you go.

Do stop the face humping because the humpee may bite the humpers gentials… there was a lady on here once that had two brothers who fought and a testicle ended up being ripped…YIKES! Mounting from behind is fine, as long as the submissive bun isn’t fighting back. I don’t let humping go on for more than 5-10 seconds though before I push the dominant one off.

[Smokeyandthebandit]

I always stop face humping because 1. They have already lost their fuzzy wuzzies no one needs to lose anything else and 2. Its just not polite. 
I do allow him to re-mount at the proper end because I know for Bandit its how he asserts he’s top banana, he doesn’t keep at it for long. To be honest Smokey is too lazy to want to be dominant bun, he thinks its too much work  I think its easier for these 2 because they have never been totally separated, only by a divider in the pen so they have basically been forced to look at and smell each other since the neuter and pre-neuter they lived together since birth. I only had to separate them when they began fighting 2 days before the appointment. Hopefully we have a smooth transition to being friends again but thank you for reaffirming my thoughts, it is always nice to have input from an unbiased party haha. 

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