Bonding two males

[Chelsea]

I’m considering trying to bond two males. The new male is currently unneutered (he is an unplanned rescue bunny) so the first step would be surgery. If I can get him in next week, and there is a month before I can try bonding, I’d be looking at a September start date. This is really unfortunate because I’m a teacher and school starts September 7th. Can anyone tell me any reassuring stories of quick bonding between two males? This seems really daunting, bordering on impossible.

I’m wondering if I should just abandon the idea of bonding and neutering and focus our money and time on building him a nice outdoor home instead. Thanks!

[Kittensmew]

I don’t have any short bonding stories to tell, as my trio has been bonding for a month and still isn’t completely bonded. Though, I do want to say that I think regardless if you decide to bond them or not, that you should still get your new male neutered. Neutering your rabbit will help with aggression and your male may spray if you leave him unneutered. It can also decrease future health issues and can increase the life span of your rabbit. I just thought I’d post this because you said you’re wondering if you should just abandon bonding and neutering. I think that even if you do abandon the bonding, it would still be good to get your boy neutered. I hope that if you do decide to bond, it goes by quickly and goes well.

[Mikey]

Ive got a trio of males just like Kittensmew! I had two bonded before being neutered (not recommended, though) and then added the third. The two oldest bonded nearly instantly. I had a few issues with fighting over territory here and there (Blue thought he owned me and would lunge at Bombur if Bombur was getting too much attention from me). But over all, it was fine. They each had their own cages but shared the living room as everyones common territory. They would play, cuddle, sleep, and eat together. They were neutered at different times, and that didnt effect their bond at all

When we got our third rabbit, the other two had to share a cage for a little while. Bombur was still unneutered. It wasnt a problem and we kept trying, but Bombur was having some blood problems that needed to be corrected first. They were sharing a cage fine for about a month, though and previously shared the living room for 3+ months. When we got Badger, we let the other two pick him out which helped a ton with bonding as we already knew they would get along in neutral territory. Blue was a little possessive of me again, but with a ton of attention every single day, he got a lot better with them. Badger and Bombur are now his babies, basically. He grooms them, cuddles them, forces them to sleep next to him, ect. They both do(did) it willingly. Bonding the trio took less than two months

They all shared a large cage for a little while (few months) until Badger started puberty and we had to split them. Bombur and Badger get along normally, but Badger and Blue fight. Badger tries to claim dom over him, and Blue is the obvious alpha. Not only is he the biggest, but he also refuses to let anyone take his position from him. He likes being the caregiver and the boss. But because they bonded so well and so fast originally, i have no doubt theyll be back to being a cuddley trio after Badger gets snipped

A male x male bond is not impossible and in some cases its very easy It all depends on the bunnys personality and their willingness to become friends

[Chelsea]

Thank you for your story Mikey, that is very encouraging.

We could abandon neutering for several reasons beyond bonding issues:: 1) we have no idea how old he is or if he is even eligible for surgery 2) we could put the $200 it would cost to neuter him towards building a nice outdoor run and 3) he doesn’t seem to spray and uses a litter box fine. A vet evaluation will cost $50, which we will probably do soon to determine our options. This sounds terrible that I have taken on a rabbit and am worried about the cost of properly caring for him, but please remember he was an unexpected rescue bunny. Outwardly his health appears fine – he was delighted to be put in a larger open enclosure and immediately started binkying and playing with toys.

[Mikey]

If you dont neuter him, dont bond them. Youll also have to keep an eye on his testicles. One of ours (Bombur, who had the blood issues too) had very bad testicles problems. They would swell and cause a lot of pain, which made him angry which caused everyone around pain. He almost needed an emergency neuter because my vet was afraid of blood tears (the sack rips and causes bleeding. its rare but rabbits have bled out from it). You also risk testicle cancer, which is very hard on a rabbit. Neuter without testicle cancer has very little risk of death, neuter after/with testicle cancer has a higher risk of death and infection. Rabbits are very good at hiding their pain since they are prey animals, so be careful with assuming his health

[Chelsea]

Yes, thanks for the reminder. I’m making a check up appointment for him today to try to get an idea of how old he is. Then we’ll make a decision from there about neutering. The thing is, no matter what we do he will have a vastly longer, better quality of life than he came from. Even if we keep him outdoors unneutered, he will still be far happier than if we gave him to the shelter or back to his neglectful owner. I still don’t want to give up hope of bonding him to our current bunny and having two adorable house rabbits, but it is good to have a back up plan. Fortunately, we live in an area with a mild climate with lots of land where having an outdoor bunny with a big portable home and grazing space is possible.

[Author]

Messages