Male / male help please

[Jubrat]

i’ve had my bun for about 2 yrs now. i felt he was bored and might be a little lonely so it’s been a few weeks since i have been searching for a female but no luck so i brought in another male around similar age. i think they are quite fond of each other but i did let them interact and my bun just seems to hump and the other bun just tries to run but doesn’t have such a great grip of our floor maybe because he was a school pet. i get too worried and seperate them almost after a few minutes. i don’t think i know what i’m doing. no fighting, growling or nipping tho. does anyone know how i should go about this bonding? my boy is free roam so hes constantly running back and forth maybe wanting me to bring out the other bun? they do lay next to each other through the fence. help

[DanaNM]

Hi there, I recommend reading up a bit more on the bonding process. Here is a good starting point:

https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

First you need to let the new bunny settle in for about a week or two without interacting with the other bun. You should have their pens set up side by side so they can start to get to know each other. Next you should swap which bun is in which pen every day or two for another week or two, to help them get acclimated to each other’s scents and loose track of territory. If one bun is fully free roam then it would be helpful to pen him as well temporarily. He won’t like it, but it will be helpful for the process.

Next, while continuing the cage swaps, you will do supervised dates in a neutral territory, so this should be an area of your home your original doesn’t go. This can be tricky with a free roam rabbit, but bathrooms are often good candidates.

In bonding sessions, your goal is to prevent fighting. Mounting is OK, but if the bun being mounted tries to escape, prevent the mounter from chasing for more than a couple seconds. Tight circling should be stopped right away as that often escalates to fighting. Reverse mounting should also be stopped, I usually spin the mounter around so they are in the correct position.  If they come head to head, pet them both a lot to calm them down, this mimics grooming behavior and helps build positive feelings between them.

Start with sessions 5-10 min long and work up to several hours each day. Eventually you will work up to all day sessions, then overnight. Your goal is to get them to spend 48 hours together straight without any fighting or aggression and with lots of positive behaviors, like cuddling and grooming. All of this should be in neutral territory, then you can work to transition them to semi-neutral and non-neutral space.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jubrat]

Hello again. Fluffo is the bun I had for 2 years. Pepper is the new bun that used to be a school pet. When I first introduced them 2 days ago pepper wasn’t so aggressive. Fluffo humped pepper and pepper humped fluffo back. It was going back and forth. I guess pepper really didn’t like it because he started hiding under the kitchen stands where fluffo couldn’t mount him. Fluffo then would go to the room or just watch from the dining room until he came out. Fluffo would then try to mount again then pepper runs back to the stands.

today I let them into the kitchen and pepper just kept trying to nip at fluffo. Fluffo would go to the dining room or my room then come back. Peppers ripping up the newspapers in the kitchen. Fluffo finally comes back and peppers nips at fluffo and rips a huge chunk of hair out. I separated them and put pepper back into his caged area. Is this progression?

[DanaNM]

Just to confirm, are they both neutered?

Are you doing all of the interactions in neutral territory? They should only be allowed to interact in places that are completely neutral, so not within sight of their home areas, or any areas where either bun has been before.

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Jubrat]

Yes ma’am both neutered.

fluffo has sight of his home area and bounces back and forth. Pepper stays in the kitchen. He doesn’t even come out when I open the gate to his enclosure. Should I be keeping them both in the kitchen without letting fluffo go back and forth to his home area?

[DanaNM]

It seems to work best to have both bunnies living side by side in the same area during the bonding process, making sure they can’t nip each other through fencing or jump into each other’s areas. Then you swap who’s on which side every day or two. You can let them out to exercise at different times.

And for actual meetings between them, they really need to be in a completely neutral space. Bathrooms or bathtubs tend to work well for this.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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