Male to Male Bonding

[Minty]

 As the title states, does anyone have experience with male to male bonding? I have heard it is the most difficult bond so am apprehensive to even attempt it. However, I have an opportunity to adopt another bun (Mini Rex!!) which is exactly what I’ve been looking for. However, if there is a good likelihood that they won’t get along, I will wait and keep looking. Any thoughts or advice is appreciated! 

[mrmac]

In my trio I have one female and two males. I think that male-male bonds are great. It really depends on each rabbit and their personalities. Are you looking specifically for two boys or would you consider a female? Is Sully a dominant personality?

[Monkeybun]

I find its harder with 2 girls than 2 boys. Its really up to the bunnies though, if you can take Sully dating, then you can pick the one he likes best, regardless of gender

[Beka27]

I think you misheard, SullysMum. It is *typically* female-female bonds which are the most difficult, and in some cases, are near impossible. Females are much more territorial than males, even when spayed, b/c of their strong nesting instinct. I’ve heard of many successful male bonds. They still must be neutered and the process carried out the right way, but it is definitely possible.

Is this new bun an adult who is already neutered?

[Minty]

I was actually originally looking for a female to bond with Sully but came across this bunny and just fell in love with him! He is just a baby at 8 weeks and isn’t neutered. My plan was to keep them separated obviously, but housed close to eachother. Sully was used to living near other buns so I don’t think this should be a problem. I also have a rabbit savvy vet who does neuters at 3.5 mos old so the wait wouldn’t be too long. I also like the idea of having time to bond with the new bun individually before starting the bonding. Of course, i would be prepared to house them seperately if things didn’t work out.

Mrmac, I’m not sure how to tell if Sully is ‘dominant.’ He would never bite or lunge and doesn’t have any problems with me moving his things around or being in his space. I can reach into his carrier if he’s sleeping and give him a nose rub. The only thing he ever really does is hop away if he doesn’t feel like being pet or is feeling a little hyper. Are there certain dominant behaviours that I should be looking for?

Anyways, do you guys think this is a good idea? Should I go ahead with getting this new bun??

[Minty]

This is the statement I found regarding male to male bonding online from adoptarabbit.org which gave me the impression male bonds were near impossible: “Male rabbits seldom get along with other male rabbits unless started as littermates.” Is this a misconception?

[jerseygirl]

Provided both are neutered I would say male-male is the next easiest bond. !st being male-female. That said, even bringing a male into a females established domain can be tricky. It really does come down to the individual rabbits and how prepared the owner is to work with them – in my opinion.

That article does seem a bit backward. It says ” female to female can also work” over male to male! This is Oregon Humane Society?  Perhaps Monkeybun can check it out. I think she joined this Rabbit Advocates group.

[Minty]

Yeah, it’s from the site here: http://www.adoptarabbit.com/article…nding.html

I think I might go ahead with it… the more I think about it, the more I want to. I mean, I have always been more partial to male pets as weird as it sounds. I’ve never had a female pet and have always found males to be mellower and I just seem to bond with them more. (I don’t mean to be sexist!) And if I could get this to work I think it would be great! I have also been reading up on some of the male to male bonding threads on here and they don’t seem to be much more difficult than the female to male bonding. 

Also, if anyone familiar with Rex fur could help me out, are Mini Rex born with velveteen fur or does it develop as they age? She sent me pics but the fur doesn’t look very velveteen to me and I’m wondering if this really is a mini rex? Either way he is adorable! 

 

[Beka27]

Posted By SullysMum on 05/01/2010 06:57 PM
This is the statement I found regarding male to male bonding online from adoptarabbit.org which gave me the impression male bonds were near impossible: “Male rabbits seldom get along with other male rabbits unless started as littermates.” Is this a misconception?

 

Being littermates has nothing to do with how they’ll get along once maturity kicks in.  I agree that this statement is very incorrect.  Once they become sexually mature, they will fight a brother or a “stranger”, it doesn’t matter.  This is what happens so often: People get two 8 week old males and are shocked when they start fighting a month or two later, and they have to separated.  Then they realize that they have to neuter BOTH when previously they thought they were safe not neutering EITHER b/c there’s “no chance of reproduction”.  Fortunately, you’re smarter than that and you know what you’re getting into.

That baby is precious.  I’m not entirely sure about the fur. My mini rex was already 4 months when we got her, so my guess is that any “baby fur” was already out.  She did have the typical, plush, rex coat.  Body shape on the baby looks rexy, as well as the short curly whiskers.  The fur looks longer tho, especially around the hind legs.  Maybe he’s a mix?

[Deleted User]

In my experience, neutered male/male is the easiest. It is a myth that this is a hard bond. Of course, there are always exceptions where a particular bun presents a bigger challenge in bonding. Females, even spayed, are still more territorial and more complicated than neutered males, IMO.

[Minty]

Is there a way for me to tell if Sully is dominant or submissive or does there have to be another bun around? I’m glad to know that the male/male bond isn’t as impossible as I first thought. I’m a bit nervous since I have no experience with bonding. However, the two buns will be separated for the first two months or so, until the new bun is neutered. Does this sound like a good idea? Will it be okay to keep them housed side by side but separately? I’m starting to get excited at the possibility of this little guy coming home with me!

[Deleted User]

Posted By SullysMum on 05/02/2010 11:47 AM
Is there a way for me to tell if Sully is dominant or submissive or does there have to be another bun around?

 

You can’t know because a rabbit may be submissive with one other rabbit but then be dominant in a situation with another rabbit. For example, my bunny Lint is dominant when he is paired with my lop Mops. Lint however is submissive in his bond to my white mini rex Neigey.

[Minty]

So it has been decided, I am bringing the little guy home! He will be here this Saturday. I know I may be getting into trouble by not ‘bunny dating’ first, but I have the resources to house (and love!) two buns seperately if they didn’t get along. I am hoping for the best though, and seeing as both were used to living near/with other rabbits previously and are both relatively young, they should know a bit about rabbit language and be somewhat social… Or so I hope! Expect pictures by this time next week I’m sure I will be on here for lots of tips when the actual bonding process gets underway.

[RabbitPam]

Squeee!!!! He is adorable!
My first thought when I saw the picture was “he reminds me of Spockie.”
And Spockie was a grey and white uppy eared mini rex. I got him at 9 weeks old, he was velvety soft and stayed that way all his life. Your little baby looks just like that, so I am happy to see you brought him home.

The others have made the corrections to the statement you read, so I won’t add to it. As far as male/male goes, I immediately thought of Chuck & Noot. They bonded immediately, though often a special needs rabbit is lucky with the healthy one who is willing to care for him right away. Since it’s Sunday, I will look for your new thread on your new baby.

[Jenna, Chubs & Comet]

After doing lots of bunny dating and successfully completing bonding with my two males, I think it depends much more greatly on the personalities of the rabbits rather than their sex. I wasn’t even dating Chubs with boy buns at first because of all the misconceptions I had read and we weren’t finding any buns he liked. Comet was the 2nd male we introduced him too and they’re successfully bonded now! It took about 3 months for me to bond them plus a little because we moved just as they bonded which seemed to disrupt it a little. They are most deffinitely bonded now though, they snuggle alllll the time For us it was about finding a submissive enough bun for Chubs and that card seemed to fit the males more than the females he met!

[Andi]

Congratulations!

I have 2 neutered male pairs, one I bonded that was a three some with a unspayed female, the other someone else bonded. The two i bonded are now bonded to another male and a female as well.
With other critters, I have found bonding always much more difficult with females then males, but I’ve not had to bond 2 female rabbits yet, so don’t have any experiance with them.

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