Need advice on whether or not to keep my bunnies together

[TotoroTheBunny]

Hello all! I’m fairly new to this forum but I can’t wait to see and read about everyone’s furry friends! <3

I need some help with bonding my bunnies/knowing whether my bunnies will get along.

The bunnies in question is my double lion-head boy, Totoro, (who is 1 year old), and my lop eared bunny Honey, who was a rescue, (we think she is around 3 years old).

We have tried bonding Honey to another rescue rabbit of her age, however, this didn’t work so well and now she has been living on her own, switching between an inside hutch and an outside run. As for Totoro, he also lives both inside and outside and often has a lot of time around the house. Totoro previously lived with another male lion-head a bit older than him (Nutmeg), but after Nutmeg was neutered he became extremely aggressive and the boys couldn’t live together anymore.

Whilst outside, we normally seperate the bunnies, but Totoro managed to get himself into Honey’s run this morning (as he has done a few times before!) And the two often lie together like in the picture I have attached. We don’t know whether to bond the two as Totoro has not been neutered (Honey has) and sometimes chases her around because he wants to mate. We are scared about neutering Totoro because before Nutmeg was neutered, he was a little angel towards me and Totoro. However, after he was neutered we left him alone to recover for a few weeks and now he has tried to kill Totoro and bites me and my family every chance that he gets.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you so much <33

 

[DanaNM]

They are cuties!

The fact that they lay together is a great sign, but you should for sure get Totoro neutered if you want to bond them. He will try to mate with her relentlessly which stresses out the female and prevents true bonding.

Your experience with Nutmeg’s neuter sounds very unusual. How long ago did this take place? You may just need to work with building trust up with him again since he was “left alone” for a few weeks. Also, if you are having to pick him up daily to move him in between runs, he is probably unhappy about that. Most bunnies do not like getting picked up, so if every time you go to interact with him you are picking him up, he will learn to distrust you. Some people train their bunnies to go into a carrier to move them if they need to do it regularly.

Unbonded bunnies as a rule should not have regular play time together, and definitely not in territory that isn’t neutral. Nutmeg “trying to kill” the other bunnies is probably because they are not in neutral territory, if I had to guess. Babies get a long great in general, so my guess is that he was acting so nice because he hadn’t hit puberty yet (assuming he was young when all this happened).

PS. I’m obligated to point out the RHDV outbreak, just in case you are in an outbreak area (if so it’s strongly recommended to keep rabbits inside only): https://rabbit.org/articles/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/hrs_rhdv_v5.pdf

. . . 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.  

[Lops4Life!]

Hey! Your rabbits are adorable! The way that they are lying by each other is great! It means they are fairly comfortable with each other, as there are no fighting, which is always a great sign! I think you should have them spend a night maybe together, preferably indoors so you can monitor them overnight, and make sure they don’t fight/you are there if anything happens. I bonded my two bunnies a year ago and this is what I did, after they were good to stay together, and they still are- no problems! Good luck 🙂 🐰

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