Neutered and unneutered rabbits

[Karder]

Hi

I just signed up to become a member because there are times when me & my granddaughter have questions about her two male rabbits.  I have looked at your forum with many questions, but didn’t get a clear answer on the one I am about to post.  So here it goes…

We have two male rabbits.  One male turned one year in April 2018, We got him neutered last year and he is a Netherland Drawf.  The other male is a Lionhead and he will turn one in August, I believe.  He is unneutered.  These two bonded really well last Summer.  We have noticed just recently that the Lionhead is wanting to do sexy with Zorro.  Greyson keeps chasing Zorro around and then they do the circle thing. Zorro will not let Greyson do the sexy thing to him – he fights back.  We know what is going on with Greyson (Lionhead) and he has an appointment to be neutered this Thursday, May 17.

My question is —
Until Greyson is neutered is it okay to separate them from each other.  Will the separation destroy their bond? will they get depressed since they can’t be in the same hutch?  Can they have activity together for fun time??

When Zorro got neutered last year – we put him back in the hutch with Zorro and they didn’t fight.  Zorro was just himself and Greyson would just lick him.

If this question is answered somewhere else in the forum, please accept my apology for asking the same question. 

Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

Elaine & Karder

[Daisy]

I would seperate them and try to rebond them after the neuter. Greyson is turning 1 in August, meaning that he is 10 months now and has probably hit puberty, explaining his behavior. An uneutered male in puberty can become aggressive very fast against another male and may fight to the death.

[jerseygirl]

I agree. Separating them may actually preserve the bond, precarious though this bond is at the moment. Leaving them together could damage it permenantly and also result in some serious injury. If it’s Spring in your part of the world, Greyson could be especially hormonal and not leave Zorro alone.

You mention a hutch. Is their an area attached (like a pen) where they can hang out but on opposite sides of a fence? When separated, rabbits can still provide some sort of companionship with each other and may even lie next to the barricade to be close.

Just a note: I’ve moved your thread over to the Bonding section.

[Karder]

Good afternoon –

First of all, thank you so much for your reply. It is Spring here and yes greyson is hormonal and does not leave Zorro alone. The only time he leaves Zorro alone is when he has to take a rest so he plops down with legs outstretched from all the chasing he is doing to Zorro. While Greyson is getting his breathier, Zorro just sits quietly then it begins again. My grand daugher watches them closely while the two are together & tells Greyson to knock it off…

What we have done is separated the two at night, and then Zorro is put back in the cage during the day with Greyson. My husband watches them during the day while my grand daughter is at school. Basically their home is one big rabbit pen with a hole to an outside cage with a top and bottom and doors. When my grand daughter had her grandpa built the cage- we never took into consideration of building the cage with a divider. Tommorow is the big day for Greyson. We were thinking about building the cage a bit bigger now that they are bigger and need more room to run.

Thanks again. Have a nice day.

[Author]

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