Re-bonding Adult Male Buns?

[harley]

Howdy!

So I have two ~1 year old male rabbits, Rorschach and Horchata, lionhead-rex mixes, both neutered. They’re supposedly brothers too (I take everything my local pet store tells me with a grain of salt); in any case they shared a cage until they were fixed. They got along fine until they had their surgeries, but since then, no such luck. 

Even though Ror seemed to be the alpha before (he’d flop over while Chata was always loafed next to him; the one time I saw them mount, Ror was on top), now Horchata seems to be the aggressive one. Whenever Ror gets near him, Chata starts grunting and shedding and biting at him. Ror doesn’t seem to display much aggression toward Chata, though I’ve never let the fights go on more than a few seconds. I’m quite sure Chata will hurt him, and maybe the reverse as well.

Since adopting them I’ve moved to a smaller apartment, and their cages are close to each other, but not touching. They don’t seem bothered by each other’s presence from their present proximity. The main problem is they don’t have much space to play in their room if they can’t encroach upon the other’s cage. 

Is it reasonable to try to re-bond them, enough so if one is out playing the other won’t freak out that he’s near his cage? I don’t even necessarily want to re-bond them so that they can share a cage again (although I’m open to that too). Any advice would be appreciated!

– Charlotte

[Asriel and Bombur]

If you rebond them they’re bonded. Bunnies can’t just have play dates with the bunny in the next cage. When they’re bonded it’s for life.

Yes, pet stores aren’t reliable. Your boys were never bonded, as baby buns don’t bond. They can get along until hormones, but once hormones kick in it changes, and even more so after a neuter. Bunnies don’t recognize family units so being a brother is irrelevant.

Take 1-2 months and let the boys cool off from their issues. Bunnies can hold grudges, so the fact that any fighting has happened means they can hold a grudge. Don’t attempt any sessions or even prebonding for 1-2 months. Then after this period you can start prebonding by switching their litter boxes between the cages every few days or switching the buns between cages. This will help them lose their notions of what territory is theirs. Considering one is aggressive, it’s a good idea to put a stuffy in the cages and swap those as well because you’ll get a feel for aggression that way based on their reactions once the stuffies are switched.

Once you see no aggression during the prebonding, you can begin doing short (5-10 minute) sessions in neutral territory.

[Author]

Messages