Our two bunnies, Smokey and Fred, are male litter mates that we got a couple of months ago. These are the first rabbits we have ever had so we didn't know a lot and have been learning along the way. The first thing we learned is that just because they were litter mates and living together at the pet store, didn't mean they were bonded for life. About a week after we got them, they started to fight and I had to separate them. We took them to the vet to see about neutering to hopefully make them bondable. She wanted to wait a month to do the surgery so we did. I have been reading about bonding in the mean time and have been going with the recommendation to wait a month after neutering to start the bonding process. It has been three weeks now and I am anxious to start. They have been living right next to each other, Fred in an exercise pen and Smokey in an extra large dog crate, with a board in between so they can't see each other. The board got accidentally moved the other day which I didn't notice right away so they have been able to see each other a little, which I decided was okay anyway and deemed it phase I of the bonding process. Phase II was today when I put a "stunt double" in Fred's cage. I had read about it somewhere. It's when you take a stuffed animal with some of the other rabbits fur on it and let the rabbit work out some of the bonding issues on the stuffed animal before being faced with the actual bunny. I am putting a twist on it by giving it to the more submissive rabbit first to get his scent on it (since I can't really get a clump of fur off him) and then I'll give it to the more aggressive rabbit. My hope is that he will take out any aggression he might still have on the "stunt double" and be more settled down when I put the rabbits together. I'll post how things are going and if anyone has any suggestions or comments, please chime in.
Bunny Bros Bonding Blog
- Thread starter Bville
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Well I got no reaction from the stunt double so I abandoned that idea. Smokey hurt his leg yesterday and the vet has him on cage rest for a while so I may have to delay the bonding a little longer. They do seem to like sitting where they can see each other now though. Maybe the slow method will work with them.
I am definitely not as expert on bonding as many people here. I just wanted to say that I had a couple of brothers who fought before being neutered. After they were neutered they were able to live together, and lived the rest of there lives together. One of the boys was more dominate and the other submissive. Not that it has to be that way, that's just how these two were. Every once in a while the dominate brother might give the other brother a nip on the rump, like if he was in the way of the food bowl or something, but it never broke into fighting like it had before they were neutered.
I know this is not very helpful, but just to give you a little hope that two brothers can get along. It sounds like you are being cautious and thoughtful about the process, so I hope all goes well for you and the buns
I know this is not very helpful, but just to give you a little hope that two brothers can get along. It sounds like you are being cautious and thoughtful about the process, so I hope all goes well for you and the buns
I am definitely not as expert on bonding as many people here. I just wanted to say that I had a couple of brothers who fought before being neutered. After they were neutered they were able to live together, and lived the rest of there lives together. One of the boys was more dominate and the other submissive. Not that it has to be that way, that's just how these two were. Every once in a while the dominate brother might give the other brother a nip on the rump, like if he was in the way of the food bowl or something, but it never broke into fighting like it had before they were neutered.
I know this is not very helpful, but just to give you a little hope that two brothers can get along. It sounds like you are being cautious and thoughtful about the process, so I hope all goes well for you and the buns
It is helpful for me to hear a positive bonding story, especially of brothers. I think most of the time people write when they need help because bonding isn't going well so there are more stories of problems than successes.
Right now I'm still waiting for Smokey's leg to heal a little more before I do the first bonding session. He is limping less so maybe this weekend or early next week. I have totally removed the board between their cages so they can see each other. I think Fred did a little territory marking with droppings yesterday. I hope that doesn't mean trouble when I try to rebond them!
whiskylollipop
Laura the Bunsnuggler
I'm an owner of bunny bros too! I've been lucky, my boys only ever really had one fight, and never had to be separately housed. I'd say a big part of what keeps them close is eating side by side every meal. It gets them used to each other's presence in what could be associated with happy, non-violent yumyum time. As a treat I give them a plate of cut up mixed veggies so they can forage around in it together, it's a fun little mental exercise for their foraging instincts and they love it. I like to think it builds the 'warren' feel - two intrepid bros conquering a feast one leaf at a time.
That said, they do have their little sibling scuffles. Like you guys, one my buns is way more dominant. He's kind of a jerk to his brother sometimes. In those cases I interfere immediately and shoo the aggressive bun away. You never know when a real fight might break out.
I'm sorry to hear Smokey hurt his leg. Keeping them separated is a good idea till it heals, maybe you could feed them together right by the cage wire for the time being. If nothing else, it would serve as a gauge of their aggressiveness toward each other without them being able to actually get into a real fight.
That said, they do have their little sibling scuffles. Like you guys, one my buns is way more dominant. He's kind of a jerk to his brother sometimes. In those cases I interfere immediately and shoo the aggressive bun away. You never know when a real fight might break out.
I'm sorry to hear Smokey hurt his leg. Keeping them separated is a good idea till it heals, maybe you could feed them together right by the cage wire for the time being. If nothing else, it would serve as a gauge of their aggressiveness toward each other without them being able to actually get into a real fight.
I decided today was a nice day to try and put the boys together to see what would happen. I set up an exercise pen on the porch and put some hay and dandelion greens in some paper tubes for distractions. As soon as they were together they started to fight, and it was violent. I had on some heavy gloves to break them up and I could feel one of them bite down hard on the glove. I tried just pulling them apart a couple of times, but pretty quickly decided to end it and separate them. One or both of them were thumping, which I have never seen them do. I really don't even want to try again because it was so awful to see them like that. :sosad
