Litter Mates, males first fight - HELP!

[Claire3688]

Hi

I rescued two litter mates at 9 weeks old, I was advised male and Female, Lillie and Peter we decided on

At the rescue centre they shared an outdoor hutch and when we brought them home we placed them in a 7ft dog Crate indoors which has their bed and food etc in, and they have free roam of the downstairs of the house when we are also at home

they have been great, Lillie should have been named Dora as she loves to explore! and Peter is a greedy guts who just likes to chill and graze and snuggle with Lillie all day if hes allowed!

we took them to the vets to have their pre neutered health check and we were advised we have actually got 2 boys!!

Vet never mentioned anything about potentially fighting and so we just brought them home and kept them together as always

so they are now roughly 4 months old and weve noticed a change in Lill's behaviour especially, not as friendly, little bit attitude almost!

yesterday morning I came downstairs and there was fur in the cage but both lying in their bed together, Stupidly I didn't realise immediately that it had been a fight. I let them out and checked them both over and they were fine so as I went to leave the room I heard scuffling and they were fighting! I separated it and picked Peter up - he was being chased by Lill for the few seconds it lasted. there was fur from both of them on the floor, but neither have any bites on their bodies.

once Peter was checked over I put him in the cage and Lill went straight to him pushing between them to groom him, I left them for roughly an hour then opened the cage when neither had moved and had just lain side by side through the cage

for the rest of the day I stayed in the house with them and they were absolutely fine, infact more cuddly then ive seen them in the past, sleeping ontop of each other, grooming, sharing food!

Only thing I have noticed is when in the cage Lill puts his front paw over the dish and Peter ducks his head and eats while lying flat for about 30 seconds

I separated them last night as I was worried that they would fight during the night , I left Lill in the cage and made a make shift one outside for Peter with bed and food and water etc

Lill was beside himself and trying to push himself through the cage to get to Peter and since coming down this morning they have been together and are just following each other round

so im little bit confused, should I keep them together again or should I keep them separated overnight and just let them socialise together during the day?

They are both in to be neutered on 3rd May 2018

 

[bluebird]

I'm very concerned no way would I allow them alone unsupervised.two unneuterd males may hurt each other .it doesn't matter if they are related or not.supervised playing only.

 

[JBun]

I would keep them separated until they are neutered as there is a risk of them causing extremely serious injury to each other, and even then you will need to continue to keep them separated after neutering at least 3-4 weeks so the hormones have time to die down, before attempting to rebond them. Another reason why it's important to keep them separated is that the longer fighting is allowed to continue, the less chance there will be of them rebonding after neutering, as they can build up resentment towards each other.

If they miss each other, I might try strictly supervised playtimes together, but I would keep a very close eye and not allow any humping or circling to occur. If they kept trying to do it or tried to fight again, then I would cease the playtimes.

With your vet not mentioning separating, if they knew the buns were being kept together, might be time to find a better rabbit vet. Any good rabbit vet would tell you not to keep two intact bucks together. Are you in the UK? If so, you have some very good rabbit vets. There are a few sites with vet recommendations if you need one.

 

[Claire3688]

I thought it would be best to keep them separated, they have been together all day as I’ve worked from home again and it has been very calm and peaceful, back to normal no trying to mount each other or anything ... it’s as if the fight never happened what so ever!

the thought of keeping them separate for the next 6-8 weeks is so sad but I know I need to do it for their safety .... one more question - as I’m making a make shift cage for the next few days until I can buy a new one, do I put the dominant one in their normal cage or alternate them?

Thank you for all your advise I really appreciate it.