Yesterday I got 2 male rabbits. I was told they are half brothers. One brother, George, was the runt of the litter. His mother died directly after giving birth and so he was hand raised. The other brother, Lucas, has a different mom but same dad, a flemish giant. They were kept in a large horse stall with about 15 other bunnies. Most of them were young males, some were older females. When I brought them home yesterday, they cuddled and slept together in their cage and ate together. Today, when I let them out to free roam, Lucas started chasing George and it ended up in a big fight. George then stayed in the corner of the room while Lucas explored. Back in their cage, they are completely fine with each other and are back to cuddling. Is this normal? Should I keep them in their cage for a few days until they get used to being here? Should I free roam separately?
Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:
I am guessing they are still intact? What are their ages?
Intact males seldom get along long-term. They will seem to get along when they are still young, but hormones will affect that.
They should remain together in their cage for a minimum of 48 hours when brought to a new home. After the 48 hour period, they should only be allowed out in a very limited space. A good way to do this is to wrap an ex-pen around the cage.
Offering too much space at once typically leads to territorial fighting. It also makes them nervous -- especially in new surroundings. Free roaming shouldn't happen all at once, but in gradual baby steps. Here is more on how to free roam:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/free-roaming-how-to.html
Their ages will help determine when they may need to be separated (if they are still intact).
Intact males seldom get along long-term. They will seem to get along when they are still young, but hormones will affect that.
They should remain together in their cage for a minimum of 48 hours when brought to a new home. After the 48 hour period, they should only be allowed out in a very limited space. A good way to do this is to wrap an ex-pen around the cage.
Offering too much space at once typically leads to territorial fighting. It also makes them nervous -- especially in new surroundings. Free roaming shouldn't happen all at once, but in gradual baby steps. Here is more on how to free roam:
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/free-roaming-how-to.html
Their ages will help determine when they may need to be separated (if they are still intact).
This is normal and you need to separate them asap or they won't stop fighting and can kill or seriously damage each other. You didn't say what age are they but they sound like between 3 and 6 months so just babies can be together but when they get hormonal they will need to sort out the dominance and territory and two unfixed males will fight until there's only one left.
Best would be separating them immediately and neutering both, but you will need to keep them separately for 8 weeks after neutering because they will still be hormonal. Also it would be best to keep them so they can't see and smell each other so they hopefully will forget each other and you'll be able to introduce them to each other as completely new rabbits, maybe they will bond. But maybe not.
Since you sound like a new person to rabbits I would return one to their previous home and keep the other one as a single rabbit. If you want to get him a friend in the future you need to neuter him and after 8+ weeks you can try finding already fixed female (also at least one months after neutering) and try bonding them. Bonding can be tricky sometimes and no guarantee that two rabbits will bond. You can do some research on bonding, on this site on youtube or google, sometimes it is very very difficult.
It is said that male and female are easier to bond but it depends on their personalities. Sometimes two fixed males can be bonded as well. As I said, after two months at least after neutering, you need to go for short bonding sessions first and you need to do it in a neutral territory so they won't feel like another rabbit is just invader and needs to get out from my home.
If you leave them be just separated for a few days they will keep fighting after you put them together, they will never stop.
Last edited:
Donnie Rabbit
New Member
Go figure..men 
As Blue eyes said, we would need to know their ages first
