Pairing of 2 male Rabbits

[sharpy]

Hi

I had archie our 14 week old rabbit now for about 4/5 weeks now, He looked lonelly so wee decided to get him a friend. Wee bought an 8 week old rabbit PS they look like twins. ones bigger, wee tried to introduce the little one and the older one together tonight. The older one went straight in to hump the little one. Is this a common thing to happen? Any advice on what wee can do. :?

John

 

[ldoerr]

Humping is very common. You need to be prepaired to house them serporatly for their entire lives incase they do not bond. Both will need to be spayed/neutered before you bond them. It can be very tricky to bond 2 males. Be ready for a fight when they hit 4-6months of age. This is when the hormones kick in.

 

[LakeCondo]

Lauren's right. Even siblings, who seem to be bonded as babies, lose it when their hormones kick in. Maybe they will bond, but you'll have to wait until after neutering to start a bonding process. It's too bad you can't turn back the clock & wait until the 1st rabbit was neutered, then let him choose a companion via speed-dates at a shelter/rescue.

 

[Dutchbrothers]

We started with two brothers. As soon a the first one started humping the other, they were neutered at three months of age. Some thought it was too young but we had it done anyways and they were fine ever since. They had a very strong bond until one was killed by a bob cat. That's why we got him a female friend from the shelter this time.

 

[Imbrium]

ldoerr wrote:

Humping is very common. You need to be prepaired to house them serporatly for their entire lives incase they do not bond. Both will need to be spayed/neutered before you bond them. It can be very tricky to bond 2 males. Be ready for a fight when they hit 4-6months of age. This is when the hormones kick in.

actually, 4-6 mos is normal for females; 3-4 mos for males - the 14 week old male could easily be hormonal already.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Neuter, then bond. Our vet says around 4 months is good, but they can be snipped as soon as the bits show.

 

[sugarbunnies]

Just be aware that two bucks are very hard to bond. It is possible but hard. I had two bucks around the same age that would not bond, at all, in the tiniest bit. They were both neutered a while before they met, so there was no hormonal issue.

Due to the fighting, I had to take him back to the rescue shelter, but Nikolai and Mischa instantly took to each other at an adoption event.

 

[agnesthelion]

Ditto to everyone else's posts. Definetly have them neutered before attempting a bond. The baby isn't going to fight back yet because he has not reached sexual maturity, so even if they "appear" to get along, once sexual maturity hits that will more than likely change, especially with two unaltered bucks!

Oh and i have an Archie too btw