2 males in together…

[Pandorachik]

My vet says rabbits are to small for surgery like nuetering. And the other vet that is close is like in another state. I live in a tiny place, like a villiage and I need my buns speutered… Anyway my vet (The closest one) doesn’t do that. So we jsut checked the buns for their gender today. My dad checked them.He knows how! So there are 2 females and 1 male. I have another male in a seperate cage\hutch and wondered iff I could keep 2 males in the cage. Can I? Will they fight? I understand the concept of bonding. I will bond them. But even if I bond them will they fight? I know rabbits always fight for dominance and I was wondering that. Please Answer. Thanks.

[Stickerbunny]

Unaltered males will usually fight, yes. Unaltered females as well (females can sometimes be worse about aggression). Rabbits of any size can be neutered/spayed, you just need to find an experienced rabbit vet. If you post a general area (state, etc) people on here may be able to help point you to a vet that knows about rabbits for the surgeries.

[Pandorachik]

Ok thanks. Thats what I thought

[Pandorachik]

Would they kill eachother?!

[Mandyyy]

Well fighting is never good… if they can’t stand each other but aren’t killing each other, I don’t know why you would want to house them together.

[LizzyBunny]

IMO, I would not house any of them together until they are all spayed and neutered and bonded. You’re really running a huge risk of them fighting (and maybe potentially killing each other). Many people are wrong about the gender of rabbits when they’re young (including some inexperienced vets) because the males testicles sometimes don’t drop for awhile or they’re very small (so they look like females), with that you’re also running the risk of pregnancy. 

If you bond bunnies correctly, there should be no fighting after they are fully cemented.

[kralspace]

I think alot depends on the individual bunnies (after neuters and spays, of course)

Here’s the short version of how I wound up with 2 guys and a girl.

Got Pringles (girl), I brought home a nuetered guy for her (Daisy, yes I know, we give our pets gender challenged names). Daisy fell totally in love with Pringles, Pringles got along well with Daisy. Happy couple for 5 months.

The shelter asked if I would foster a little guy they’d taken in a neglect case (Toby). Pringles found him and immediately dumped poor Daisy and fell into lust for Toby. She even dragged the toys from their condo and shoved them into Toby’s cage. It was love at first sight, she wouldn’t leave his side. Sigh. Foster fail.

Poor Daisy was devastated. He sat by the condo door, wouldn’t eat, just kept waiting for Pringles to come back. Finally took him dating and after a wide rang of reactions to different lady bunnies, he settled on a curvy white rex, Lola. They set up housekeeping in a different room of the house. Daisy seemed content and Lola seemed happy.

Tired of the endless poo wars between the couples, I decided to try a four way bond with a lot of people’s help here. It went well for a few weeks, but Lola’s cheeky attitude got her beat up and voted out of the bunny room and she became my single companion.

The trio of Pringles, Toby and Daisy get along extremely well. Daisy is so very, very much happier with Pringles again, even though sharing her with Toby. He loves to groom the other two and little Toby is so laid back that when you see P & D snuggled together, you can be sure Toby is squashed in there between somewhere.

I’m so glad for him that it worked out this way. To see Daisy and the way he adores the hussy Pringles is just so sweet and the only time this bunny relaxes is when he’s stretched out next to her.

I think the bond works because they have such strong attractions to each other, not just 3 rabbits I tried to put together. Daisy puts up with Pringles infatuation with Toby as long as he can adore Pringles. Soap opera.

[Beka27]

They need to be spayed and neutered before housing them together. The females especially need to be spayed because of the high risk of uterine cancer. Can I ask how/where you acquired 4 rabbits without realizing the local vet does not alter rabbits? Do you have space for 4 appropriate habitats if you cannot get them altered? And if not, are you open to finding new homes for them with someone who has the resources? This seems like something that should have been figured out when there was only 1 bunny, now unfortunately the issue is multiplied by 4. :o( Have you contacted vets in neighboring areas? Some folks have had to travel up to an hour away to find a vet who will spay/neuter. I would not give up in your search.

[SugarbearNPepper]

Just <3 your story kralspace!!!

[kralspace]

it gets worse. Dammitcharlie was brought to me as a stray by the neighborhood kids a year ago Memorial Day. He’s turned into a strapping young man (minus the neutered parts) and he also has taken a great liking to the lovely Pringles.

Attempts to bond the four of them were 2 parts successful and 1 part disaster. Working with couples, Toby and of course Pringles get along very, very well with him, no chasing or fight, and never any mounting either.

Daisy, not so much. He wants to kill this new competitor and no amount of basket shaking, water squirting etc can change his mind. Charlie approaches him like a big puppy and doesn’t quite get why Daisy charges him, tries to slide under with all feet ripping and teeth snapping at his belly, he means business. The fact that he weighs 2.5 lbs and Dammitcharlie is up to 8 lbs doesn’t sink in. I gave it up before Charlie decided he’d had enough and turned on the little guy.

So when I get home, the trio have their time out, then when I catch the boys inside I lock their door and let Charlie out and he plays with Pringles for awhile and this seems to make everyone happy as I can. They will all lay together against the condo dividing grids but Daisy will manage to squeeze between Pringles and Charlie just to make his point.

Poor Daisy. I admire his love the for the hussy Pringles, but she in return just likes to collect her boy toys 😉

[Pandorachik]

My mom think speutering rabbits is ridiculous & that it is overboarrd……

[Mandyyy]

Your mom’s ridiculous and overboard! No, jk!

Show your mom the effects about spaying/neutering bunnies. Spaying them looks a lot better, so stick with those fun-fixed-facts. She won’t think it is ridiculous when she looks at the fact that they can multiply like crazy, are hot tempered easily and can get many illnesses just from not being fixed. It makes a bunny Healthier and happier. Also bring up, I bet she gets your cats/dogs fixed. What makes a bunnies life less important then theirs? Bunnies are a commitment, like with any animal.

Lately I got my mom into accepting spaying and neutering for bunnies, but her issue is now is that my bunnies are way too old (about 7 and 8 years) and she doesnt think they would be able to handle it. Nava might, but domino is a big dutch who doesnt really care for people that aren’t me; so she thinks it would stress her out the most. :/

[kralspace]

Beyond the health reasons, having an spayed female is like having a perpetually angry, destructive teenager. well, pretty close. Pringles tore up the house building nest after nest for her imagined babies, growled and chased the kids, sprayed that awful smell, ick. It doesn’t take much of that behavior to convince you.

[Pandorachik]

Ok ,but the reason is that my mom had a bunny as a 6 year old to like an 20 year old! She thinks since her rabbit lived good outdoors unaltered and everything, she thinks its ok for me not 2!!

[LizzyBunny]

Can you show her all these reasons for getting them spayed and neutered? Maybe call a rabbit savvy vet and get him/her to talk to her?

[Pandorachik]

I personally think that you need to get a rabbit specialist to talk to her! Her rabbit may have lived happy, but there is ALWAYS a chance of your rabbit getting cancer You need to show her all these reasons! I have 1 rabbit, Pandora he lives indoors and he is a boy he actually is’nt altered because of reasons like they don’t have to be, and girl really should. I could, but the vet around me does it really expensive, I am saving up for it though, and he will probably be nuetered this month. Good Luck with….Your mom

[Stickerbunny]

Do your research, put together a portfolio type presentation of all the facts about altering rabbits. Don’t be argumentative, be mature and try to keep feelings out of it (even though it’s hard!). There are enough facts about spaying / neutering that they should speak for themselves – especially the pictures of injuries that happen when a hormonal male decides to fight another, rabbit teeth do a lot of damage! Call around to some rescues that work with rabbits, especially ones that do rabbit bonding, see if one of their volunteers that do bonding will talk to your mother and explain why you need your rabbits altered. Make sure you emphasize the cancer risk of an unaltered female, since not all your buns are male. Several members here have had their buns spayed and they had already developed early signs of cancer, it is a very REAL risk.

Any animal _can_ live a long time in any condition, but that doesn’t mean they should – I know birds that lived to 20 on garbage food with more sunflowers than anything, inhaling toxic fumes and cigarette smoke with never being allowed out of their cage, that doesn’t mean that is the proper way to care for one. There are rabbits that live a long time eating SEEDS, or I even know one bun that was rescued at a very mature age from an outside hutch with super long nails and he had been fed a diet of dog food his whole life, he was alive sure, but not healthy or happy (now he is in a home inside, with perfectly trimmed nails and a good diet).

Edit: Might also help convince her if you point out if they are altered, you can try to bond more than two together. Means less work for you, so more time for home work / chores / whatever she wants you to do, plus less work for your parents if you ever have to go away for a day or so. The fewer cages to clean, the better.

[Pandorachik]

^ Awesome points Sickerbun♥^
Yes, my parents took time 2 Be convinced, but I did not say anything until I printed off about 100 pages about it! haha

[bunnyfriend]

I would do what Stickerbunny suggests, talk to your parents in a calm, reasonable, mature manner. Spaying and neutering is very very important. Female bunnies who do not get spayed have an 85% risk of developing uterine cancer at an early age (as well as ovarian and mammary). This is eliminated by a proper spay (proper spays remove BOTH uterus and ovaries). Another major factor is behavior. Unspayed/unneutered rabbits do not usually make the best companions, they are aggressive and driven by hormones, mostly they are just interested in making babies. It will not be a true bond. Even if they don’t kill each other they could seriously hurt each other, have you ever been bitten by a rabbit? A huge reason also is babies. Does your mom want the responsibility of having to take care, feed, and house litter(s) of rabbits? Really, the only for sure way in most cases is to have the vet confirm the gender. Even people who know what they are looking for get genders mixed up. The humane society said my rabbit was a boy….they have tons of experience with rabbits and they still made a mistake.

Just because your mom’s rabbit lived outside doesn’t mean it is OK for rabbits. Domesticated rabbits are a different species than the wild rabbits you see running around outside. Domesticated rabbits do not have the skills or makeup generally to survive outside. Even if you keep your rabbit(s) in a hutch, “safe from predators”, rabbits can still die from fright. I like Stickerbunny’s point about the rabbit being alive but not happy or healthy. Your parents chose to let you have pets, taking care of the rabbits properly is their and your responsibility. Spays and neuters can be costly, but that is the responsibility you guys took on when you brought in the rabbits to your home.

Good luck!

[Pandorachik]

^ Nice! I agree! GOOD LUCK

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