Hi everyone!  I decided to get my 5 month old mini lop spayed, and surprise surprise... she is actually a he!!  It wouldn't have been a problem except I was adopting a new boy on the same day (a 10 month old dwarf/holland lop).  I didn't want to back out of the adoption because he needed a home and I felt really sorry for him. 

I put them in seperate cages at first and they were sniffing each other.  As they weren't biting I decided to let them out for a few minutes.  IMMEDIATELY it was a race to see who could hump the other first!  They just constantly do this, depite one of them being neutered.  Suddenly there were signs of fighting so I immediately seperated them. 

It is always Luna (5 month old neutered mini lop) who manages to gain the dominant position, but Smog (10 month old un-neutered dwarf lop) just won't give up!

Does anyone have any tips on bonding a neautered male with an intact one?  I'm very inexperienced with rabbits and I don't want them to get hurt.  I'm going crazy here - I hate keeping my Luna in a cage! 

I really have zero experience with bonding, but I will say I just adopted a neutered rabbit, to join my home with my intact male rabbit.  The intact boy, Zeus, is getting fixed before we start the bonding.  For now they can visit through the cage bars, and there's been no fighting.  They're very curious of one another.  So I would say bonding two males is most definitely possible, it just depends on personalities.  Zeus is a very laid back, doesn't care about anything bun.  West is a more timid bun, so Zeus's laidback nature should work really well with West.

Posted By lunalove on 01/05/2012 07:36 AM
thanks for the replies everyone!

I've made an appointment for Smog to get neutered in 4 days time

Sarita - If the bonding really doesn't work out I may have to give him away (not to just anybody though - I would ask them about their home, accomodation, other pets, experience with rabbits etc) because I am a full-time student. I wanted a companion for Luna so she (I've decided to keep calling her she haha) doesn't get lonely when I am at lectures. I would feel so guilty if I had two lonely rabbits all locked up in cages all day! I couldn't do that to any living creature.

But even if you screen a potential adopter very well, it still ultimately comes down to once that bun is out of your hands, you have no idea what kind of care they will receive, and if you realize they ARE receiving poor care, there will be nothing you can do about it.  Are you comfortable with knowing that?
 

not really   I seriously messed this up, all I wanted was a friend for Luna   It would have gone so well if she hadn't turned out to be a boy!  I just hate having the bunnies in cages, it makes me really upset and I couldn't bear it if they had to spend their whole lives practically living in a little bunny jail.  Urgh, I messed up so bad!!

Posted By lunalove on 01/05/2012 10:53 AM
Ok, I'll try to stop freaking out haha. I just hopehopehope they can bond, because I care about them both so much, they're like my babies lol! I just want them both to have good lives you know? And Luna hasn't been in her cage in weeks... so when I put her (him lol) in today she stared at me and got onto her hind legs, begging me to let her out
I recently got a two story cage so there's more room, and if the bunnies bond they would only be in their cage for 8 hours a day, max.
I've been googling like crazy and it's upsetting stuff - so many people are adamant that two males can never bond/it's very unlikely! Doesn't make me feel very confident :/
But again thanks for the replies, as I said I'm new at all of this stuff and I just want them both to be happy x

I really think you have a very good chance of bonding them.  Like I said, I have two boys in my house, and they enjoy visiting through the bars already, and it's only been a few days, and one of them hasn't even been neutered yet.

Browse through the bonding section, and read some stories on some male-male bonds.  It'll make you feel better to know other peoples' experiences.

My trio has 2 boys and they get along just great. They were each pair bonded at one time or the other with Pringles so you would think they would be very jealous of each other but they snuggle and groom each other as much as they do Pringles.

I have my single charlie in the connecting condo and he does very well by himself. He can lay next to the grids in touch with the others (except Daisy) if they want or just hang out looking at each other.

If you haven't visited the website about how bunnies talk to each other, please do. It will make you feel a lot better because bunnies do spend a lot of time just laying around looking at each other as much as actively touching or grooming. And sleeping most of the day. We may think it's lonely, but it's just bunnies being bunnies. If the 2 of them get along well but in separate condos, that wouldn't be bad at all and they might eventually get so used to each other that more interaction would be possible.

I like the page on "Gazing"...lol Good luck

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/

PS, don't feel bad. Pringles went from  girl to boy to girl

Daisy was certified girl then boy..lol