Are the males bonded?? And wound care for bunnies?

[Jenny Cahill]

Hi!  I’m new here, but thrilled to find a place where I can get some questions answered!  

We’ve just acquired 2 male bunnies, approx. 1 year old or older.  They have been together since babies, but it is not known if they were litter mates or not.  They are indoor/outdoor bunnies.  We’ve had them 5 days now.  We have a large completely fenced backyard that they LOVE.  I work from home so I work outside during the day while they frolic, eat, nap, play in the yard.  At night they come inside. Currently we are only letting them have brief runs of our mud room because they while they use their litter box for pee (most of the time) they drop pellets everywhere like crazy.  We observed them in their previous home and they had run of the house and did not drop pellets, so I’ve done some reading and have learned that they need to be introduced to the rest of the house gradually because it is new and they will naturally just mark w/ pellets and pee. At night we have them sleep in their cage because they will just poop everywhere in the mud room (including our shoes), but each day I am working with them to help them become litter trained in that room.

So my big question is about their behavior together.  They are un-neutered, and while everything I read says that un-neutered males don’t bond and shouldn’t be together, they seem to love each other.  They are always together, they are never more than a few feet from each other and alway follow each other around.  They groom each other, and they snuggle when they sleep.  I’ve never noticed them fighting.  But the humping.  Oh my word, the humping.   Everything I read tells me that if they hump constantly, they are not bonded. And they hump, a lot.  They seem to trade dominance daily, or sometimes several times a day – meaning that one day Flopsy is the man in charge and is the main humper, and then the next day (or sometimes the next hour), Mopsy is the dominant one.  The humping itself doesn’t bother me at all.  But what is worrisome is the spot on Flopsy’s back where Mopsy bites him when he mounts. We we got them, it was just a small hairless patch, kinda scaly but not what I would call a wound.  This morning though I notice that it is worsening, and now I see scabs and the beginning of an open wound starting.  I want to take care of this ASAP, but I don’t know what to do. 

I’ve read that if I put cream on it, it will just draw attention to it and they will lick/bite at it, causing it to be worse and becoming sick from the cream.  I worry if I separate them, they will suffer because they depend so much on each other for companionship.  They are outside so much that I worry about what I’ve read about flies laying larvae in the wound.  I just don’t know what to do.  

And I know probably the first thing folks will recommend is that we get them neutered, but keep in mind they are older, so I worry that it could affect them negatively.  I’ve read about and known other bunnies whose personalities have changed completely (for the worse) when they were neutered at an older age.  I can’t find a lot of good information about neutering older bunnies.  

The one with the wound is also the less social one.  And I’ve been working to find out what their favorite treats are so I can use them to train them and reward them; the one without the wound will eat anything from my hand and his favorite treats are raisins.  The one with the wound will occasionally eat a carrot from my hand, but won’t even eat one raisin.  Is this normal for a rabbit to not eat special treats or be picky in this way?

Sorry for all the questions!  Thanks in advance for the help.  

Jenny

[Sarita]

They are not at all too old to get neutered – they really are not old at all and I would highly recommend this. I would find a vet who has experience with rabbits. If you don’t this behavior is going to continue forever.

I would have the vet look at this scab – I wouldn’t put anything on it without the vet’s consent. You definitely need to worry if they are outside and he has this wound on his back.

[Stickerbunny]

My male, Powder, got neutered at four years old. Your two are not anywhere near too old to be neutered. And it will stop the humping, or at least, make it more manageable. As for the wound, yes I would see what the vet recommends. Bugs will go for an open wound and if he is being mounted so often, it will never heal up without treatment since it will just scab and be reopened.

My Powder was a perfect bun before neuter, except for humping – after a month after the neuter his behavior went back to normal and the humping ended, though during the month period the hormones did surge. It will also make litter training easier, since they will be less prone to marking if they aren’t hormonal.

Only other way to curb male bunnies humping and marking is to separate them, but that wouldn’t be very fair since it does sound like they are bonded.

[CinnabunMom]

I think the first step is to find a very bunny savvy vet because, like Sarita said, 1 year old isn’t old at all! Bunnies can live up to 10 years, even longer! My female lop was spayed at abut 7 1/2 months, so not too far off from your boys and she was fine. The pooing everywhere will get way better after being fixed because they won’t feel the need to mark their territory, especially if it’s too males who are vying for dominance.

Welcome to BB!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome!!

They are definitely not too old to be neutered! I think we all would recommend it. Bunnies can be fixed even into their senior years, and it’s really important healthwise and behaviour wise to do so.

I would caution against treating the wound yourself. Bunnies abscess easily and while many animals can get over an abscess, in rabbits it dries out and becomes a hard ball that must be opened and drained in surgery. If the wound is even slightly deep this can happen. On the poly/neosporin tubes it says right on them not for puncture wounds. This is because there is a danger that it can get inside the wound, and when it heals on the surface, the cream is now inside the body. I would see a vet for the boo boo and make a pre-neuter visit in one!

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