Bonding two males! Advice!

[mjuds]

Hi all, hoping for some advice from those that are more experienced than I am!

2 months ago I rescued a 2.5yr old (desexed) bunny, he has been a free range bunny in my house the whole time. I thought I would get him a friend since I am at work 40hrs a week so on the weekend I rescued another male (also desexed), 5 months old. 

I have read countless articles, forums and watched a million videos and I know it’s only been a couple of days but I am getting quite disheartened. 

When we met for the playdate they were getting on well. Bunny A (current bunny) was submissive and letting Bunny B mount him and there wasn’t any aggression. However, when I got home, the first time I put them together (outside in a pen) they got into multiple big fights. Growling, fur pulling etc. I freaked out and grabbed them both and split them up. After reading about stress bonding I tried to put them in a carrier together and carry them around the house and shake the box – neither of them seemed to care about it and just kept trying to get out of the box until I eventually let them.

Yesterday I tried them in the bath. There was again lots of aggression and Bunny B keeps biting Bunny A. I used a dustpan to keep separating them but it got to the point that I was scared to even let them get close because I don’t want a skin breaking bite on Bunny A. Lots of articles say don’t try and get in the middle of it too quickly and let them fight it out a bit but I really don’t know how I can do that as I am sure one of them will get seriously hurt. At the same time, I am unsure if I am hindering the process by not letting them ‘fight it out’. I ended the session with forced pats. They were head to toe in the path and I pat them for about 5mins before ending the session. 

I don’t know if I should just give up on trying two males together and write it off as a lost cause as I don’t know how to stop the aggression and how much to let them fight before I stop them. When Bunny B is in his cage Bunny A goes up and they sniff each other. There is no biting (or attempts) through the cage. Seems to be the only time this is the case! I have done the whole swapping things in their cage etc and putting them in one anothers cage and generally they just sniff around and do a few poops!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[Mikey]

Dont ever let bunnies fight it out. Letting them fight it out will cause them to be seriously hurt and/or damage their willingness to bond in the future. Its good that you stopped the fights. Ending the session on a good note is also very good on your part

Nipping is ok, but biting is not. You can kind of tell the difference because nips will be quick and no fur will be pulled. Bites are usually longer, deeper into the fur, and often the bunny who bit will have fur in their mouth afterwards. Chasing must be stopped as soon as it starts. Mounting is ok for about 10 seconds or if you notice the bottom bunny is starting to stress out. Never allow face mounting as it could lead to the top buns parts being bitten

I would keep swapping their cages for a month or so to give them more time to get more comfortable with one anothers smell in their territory

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