Please Help! What do I do now?!

[leyley904]

Ugh! What should I do!? My bunnies were doing so good and now they are fighting! I had them out in my room yesterday and they were following each other and were acting like friends. When I vacuumed they even huddled together! They were doing so well so I left their cage door open so they could go in and out as they pleased. I left them while I went to go eat dinner. I wasn't out of the room that long and when I came back there was litter everywhere! I thought that they were just misbehaving and didn't think much of it. But, when I looked closer I saw there were LARGE tufts of Beans fur everywhere! They must have strewn the litter everywhere wile they were fighting! Beans was in his igloo scared to death. When I came up he didn't come out like he usually does, so I went to pick him up to make sure he was okay and he bit me for the first time ever! It wasn't that hard, but he was obviously freaked. Benny was on the other side of the cage eating some hay. He has his tail up high and his ears straight up and was watching Beans like a hawk. I turn around for two seconds to get the divider for the cage and they go at it again! Beans is running around so fast and Benny just keeps nipping him on the butt and pulling big clumps of fur out! I pull Benny out of the cage and put the divider in. They settled down once they were separated. Beans has a scratch on his eyelid, but nothing major. Beans has always acted like he wants to cuddle and groom Benny, and Benny was always indifferent or maybe nipped a little, but never this!

Do you think they will ever get along? I thought they were making so much improvement! Now when Beans goes up to the cage divider to say 'hi' to Benny, Benny thumps and lunges at him! Beans tail is always down and he doesn't show any dominant behavior, and Benny is just the opposite. I don't know what to do! I want what is best for the bunnies, and I'm willing to do pretty much everything to make them happy. Beans just seems to want a friend and Benny doesn't want any of it. I don't want Beans to be alone, because he seems to really want a friend. Is it just not going to work because they are both boys? I got Benny from a rescue and I may be able to try another bunny, but I'm already so attached to Benny. I don't want to do anything drastic too quickly, but its so hard to watch Beans get beat up for nothing. What would you suggest? What would you do if you were in this situation? I'm so scared that they are going to hurt each other seriously one day! PLEASE HELP!

[vicky2]

How big is their cage, how old are they, and are they both neutered?

[leyley904]

their cage is a 3x4 with a second story that they always use. They are seperated unless I'm there to watch them. When they fought they had free range of my room, also. They are both about 2 years old and both neutered.

[vicky2]

The cage should really be expanded. Most people go by 3x6 for one but I go by 2x6 for one. If you can make a 3x6, that's a good first step.

[leyley904]

Wow! That's huge! I will, though. But, thats not the reason they are fighting. Like I said, they had free range at the time.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Two boys is really iffy. A neutered male and female pair is usually less volatile.

You can try a scary car ride and longer intros before putting them together again but there is no guarantee they would work it out. You could try.

[leyley904]

Yeah, I just adopted the second one, but he doesn't seem happy. I might end up trying another rabbit from the resuce so that he can go to a home were he will be happier as a one-bun.
It's really weird, they will get along fine in a carrier, they will even snuggle. So I might try the car ride.

[Bdmellohead]

There is a wonderful website called House Rabbit Information and Care - BinkyBunny.com and there an a entire section to rabbit bonding with lots of helpful information. Some people are extremely lucky and their rabbits take to eacho ther right away, and some have a lot of trouble. I recently adopted a second rabbit and in a few months my bonding journey will begin as well.

[Silverbeat]

Before you adopted the second one, was the first one in the same cage/room as they have now? That may be a cause for your problem; when the second one arrived there was no neutral territory. Try putting them in the bathroom, or a pen in the yard [be sure to supervise], or a room of the house that no one has claimed yet.