Rabbits!

[fawkestheman]

Hey rabbit and chicken people out there! I didn't know if anyone could give me advice on a rabbit problem? I have 2 male rabbits, one indoor thats neutered and 5 years old, the other 1 1/2 outdoor not neutered. So its getting to be that cold time of year again and i didn't know if i should move my outdoor bunny inside, in my garage or what? Any ideas? Also, when i let my 2 boys together theres often a game called chasing and humping that takes place and i didn't know if i got my other bunny neutered if they could get along better? Let my know your thoughts!

 

[Bunnylady]

My rabbits live outside all year. As long as they have shelter and adequate amounts of food and (especially!) water, pet rabbits can probably deal with any wintertime temps that humans are likely to expose them to. Keeping the rabbit in the garage will mean a need for very regular cleaning, but if you have a house rabbit you already know about that.

Whether any two rabbits will get along depends partly on the rabbits, but two unrelated males is probably the least likely combination to work. Unaltered male rabbits are usually hopping hormones; they will hump anything that sits still for it. Neutering a male rabbit takes the testosterone out of the picture, but not necessarily the behavior; some people will tell you about owning altered pairs that regularly go through the motions. Mounting behavior is a dominance display that even does perform; even rabbits that get along beautifully have to work out a pecking order among themselves.

So I guess you could say my answer is a big "maybe." Neutering your other male may cool a bit of the aggression, but whether your boys will ever be best buddies is really hard to say. Letting them get to know each other on neutral territory helps, as does having enough space to get away from each other if they want to. It's best not to leave them together until you are sure they are really good together, rabbits can do serious damage to each other in a big hurry.

 

[arielleacres]

I would say it would depend on the rabbit breed and your location. For example we have angora rabbits and they are left in the barn, unheated, during the winter. During the winter we do get down to 40 below zero Fahrenheit with high winds and chill factor during the winter though because we are in northern ny. If you live in Georgia obviously your weather will be different so it may help to tell us your winter weather degrees

 

[fawkestheman]

I live in MA so it can get to -30 tops probably. My outdoor bunny has pretty thin fur and is very skinny so I just didn't know what would be best for him.

 

[islandgirl82]

If humping is all that is going on, there's a chance they could live together harmoniously but it still depends on the individuals. If you have no intention of breeding your outdoor boy, I would get him neutered because that not only will help reduce the amount of humping, that can also help reduce his spraying.

This site was a tremendous help when I was bonding my rabbits:

http://cottontails-rescue.org.uk/information/bonding-bunnies/

 

[arielleacres]

From your description it does not sounds like your rabbit is made to with stand cold weather so my suggestion is to bring him inside. He may survive outside but i imagine it would be a harsh time for him since he doesn't have much fat or fur and you might lose him. Keeping him in the garage may be ok,again i dont know if its connected to your house so even if it is not heated it will still be warmer then a separated garage. I would say keeping him in none winter conditions would be best though, good luck.

 

[funnychicks]