Bring home a new bunny (transitioning behavior)

Question
I have had rabbits before - childhood and females several years back. We now have a mini-lop named Nibbles for past year who is 14 months old - behavior wise he is great! uses litterbox, is caged but gets lots of attention and daily exercise/access to our house, no spraying, mingles with other pets at his choosing and is able to be handled. we have not gotten him neuter because behavior wise didn't feel the need todate. (from time to time on occasion he would hump his stuffed toy.

We just got another male bunny - 8 weeks old, we've had him two days. They are in the same room, separate cages/one cage over the other. Nibbles, older rabbit, seems fine - relaxed, until we enter the room .... weather we're feeding, visiting, taking one out or both ,by separate people, he is overly excited ... if we give the new bunny first attention or take him out of the room he stomps ... when we give him immediate attention he's better but either way he eventually feverishly humps his stuffed toy. They have been introduced through the cage nose to nose - I'm too safety concerned to let them have free access to one another because of the age/size of the little one and this new assertive behavior. When out of the cage, Nibbles (older) is fine just very extra energized.

Is this a normal adjustment/transitional behavior? do they simply need more time to adjust? Is this not typical and I sign of more challenges to come? should they be in separate rooms? Is neutering the only answer? all suggestions welcomed.

Answer
Dear Michele,

The bad news is that these behaviors will escalate unless both boys are neutered.  There is simply no way to safely house two unneutered males together, or even in the same household, without a LOT of stress and aggression and acting out.  Please read:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/spay.html

and

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

for complete information.  

The bunnies are likely to fight ferociously if introduced without being separated by physical barriers, though in some rare cases males can be friends.  But truly, this is extremely unlikely if they are not neutered.  It's time to find an experienced rabbit vet to help with the inevitable:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Good luck,

Dana