male rabbit bonding

Question
I have 2 male lionheads ages 8 months and 4 months.  The older rabbit was neutered about a month ago and I am waiting a couple of months to neuter the other.  When I first introduced the two the older one (Nala) would spray the other (Simba) and he also would constantly but his nose to the belly of Simba.  They have never fought and actually act now like they like eachother.  Their cages are currently side by side and they have play time together every day.  They tend to stay together while running around.  They laid next to eachother with their legs kicked to the side the other day.  They also ate off the same leaf of lettuce together also with no problems.  My question is if it is likely that I could purchase a large cage and house them together without problems. If I can do this should I wait until Simba is neutered?  I don't want them to hurt eachother or cause them to become less tolerant of my children who adore them. Thank you for your time.  Jodi

Answer
Hi Jodi

They seem to adore each other and that means they are bonding pretty well.  If you are planning on getting the youngest buck neutered I personally would wait before you put them in a cage together.  Continue to let them have their play time together and be next to each other.  The biggest problem is that the little one is just starting to get to his hormonal age.  He might become aggressive and he may not.  However in either case he will need time to recover from his surgery and will need to be totally away from Nala for at least a week if not more.  It is better to have them at least somewhat apart until after his surgery.  That way Nala isn't traumatized by him suddenly being taken away after they are bonded.  I really don't think you are going to have a problem bonding them at all.

The best way to do this is if you do purchase a larger cage don't put either of them in it until you can put them both in it.  That way it is still neutral territory and they shouldn't fight like they might if you put one of them in the others cage.  

Once they are both neutered they should completely stop spraying and should still love your children just as much as they do now.  The reason Nala was spraying even though he was neutered is because he can still smell Simba and his hormones.  If Simba is spraying then Nala can smell it and may feel that is his territory and it belongs to him.  

One other thing I wanted to mention.  It says they were eating lettuce.  Of course I don't know what kind of lettuce you were feeding them but just incase you aren't aware.. they shouldn't eat iceberg lettuce.  Any other kind of lettuce is ok.

Thank you and if you need anything else please let me know

Pam