group behaviour advice!

I am unsure if this is "normal" or a problem

As you know I have a bonded group of 6, with Frags being the boss. The boys just fall in whereever, never have any problem whatsoever, but the girls are funny! At first Frags the lionhead accepted Liquorice the netherland quickly but took longer with Inca the lop. Even though Inca was submissive, she kept chasing her off. Eventually this subsided and they all got along great. Liq in particular was very easy going, she got on with everyone, would jump out of the way and never even gave a head nudge. She just fell in with everyone else.

Well I don't know whats changed but the nethie has started to get an attitude... :evil:

Liq will happily eat next to Inca but if she passes her she will head lunge at her and causes her to run away. They have never fought and when I watch Inca doesn't seem stressed, she'll then settle down or eat or whatever but Liq is starting to do it more and more and seems to be getting too big for her boots! :? Tonight I watched as she seemed especially grumpy and was sat back to back with Dexter and Monty only for her to make a point of turning around and nipping Dex lightly on the back. He didn't even jump, he just moved out of the way but in my eyes it was unnecessary! However, when Fraggle joined the huddle, Liq quickly moved out of the way! :lol:
I am now wondering if it was maybe her who scratched Monty's eye.... :shock:

Is this normal group behaviour>? I know they are not all going to get on and be loved up but I just want someone to confirm if a) this is exceptable group behaviour and b) if not would taking just Inca and Liq for a car ride help?:?

I think she's just testing the water, and trying to remind eveyone about the pecking order!:lol: There's no fighting Leanne, so I think just let them sort themselves out. The other buns don't seem bothered, do they?

The largest group I have is only a trio and they have been together since early this year....no problems. However about four weeks ago now I went out to get them in for the night and found Scout and Marleys fur all over the run....Fiver was obviously the culprit. He was previously the bottom rabbit. He seems to have got very assertive all of a sudden and taken control of the group where Scout was previously. All is calm now but there has definately been a power shift and I guess there had been tension for sometime which errupted in the fight, they just needed to sort themselves out.

Hi

I have two bucks and Billy behaves in the same way to Gizmo. He will quite often, for no apparent reason, give Gizmo a nip or a growl as he passes by and when theres food about Billy will often chase Gizmo off. I think its just part of "pecking order behaviour" as Gizmo really doesnt seem to be overly bothered about it. I quite often try to intervene by telling Billy he's naughty (not that he probably either understands or cares:roll: ) but as long as Gizmo doesnt seem affected by it, its not a big problem. They do get on 99% of the time and are very close so I just put it down to some sort of rabbity behaviour that they just do for reasons best known to them

My group of 4 have lots of mass grooming sessions in between the 'asserting the pecking order' sessions - and those are becoming far less frequent now they are all nearly 3yrs old. A while back Victoria was bottom of the heap and was frequently mounted by Petunia, the boss girl - so I just kept an eye on things to make sure it didn't turn nasty - so long as Victoria was also enjoying grooming sessions and they were all eating together happily, I thought it was OK.

If they started to drive each other off food I would put more food out in more piles, so there's no danger of anyone starving - Victoria was quite thin at one point, possibly because she was always running away from Petunia, so I tipped food out onto the floor over a larger area and ditched the plates, plus gave more as they burn off more cals than my single hutch bunnies.

Victoria is now more assertive - there's not much mounting any more either so just leave them to sort it out but keep an eye on things, especially with food around as that tends to be a flashpoint for my girls - they go into a feeding frenzy and there's some nipping and chasing due to that alone

I wonder if it's a nethie thing, as out of all my rabbits my nethie can be a real grumpy git somtimes:roll:

The other buns don't seem bothered, do they?
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Not at all Hilda. They don't even move, like they did when we were bonding them.

The largest group I have is only a trio and they have been together since early this year....no problems. However about four weeks ago now I went out to get them in for the night and found Scout and Marleys fur all over the run....Fiver was obviously the culprit. He was previously the bottom rabbit. He seems to have got very assertive all of a sudden and taken control of the group where Scout was previously. All is calm now but there has definately been a power shift and I guess there had been tension for sometime which errupted in the fight, they just needed to sort themselves out.

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Thanks, this may be what is happening with Liq... She seemed to not care where she was in the pecking order but is now aiming to take over... :? :lol:

Hi

I have two bucks and Billy behaves in the same way to Gizmo. He will quite often, for no apparent reason, give Gizmo a nip or a growl as he passes by and when theres food about Billy will often chase Gizmo off. I think its just part of "pecking order behaviour" as Gizmo really doesnt seem to be overly bothered about it. I quite often try to intervene by telling Billy he's naughty (not that he probably either understands or cares ) but as long as Gizmo doesnt seem affected by it, its not a big problem. They do get on 99% of the time and are very close so I just put it down to some sort of rabbity behaviour that they just do for reasons best known to them.

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I think you could be right on the rabbity behaviour known to them theory! :lol: and I also do the telling off thing hehe! :lol:

Weirdly this behaviour is not seen during feeding time. Like I said I have watched and she will happily let Inca eat near her. It just seems random. One minute everything is calm, the next Liq is looking for Inca, only to chase her off. Theres no fighting so I suppose I am over-reacting. Its just difficult to watch but I understand its nature!

My group of 4 have lots of mass grooming sessions in between the 'asserting the pecking order' sessions - and those are becoming far less frequent now they are all nearly 3yrs old. A while back Victoria was bottom of the heap and was frequently mounted by Petunia, the boss girl - so I just kept an eye on things to make sure it didn't turn nasty - so long as Victoria was also enjoying grooming sessions and they were all eating together happily, I thought it was OK.

If they started to drive each other off food I would put more food out in more piles, so there's no danger of anyone starving - Victoria was quite thin at one point, possibly because she was always running away from Petunia, so I tipped food out onto the floor over a larger area and ditched the plates, plus gave more as they burn off more cals than my single hutch bunnies.

Victoria is now more assertive - there's not much mounting any more either so just leave them to sort it out but keep an eye on things, especially with food around as that tends to be a flashpoint for my girls - they go into a feeding frenzy and there's some nipping and chasing due to that alone

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Elve, I think I am just going to have to let them sort it out.

Thankyou everyone for the insights, it has made me realise this is ok and let them to it! I would hate fighting to break out as they are all so cute together!

I wonder if it's a nethie thing, as out of all my rabbits my nethie can be a real grumpy git somtimes

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Well I never heard a sound out of mine when she lived with Dex and she was the sweetest thing ever. Its only been these last couple of weeks shes changed... :lol: