female is mean

Hello I'm new here,, When i was younger i had dutch bunnies, but genrerally just one at a time , well i bought two the other day a boy that is 9 weeks and a girl that is 4 months.. with the possibility of maybe breeding..well i put them together and the lady said they should be fine, she shows the bunnies etc.. well they were fine the first day and yesterday, but half the night it sounded like she was running around the cage so when finally got up she was running alright, she was chasing him and pulling his hair out and just harasing him.. i felt so bad i took the little guy out , she is very aggressive and doesnt really like to be held.. i'm considering either rehoming her or getting her spayed.. do you find that the bunnies are calmer after being altered?? thanks.. any advice would be appreciated..

Hiya :wave: welcome to the forum! I'm sure u will get lots of support and advice like i have!
Just a word of warning though,lots of people on here (including me!) are anti-breeding. There are 33,000 bunnies in rescues,and a lot of people on here work hard looking after and rehoming unwanted buns, and obviously breeding adds to the number of bunnies,but also means ppl might buy a bun instead of rehoming a needy bun. So a) think really carefully about why u want to breed and if u should and b) if u r determined to breed,don't be offended if some ppl get upset with u,its not personal,its just an emotive subject!
As for ur dilemma, i'd separate them until u can get them both neutered,it's usually the hormones that make them bolshy (like teenagers!)

:wave: Hello and welcome to RU

Get both bunnies neutered. They will be much happier together. I had my 2 buns neutered and now they just love each other so much

Same here.. not the people I have a problem with (well not all of them) more the motive and the principle of breeding.

You really should have researched breeding techniques before getting the buns - as they really do not need the stress or possibility of physical injury or becoming breeding machines - especially if you do not know what you are doing.

From what I gather breeders do not keep the bucks and does together... the doe gets placed in with the buck for a certain timespan - enough for mating to take place - then she is removed. Kits are born, weaned etc then mating takes place again.

This - I would think - is because 2 un-neutered hormonal rabbits are not happy rabbits, and will make each other's lives a misery (males pester the females biting, peeing on them, mounting them etc - females retaliate as they get pee'd off!)

Not really a pleasant lifestyle for a bunny... and breeding rabbits isn't really profitable (from things i have read etc) unless you do it on a massive scale and cut costs where you can. (Usually meaning buns missing out on something)

Have you thought about how you would handle the mortality rate - as not 100% of the kits will survive - your rabbit may be one that kills litters instead of raising them. Could you hand rear them? Have you also considered costs of vets bills due to the female and male fighting - likelihood of treating injuries?

These are questions which I would have asked myself before getting the buns. If you decide not to breed can you afford to get them neutered - as this is obviously a cost you wouldn't have thought appropriate initially.

All this said - if you know what you are doing - are confident you are going to be a responsible breeder who cares about the animals more than the profits, can afford to cover associated costs and you can handle the level of commitment required then good luck :wave:

well i have researched breeding some, not that that was my sole purpose for getting bunnies.. it crossed my mind but like dogs i understand there are many in shelters.. as far as these two bunnies i gave the female to a petstore where i know the owner, they get a lot of dutch bunnies, cuz she was just aggresive and bit my little girl, not really what i was wanting. I guess after getting the bunnies from where i got them from i see that this "breeder" is just that and it saddens me because she said i couldnt even come see where she has her bunnies and that they just live out in a barn all in cages and to me its being run like a bunny mill "puppy mill" and that upsets me. I want to give my bunnies a good life and can definitely afford neutering. The little boy bunny is very calm and it may just be him for a while.. i still want to get him a nice hutch built and a good area for him to hop and play.. so if i upset anyone by me mentioning "breeding" wasnt my intent. I would never use animals as a means of making money.. im a nurse i make money i just love animals. Im learning more and reading more about the bunnies everyday one reason for joining this forum.

hippityhop28 said:

well i have researched breeding some, not that that was my sole purpose for getting bunnies.. it crossed my mind but like dogs i understand there are many in shelters.. as far as these two bunnies i gave the female to a petstore where i know the owner, they get a lot of dutch bunnies, cuz she was just aggresive and bit my little girl, not really what i was wanting. I guess after getting the bunnies from where i got them from i see that this "breeder" is just that and it saddens me because she said i couldnt even come see where she has her bunnies and that they just live out in a barn all in cages and to me its being run like a bunny mill "puppy mill" and that upsets me. I want to give my bunnies a good life and can definitely afford neutering. The little boy bunny is very calm and it may just be him for a while.. i still want to get him a nice hutch built and a good area for him to hop and play.. so if i upset anyone by me mentioning "breeding" wasnt my intent. I would never use animals as a means of making money.. im a nurse i make money i just love animals. Im learning more and reading more about the bunnies everyday one reason for joining this forum.

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Im sorry but giving her to a petstore is not the best thing for the bun :? petshops sell rabbits to make money as simple as that whether it is your friend or not, thats why they sell rabbits. She may well like thousands before her be bought for some kid that eventually gets bored of her because it was an impulse buy and then she gets sent to a rescue where they pick up the pieces.

If you want to breed to improve the breed and research the rabbits bloodlines etc and makesure they go to good knowledgable homes personally i have no problem with that, what i do have a problem with is people breeding any poor rabbit just because they want cute babies and just for the sake of.

The reason that poor doe was aggressive is because shes at the most hormonal time of her life and was not neutered, her bahaviour was perfectly normal.

Im not having a go at you, I'm a nurse too and i love animals especially bunnies!

A female's aggressive behaviour can often be fixed with neutering. Bredding bunnies is a very stressful, expensive and dangerous affair for both bunnies and parents, and it's not generally recommended as you could be left with a litter of 2-12+ rabbits that you can't separate or rehome!

For the sake of bonding, at least get the female neutered, if not both!