4 rabbits upsetting night

I'll try to be as brief as possible. We initially had 2 rabbits who we adopted together so were already bonded and very close and happy. We then adopted a relatives rabbit as they were too busy for it. We kept the three rabbits separate by blocking off cages. We then decided to try and get a friend for the third rabbit. Last week she went to an RSPCA shelter where she was bonded with a male and apparently it was all great news.

Got them home yesterday. Both seemed fine at first but then we had issues with all 4. The new male was constantly humping the female and she bad marks in her back where fur is missing where he is obviously mounting her. This was upsetting my mum as she said the female kept trying to run away. Then, our original two rabbits caught sight of them in their cage and went absolutely barmy. Apparently they turned on each other in my mums words and fur flying everywhere as they were chasing each other. Any ideas why they did that? Mum and dad took them two away into house and after half an hour of running away from each other they finally made up again.

Now, the two new rabbits seem unhappy. She constantly runs away from him - if he enters part of the hutch she leaves it. She seems like she doesn't want to know although she isn't attakng him. She had once or twice let him groom her but other than that she seems quite annoyed that she is having to live with another rabbit. The poor male rabbit isn't harassing her he just wants company and to play I think but she is having none of it. We don't want him to be lonely and unhappy and we don't want her to be miserable. They have only known each other since Monday tbf but we are worried that she just doesn't want a friend.

Can anyone shine some light on this for us as to whether she is rejecting him and why the other two went for each other when they are so close!

Any help much appreciated - we just want happy bunnies!

Oh dear! Your original rabbits were displaying what is called "referred aggression". When they see another rabbit it gets them into fight mode and instead of attacking the intruder they attack their mate.

Your 2 new rabbits are acting "normal" in that when you introduce a male and female the male will chase her for a few days. She will keep moving away until as time goes by she learns to trust him and becomes more confident.. As long as they don't fight they should calm down and start to bond. If they fight you will have to separate them and ask for more advice. Good luck with that!

As for long term you must never let any of the rabbits go up to the others hutch or run as it will cause them to fight.

Can you keep each pair in separate parts of the garden so they can't see each other? That would help.

Thank you both for your replies - we feel better about the 'chasing now' although my mum is still really concerned about the humping - she is worried that Coco - our new female is feeling trapped when he tries to do that in the cage.

Our garden is open so the only way that the rabbits wouldn't see each other is if we put something over their cages when the other 2 play out.
It was odd as Pebbles (our original female) walked past the cage quite a few times last night while the other 2 were in there and didn't attack - it was only when she SAW them it seemed that she lost the plot a bit and started circling their cage and then her brother Bam Bam came out to check out what was going on and then the fight.

My mum is really upset about it all as she worries 'the babies' as she calls our little ones - will kill each other. I know having 2 pairs isn't an ideal situation but even if Coco rejected her new mate and we took him back to the shelter, we would still have to hide Coco from the other 2 and we don't want to give her up as she seems to much happier now she gets a lot of playtime and attention which she was really lacking at her old home. I think covering the cages up during playtimes is going to be the best and only option.

Are they all speyed and neutered?

I have a two male, one female trio, all happy and bonded and we still get odd bits of humping, and they aren't bothered who its with:shock:

Freakinfreak said:

Are they all speyed and neutered?

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Yes all 4

I used to look after my brothers rabbit when he went on holiday. She was in her cage off the kitchen from my free range buns. If my bonded quad saw her or smelled her they all turned on each other also. I had to move her to a different room in the house. I even caught my bun lance actually on top of her cage !! Both pairs need to be really separate from each other otherwise I think this will continue to happen and injuries can occur. Also keeping the new pair separate will give them time to settle in their new home and get to know each other. Neutering will defo be needed for all if not already done. R u planning to make them a quad in the future ??