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Bonding breakdown or just a change of mood ?

pringles

New Kit
Hi we have just got 2 rabbit sisters who have been together since birth they are about 14 weeks old and they were very happy and grooming each other and seem inseparable then when we let them have a run they seemed fine for a while binkeying about ECT then all of a sudden they started circling each other and fur started flying and i had to seperate them to break it up.
I then got them both alongside each other cuddling them together all seemed fine so put them back in cage and they had a little scuffle then chilled out near each other.
There not scrapping any more but one every now and again thumps so I hope they will be ok I'm just wondering what's going on.
I'm going to have them spayed as soon as possible as this I'm told calms them down but in the meantime wondered if they do it again what should I do as I don't really want to separate them if I can help it
 
You may not have any choice but to separate them I'm afraid. If they are circling and chasing thenthat can quickly escalate into a fight. Hopefully if you can manage to keep them together spaying will help once the hormones die down, if not, once they are spayed you may be able to re bond in a neutral area. I would keep them in their hutch and run as moving them can cause chasing etc to kick in.
 
When you move 2 rabbits it means they have to re-establish their hierarchy. I had 2 sisters and the dominant one always chased her sister if they went into a new area. Have you checked that they really are girls as at 14 weeks brothers start to fight quite often and it would be a good idea to check they are not boys.
 
Thank you for your advice I am taking them to vets today to get their injections and health check so will verify they are both girls and go from there.
They seem to have settled down a bit today apart from the occasional thump and chase
from the what at first was the quiet one who now seems to be in charge
Thanks
 
just an update

Hi we have just got 2 rabbit sisters who have been together since birth they are about 14 weeks old and they were very happy and grooming each other and seem inseparable then when we let them have a run they seemed fine for a while binkeying about ECT then all of a sudden they started circling each other and fur started flying and i had to seperate them to break it up.
I then got them both alongside each other cuddling them together all seemed fine so put them back in cage and they had a little scuffle then chilled out near each other.
There not scrapping any more but one every now and again thumps so I hope they will be ok I'm just wondering what's going on.
I'm going to have them spayed as soon as possible as this I'm told calms them down but in the meantime wondered if they do it again what should I do as I don't really want to separate them if I can help it

After a bit of perseverance i put my two back together in the end.
they are now named flopsy and smudge i put them in a small cage indoors and they chased one another half halfheartedly
then smudge who was the quiet one just sat and occasionally thumped then they both cuddled up together for ages.
i watched them for a couple of hrs and they were fine apart from the occasional thump from smudge.
next day all fine still the thump now and again from smudge and one or two slow motion chases then out of the blue flopsy pushed her head under smudges chin and they groomed each other thankfully.
im not sure what caused the initial scrap but i think the smaller cage certainly helped keeping them bonded.
they have now been to vets for their injections and health and teeth check and are all ok.
Also its been confirmed by my vet they are both girls.
And they will be spayed after xmas hopefully they will still be best of friends.
 
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