Bizzarre Bunny Behaviour!

Hi there! Can anyone advise?

I have two wonderful bunnies of my own, and also foster bunnies for the RSPCA. The latest two foster buns are gorgeous little lion heads called Topsy and Turvy. Topsy is the female and she is very tame and bold but can also be a little feisty. She is bonded with her brother Turvy, and on the whole, they make a wonderful loving pair.

The problem I have is when Topsy either sees or smells one of my own bunnies. Her tail goes up and she gets very terratorial and aggresive. If poor old Turvy just happens to be in view, then she attacks him. They have had some pretty serious spatts with fur flying and blood drawn. Turvy has now wised up and tends to keep out of her way, so the other day, she attacked me instead. And all I had done was trodden on a dropping that was stuck to my shoe!

The results are that I have had to put up fences to stop my bunnies getting too close to their hutch and leaving their scent. I also have to make sure that my two bunnies are well out of sight when I let Topsy and Turvy out for a play.

Has anyone else had the same problem? Do you have any advice?

Dussy Hoppers [/img]

Some rabbits are like that with other rabbits. Females will defend their burrow against other females inparticularly quite agressively and if they can't get at the other rabbit then it seems like the closest bun will do even if it's their partner.

If she's not spayed that may help and it's also something that sometimes gets better as they settle. I'd suggest rehoming them to a house without other bunnies though. In the meantime carrying on as you are, making it so she can't see them is the best you can do. Make sure they can't stick their noses through the mesh to her. You could try giving her a teddy/things to throw and she may take her frustration out on those instead.

Tam

Yes mine do that, my dominant pair are fine if they are loose in the garden and the others are in their run, but if the dominant ones are in their run and the others are loose, they will fight if the others get too near - which is why I have to barricade off certain areas when buns other than the dominant pair are loose. They are all neutered, both male and female. To a certain extent I think you just have to accept that some buns are funny about others nearby, and take whatever steps are appropriate to minimise any upset.

Hooray! At least now I know that it is all perfectly normal behaviour.

Both bunnies have been neutured/spayed, so all I need to do now find them both a good home where no other bunnies can invade Topsy's territory and upset the status quo.

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id love to foster bunnies..i know this may sound naive but wud they provide you with hutches for the foster bunnies?

Um, yes, Sylvia gets very upset if she smells the little bunnies (Humphrey or Tilly) on my clothes. Over the winter she would get up on the sofa and lunge at my top if I had been holding the others, and she nipped too. She also growls at me if she smells them. I have trained her out of the nipping but am quite wary now only to wear certain tops for picking up the little bunnies, then taking it off (jacket or whatever) before I go and sit down!

The others don't react in this way with me, but Humphrey and Tilly have had a few spats after Sylvia has had a sniff round their condo (which she is not actually meant to go in for that very reason). I think the two pairs are more used to each other now but it is very funny behaviour! (she also likes to torment them by choosing to toilet using VERY smelly poos right next to their outdoor run - really you can smell them from some distance!) b-m

sxfe_121 said:

id love to foster bunnies..i know this may sound naive but wud they provide you with hutches for the foster bunnies?

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Bunnymadhouse did Course - I ended up keeping the rabbit..... :lol: