Various behaviour question. Newly bonded rabbits.

[Kjell]

We've had our boy since he was little and got him two sisters as companions. They're all fixed and have been bonded. I do however have some questions for more experienced rabbit owners. They're all about 9 months old.

1. The girls have previously lived in a small confinement and are not used to being around humans 24/7. They are way less active than our boy. Our boy is on top of and inside of wherever he can get, he is playful and runs around a lot. The girls mostly sleep both day and night. Is this normal? Can it be because they aren't used to having the space to run around on? Can this change? They've only been living with us for a few weeks.

2. They like being petted when they want to and love getting treats, but seem quite disinterested in us aside from that. Is it possible, despite being almost adults, that they can grow to interact more with us? Our boy is super social, to the point that we had to get him companions cause we just weren't able to give him as much attention as he wants, and he's free roam and only alone at night.

3. Our boy is top dog, and he tends to nip them in the butt at times. I assume it's him asserting his dominance, and it doesn't seem to cause any friction between them other than that the girls hop away when he does so. They've been living together for a few days only. Will his behaviour ease off? They're already a bit skittish around humans and I don't want him to cause them not being able to relax. That being said, they do flop a lot and I don't think they're scared. But I still wish he'd stop. He never runs after them or attacks them in any way. No fur fly. Just little nips.

4. When going outside, do they all have to go together? Can the bond be broken if we take one or two outside for a couple of hours? Our boy doesn't like wearing a leash. I haven't tried with the girls yet. Also, our boy likes to go upstairs, but the girls' paws are much fluffier and they easily slip on smooth surfaces. I don't want them tumbling down the stairs.

5. We feed hay in the litter boxes. Our boy is used to that and one of the girls seem to be getting it. But the other one seems to only eat hay when we feed it to her on the floor. Needless to say, that gets messy. I don't live in an area where I can get anything to put hay in and I haven't figured out any temporary solutions. Yet I would love to not have hay all over the floor. I've been feeding it to her that way just in case, I don't want her to starve. Can I trust her to jump in and eat if she gets hungry enough? She knows it's there, she uses the litter box, just not to eat in. We have 3 boxes and replenish hay at least twice a day.

 

[tonibun]

Your Rabbits sound pretty normal from what you say. It is good that the boy is being dominant with the girls and this behaviour should calm down. Unfortunately hay as a habit of getting everywhere and you could try to contain it in a certain area so it doesn't make such a mess. All Rabbits have different personalities and it can take them awhile to get used to new surroundings. We,on here, don't recommend leashes for Rabbits and if they have adequate space indoors then they should be ok. Also now Winter is on its way (here) it is not good for them to go from a warm house out into the cold, unlike dogs or cats. I didn't understand when you said about one starving if she didn't eat enough Hay? They should be eating plenty of Hay to keep their teeth worn down.

 

[Kjell]

Your Rabbits sound pretty normal from what you say. It is good that the boy is being dominant with the girls and this behaviour should calm down. Unfortunately hay as a habit of getting everywhere and you could try to contain it in a certain area so it doesn't make such a mess. All Rabbits have different personalities and it can take them awhile to get used to new surroundings. We,on here, don't recommend leashes for Rabbits and if they have adequate space indoors then they should be ok. Also now Winter is on its way (here) it is not good for them to go from a warm house out into the cold, unlike dogs or cats. I didn't understand when you said about one starving if she didn't eat enough Hay? They should be eating plenty of Hay to keep their teeth worn down.

Thank you for your reply! Yes, I've not been sure about using a leash anyway, and they won't go out during winter. I was more thinking of springtime. We do have a fenced area outside where we have used to taking our boy for a couple of hours on nice days. What I meant about one of the girls starving is that she doesn't eat her hay from the litter boxes, so I feed it to her on the floor to make sure she eats. I wonder if I can leave her to figure out eating from the litter boxes and stop feeding her on the floor? When I do, they all eat from the floor, and they drag it around absolutely everywhere. There is plenty of hay available at all times and she uses the litter boxes to do her business in, but I never saw her sit inside one and eat like the others do.

 

[Shimmer]

They sound pretty normal to me as well. Some rabbits do interact more with their owners. Most prefer the company of other rabbits. You could get them used to taking food from your hand (eg pellets, fresh greens, small piece of apple or carrot). They then associate you with nice things - and may pester you for them.

You can get imaginative with containers for hay so it spreads less. There was a recent thread on here showing large boxes with various holes cut out for the rabbits to pull the hay through. I use hanging baskets meant for the garden. If you need bigger trays, look at various plastic storage boxes - underbed ones are quite big but have lower sides. Large cardboard boxes are always useful as you can cut out doorways, etc, and it doesn't matter if they get chewed. Just make sure they don't eat the card, though.

Rabbits need space to run - they don't walk on a leash like dogs. As they are prey animals, it makes them feel vulnerable to predators if they can't freely run away. I'm sure they would prefer just to have open space.