silli
New Kit
Hello all you bunny lovers,
I have a question about two female rabbits fighting.
To give you a bit of background, they are c. 2 and 1.5 years old rescue bunnies who I've had for a over a year now. When I got them, Pulla, the dominant one, was fully grown and Hippu was still growing up. Apparently coming originally from the same household, they were already friends together. In my apartment, they live free range in the living froom, with a daily access to the balcony.
Last spring they began fighting. Hippu, who was then a teenager, began challenging Pulla's dominance by "humping" her agressively, to which Pulla responded by chasing Hippu around the house and humping her back. I separated the bunnies in different rooms, and got them spayed. After the operations, which went well, I kept the bunnies separated for another week or so, following the vet's guidance. I bonded them again in my bedroom, which at that point had no smell of either rabbit. They became friends again, and had no problems whatsoever for the whole summer.
Just recently, in the last 4 weeks or so, the bunnies have begun fighting again, every day. A pattern similar to the one before spaying repeats. Hippu is challenging Pulla's leadership, it seems. It often starts from request for grooming: Pulla puts her head down in front of Hippu to order her to groom her, and Hippu licks her a bit, then runs away. This gets Pulla annoyed, and she starts chasing Hippu around the house. Another example: the bunnies have a shared bed and it has a roof. Especially Pulla seems to like to sit there on the roof, as the Queen of the Hill. Sometimes Hippu jumps there, when Pulla's not around. When Pulla sees this, she jumps on the roof and agressively humps Hippu, and occasionally chews a chunk of hair from Hippu's neck.
What could be the reason for this kind of behaviour? Boredom? Challenging dominance? And then, what can I do to make the situation better? Get them to do other things as much as possible? Or is it just normal daily bunny life?
I would appreciate any comments you might have.
Lots of bunny hugs to all,
Silli
I have a question about two female rabbits fighting.
To give you a bit of background, they are c. 2 and 1.5 years old rescue bunnies who I've had for a over a year now. When I got them, Pulla, the dominant one, was fully grown and Hippu was still growing up. Apparently coming originally from the same household, they were already friends together. In my apartment, they live free range in the living froom, with a daily access to the balcony.
Last spring they began fighting. Hippu, who was then a teenager, began challenging Pulla's dominance by "humping" her agressively, to which Pulla responded by chasing Hippu around the house and humping her back. I separated the bunnies in different rooms, and got them spayed. After the operations, which went well, I kept the bunnies separated for another week or so, following the vet's guidance. I bonded them again in my bedroom, which at that point had no smell of either rabbit. They became friends again, and had no problems whatsoever for the whole summer.
Just recently, in the last 4 weeks or so, the bunnies have begun fighting again, every day. A pattern similar to the one before spaying repeats. Hippu is challenging Pulla's leadership, it seems. It often starts from request for grooming: Pulla puts her head down in front of Hippu to order her to groom her, and Hippu licks her a bit, then runs away. This gets Pulla annoyed, and she starts chasing Hippu around the house. Another example: the bunnies have a shared bed and it has a roof. Especially Pulla seems to like to sit there on the roof, as the Queen of the Hill. Sometimes Hippu jumps there, when Pulla's not around. When Pulla sees this, she jumps on the roof and agressively humps Hippu, and occasionally chews a chunk of hair from Hippu's neck.
What could be the reason for this kind of behaviour? Boredom? Challenging dominance? And then, what can I do to make the situation better? Get them to do other things as much as possible? Or is it just normal daily bunny life?
I would appreciate any comments you might have.
Lots of bunny hugs to all,
Silli