Fifteen week old bunnies fighting suddenly for no reason!

I got two baby bunnies two months ago, they have always been very cuddly and close to each other sleeping and eating together, grooming each other, etc. They are suddenly fighting it has literally only just begun in this past half an hour before this they've been no different to usual snuggling, sleeping together, etc. It looks quite aggressive fur is flying everywhere, they are starting circling and jumping on each other and then it turns into what looks like kicking and biting and grappling each other. I haven't left them to just fight it out I couldn't stand it I split them up now I'm worried is this the wrong thing to do? They are both completely uninjured just lost some clumps of fur.

I will be booking them in for neutering as soon as possible tomorrow to hopefully end this that's the only reason I can think of for their sudden fighting the fighting is completely unprovoked it's not over food or toys or anything like that, but what can I do about their fighting in the meantime? They have been living in a cage together and coming out in the day to play around the house but I feel anxious about leaving one free roam overnight I have a travel cage but I'm worried about how cruel it would be to put one in the travel cage all night

You need to seperate ASAP because they will keep on fighting and even after neutering you could possibly never put them together again so they need separating now for any chance go rebond after they've been done

Thank you, we split them up already and have got a dog crate now from my mom and dad which is about the same size as their cage anyway so have somewhere not cruel for one of the buns to live any other advice or information would be very much appreciated from anybody

I would keep them separate now, have them neutered, wait 6 weeks for their hormones to subside, then attempt rebonding in a small neutral space. Neutralise any space you want them to share after bonding that either bun has been in by spraying with a mix of half vinegar half water.

Thank you Zoobec. Is this a very common thing to happen? I'm in shock I know it's my own fault for not doing more research but I had no idea that rabbits that seemed to be bonded could all of a sudden out the blue start fighting like crazy. Pets at home gave us no warning and I've only ever had a rabbit alone before this I'm regretting buying two so much . . .

BunnyMyHunny said:

Thank you Zoobec. Is this a very common thing to happen? I'm in shock I know it's my own fault for not doing more research but I had no idea that rabbits that seemed to be bonded could all of a sudden out the blue start fighting like crazy. Pets at home gave us no warning and I've only ever had a rabbit alone before this I'm regretting buying two so much . . .

Click to expand...

It's just their hormones. :wave:

Pets at home aren't known for giving good advice! It's likely that two sisters will start to fight as they mature so should really be separated until spayed to prevent a 'proper' fight.

But a bonded pair of rabbits is always preferable to a lone rabbit! It's just rescuing a bonded pair is a much easier route. :lol:

Azucena said:

It's just their hormones. :wave:

Pets at home aren't known for giving good advice! It's likely that two sisters will start to fight as they mature so should really be separated until spayed to prevent a 'proper' fight.

But a bonded pair of rabbits is always preferable to a lone rabbit! It's just rescuing a bonded pair is a much easier route. :lol:

Click to expand...

I hope it is and they might be able to rekindle their friendship after they've been fixed. I just wish I'd known about this sooner if I had I could have got them fixed as soon as they were old enough Pets at Home said I wouldn't need to sort it until post sixteen weeks (we were planning to have the bunnies neutered this coming week or as close as possible anyway but all of this has come as such a surprise). I feel such a fool. At Pets at home they talked to me for good while about health checks, dangers to rabbits, dietary requirements, teeth and claw growth, all that type of stuff. I already knew the majority of it from growing up with bunnies but they seemed very thorough I was quite impressed. I'm a bit disappointed that they very much push you to take two rabbits rather than one without outlining exactly what it could eventually entail, even though I did query about how well two rabbits would live together they assured me that you couldn't choose better than two female rabbits (I had read otherwise to be honest but I trusted their word . . .) and that because they were siblings they'd certainly get along.

Thanks everybody so much for your replies. Elric seems happy and cosy in her new home. Is it wise to put the two cages close together or better to keep them totally apart?

Personally I'd keep the cages close enough so that they can see each other, but not close enough so that they can hurt each other.

I rescued my two girls from someone who had had them a week and wanted to dump them in a park. I'd scheduled their spays in but they fell out 2 days beforehand. I sectioned off my room with puppy panels and they were totally loved up when separated - they'd lie side by side through the bars but any attempt at rebonding before the spays didn't work. I put them both back together straight after their operation which wasn't the best idea in hindsight but worked well - they'd only fallen out less than 48 hours before and the shared experience of surgery bonded them back together as they wanted each other for comfort. It's been 5 years now and my two are still bonded to each other.

If you find that after their spays you still can't get them to bond, it'd be a good idea to approach a rescue local to you to see if they'll bond for you (for a fee/donation). The space will then be totally neutral - the problem is that it's very hard to find a neutral area and even if you do, you're still something that can be 'claimed'. A totally new person and environment can often produce better results. You just have to make sure that everything is totally neutral when they return.

Pets at home are notorious for being rubbish, unfortunately You're just one of many people who were misled. It's a faff to spay and re-bond, but your bunnies will benefit so much from having a bunny partner.

Thanks Yaretzi. I wouldn't mind if I didn't feel somehow deceived If I'd thought this was likely or even could happen at all I'd have been prepared for the possibility of having to house them seperately at some point and would have had them neutered as soon as possible but it's just come as such a nasty shock for them to turn from best of friends to aggressively fighting like they were with no warning. Now I feel like I've got to get them neutered at breakneck speed which isn't what pets at home told me would be the case at all, the chap who sold the rabbits to us didn't give me any kind of impression that neutering was a matter of urgency or that there'd be any chance what so ever that they wouldn't get along.

Thanks everybody again for your helpful responses and for being kind. I have put Moonglum and Elric's cages next to each other so they can touch and smell through the bars but I'll only leave them like this when I'm here to watch and make sure they can't injure one another when I go out I'll move the cages apart. They have sniffed at each other but that's all, no signs of aggression but no signs of affection either . I'm so sad at the moment I feel silly to be so upset I know they're animals not people but it almost feels like there's a rift in our family or something lol.

It's understandable to be upset. We had a similar issue when we bought our two girls. So many sources said that two girls wouldn't fight but, of course, hit 5 months and they suddenly wanted to kill each other. Luckily we already had them booked in for spaying so they never needed separating but it's amazing how quickly they calm down after the spay (ours were fighting when they went in and have been really close ever since coming out).
Yours will be back together in no time :thumb:

Usually boys start to fight at around 14 weeks, mine were 2 days off that time when I had to separate them. Girls can stay together for much longer although there is always one more dominant than the other. You may or may not be able to bond them later! That is a chance you can take if you are willing to have 2 singles.

BattleKat said:

It's understandable to be upset. We had a similar issue when we bought our two girls. So many sources said that two girls wouldn't fight but, of course, hit 5 months and they suddenly wanted to kill each other. Luckily we already had them booked in for spaying so they never needed separating but it's amazing how quickly they calm down after the spay (ours were fighting when they went in and have been really close ever since coming out).
Yours will be back together in no time :thumb:

Click to expand...

Your story has really cheered me up BattleKat so thank you <3 I hope my girls will turn out like yours. I just wish I'd trusted what I had read and already knew and got a boy and a girl like I'd wanted but the chap who sold us the bunnies was so convincing that they'd be best of friends and we'd have no worries that I believed him.

Yet another question, for anybody who can and is kind enough to answer! I only have one travel cage right now, do I need to buy another one to transport them to the vets are they likely to start fighting in the travel cage or will the fact they're in a car be too much of a distraction?

If I were you I would write to pets at home about it and/or put something on their facebook. If enough people make comments like these they may change the way things are done.

I'd probably get a strong cardboard box and poke some holes in it to carry the second rabbit in as it's (hopefully!) only a temporary measure.

Yes I already decided I'm going to complain, I don't think it's fair for them to be selling tiny baby rabbits to people promising them the rabbits will cohabit together peacefully because they're litter mates when that's just complete nonsense! They should tell the truth and warn people about the fact the rabbits may begin to fight, that neutering them as quickly as possible is important and not a casual matter that can be left until when you fancy it and that despite your best efforts the eventuality might be that your rabbits never rebond after reaching adolescence if they fight .

It's such an awful time I'm so worried about them going for the ops, I'm so worried about if they don't bond afterwards it's just a nightmare!

Okay I will sort out something safe and temporary to transport one of them in I'll probably be able to loan a travel cage from my neighbours thinking about it they have lots of pets big and small!

Rabbits are so different I know someone who has two brothers that haven't been neutered that are years old and they have never fallen out and I had two brothers that were neutered had been together for 2 years then just one day fell out but had been fine previously, they are all so different and some get on and some don't! Pets at home do say that they need to be neutered at 16 weeks...yours fell out a little early but this can happen and the care sheets state that they should be neutered. Did they give you a care sheet with your bunnies?

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/p...re-advice/keeping-your-rabbit-fit-and-healthy

Also you have to be prepared that they might not be re bondable. Hopefully not seeing as they are litter mates but try not to let them fight again as rabbits tend to remember fights. When you come to rebonding do it slowly and carefully as the more they fight the harder it will be to bond them again.

Good luck I hate bonding!

Lady Logamorph said:

Rabbits are so different I know someone who has two brothers that haven't been neutered that are years old and they have never fallen out and I had two brothers that were neutered had been together for 2 years then just one day fell out but had been fine previously, they are all so different and some get on and some don't! Pets at home do say that they need to be neutered at 16 weeks...yours fell out a little early but this can happen and the care sheets state that they should be neutered. Did they give you a care sheet with your bunnies?

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/p...re-advice/keeping-your-rabbit-fit-and-healthy

Also you have to be prepared that they might not be re bondable. Hopefully not seeing as they are litter mates but try not to let them fight again as rabbits tend to remember fights. When you come to rebonding do it slowly and carefully as the more they fight the harder it will be to bond them again.

Good luck I hate bonding!

Click to expand...

Hi Lady Logamorph thanks for taking the time to reply. I do understand that all animals are different just like us and you can't apply a rule for one to another, but when I asked questions about whether or not the rabbits would live well together I was assured they would because they're siblings and when I asked whether or not what I'd read was right about a male and female being the best pair I was told that the best pair I could get was two girls when clearly from what I've read now a boy and girl is definitely your best bet and from a fair few sources I've read many seem to think two girls is the worst combination. At no point did the employee at pets at home even mildly suggest there was any chance the rabbits wouldn't get on or would suddenly start scrapping. Neither did they say that all of their bonding as babies could become completely irrelevant when the rabbits hit adolescence. I had come to the conclusion that I would be neutering my rabbits by myself anyway, but the employee that I dealt with at pets at home did not say I 'needed' to neuter the rabbits at any point. I'm not upset with Pets at home because the rabbits started fighting after all you can't control nature what I'm upset about is that there was no suggestion from them what so ever that it might happen and that I needed to be prepared for it just in case, quite the opposite in fact.

I know that I am at fault for not finding out more before I bought them and I'm very grateful for how kind and understanding everyone on the forum has been I was expecting to be slated for not knowing enough about rabbits before I got them, to be honest the choice to take two rabbits instead of one was one that I made in the shop because of their advice and signage promoting how very important it is to have two rabbits rather than one. It's frustrating to have asked the right questions to the person I dealt with when buying the rabbits to be told answers that were skewed in the favor of me having nothing to worry about as far as the rabbits living together was concerned. Pets at home isn't a little pet shop in town it's a massive chain of shops that makes a lot of money from selling rabbits at much higher prices than a lot of rabbit breeders.

I received three folded A4 pamphlets with my rabbits, one on keeping rabbits warm in the winter and cool in the summer if they live outside, one about fly strike and one about small animal care which had some pictures of how to sex various small animals, not just rabbits, and some basic information on things like how their teeth grow constantly and have to be worn down.

Is this what you're referring to when you talk about a fact sheet?

My rabbits won't be fighting again at all hopefully, as I've already said they're in comfortable seperate accomodation so they can't fight and they won't be reunited until after the neutering.

Sorry for going on and on, but I also wanna add the pets at home employee told me that along with pellets and hay the rabbits should have fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet. There was no recommendation on which fruit and vegetables were best for them or how much they should or shouldn't have. The rabbits were not old enough for fruit and vegetables when I first got them, many sources on the internet say this but I found out the hard way as apple (one of the specific things the pets at home employee recommended) made one of them have really nasty bloat. They both eat greens every day and small amounts of fresh vegetables and fruit now with no problems but again I don't understand why they would encourage you to feed things to the rabbits that their digestive system can't handle yet when it's information you can easily find in a couple of seconds by querying on the internet.

They should have said there was a risk of fighting but most vets won't neuter under 16 weeks so that's why they suggest that age. They were incorrect saying two females where the best pair and on the care sheet it says neutered m/f make the best care. Most siblings will be fine up until this age but sounds like yours fell out for some reason which is unfortunate. If you let me know the store I can pass on your concerns if you like so they can re iterate to the store about the pairing and letting people know that they may fall out before neutering.

Good look with bonding and when the time comes after neutering keep us all posted as there are lots of people on here that can give you some really good bonding tips.