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HELP! Confusing Rabbit Behavior :(

Kyoreji

New Kit
Hi, everyone. Im a new rabbit owner. I have 3 rabbits, Milky, Oreo and Benji. They are 3months old now. They havent been spayed or neutered. Benji is caged alone, while Oreo and Milky is caged together. What is bothering me nowadays is, Oreo (female) suddenly thumping her feet to the ground while all of them were playing around. Especially when milky is approaching her. Milky is a female maybe? still not sure about this. Whereas Oreo and Milky get along well together in a cage (they're cuddling, licking each other, Oreo often put down her head under Milky's body or neck), but when they're playing outside (i let them playing around in a room) they were fighting. Oreo suddenly thumping and running when Milky was near her. But Milky seems not intense at first. After Milky saw Oreo doing that, she was chasing Oreo and Oreo hiding somewhere. I was shocked, and i separate them both for a while and then put them again together in a cage. At first Oreo frightened by Milky, but then they get along well again when in cage.

What i am confuse about is, every they play around outside, Oreo was doing the same thing over and over again. And when in cage, they're so sweet to each other. I just dont know what to do :(

Do you guys have any idea what's wrong with Oreo or Milky? :shock::shock::cry::cry:
Thanks a lot! :)
 
I would say the problem is probably they are becoming sexually mature. You need to separate them all before you either have serious fights causing nasty injuries and/or babies. Even if you plan to breed in future it would be very unsafe for the females to become pregnant so you young. If you are lucky and separate today you might have just caught it in time to prevent this.

You need to separate completely, so no sharing cages and no playtime until you've worked out the sexes. At minimum you need to neuter any males before they could all live together. Males will fight each other over territory and females and females will fight each other over the best feeding/resting spots.
 
I would say the problem is probably they are becoming sexually mature. You need to separate them all before you either have serious fights causing nasty injuries and/or babies. Even if you plan to breed in future it would be very unsafe for the females to become pregnant so you young. If you are lucky and separate today you might have just caught it in time to prevent this.

You need to separate completely, so no sharing cages and no playtime until you've worked out the sexes. At minimum you need to neuter any males before they could all live together. Males will fight each other over territory and females and females will fight each other over the best feeding/resting spots.

Definitely this, its important that you separate them immediately then rebond once they are all neutered :thumb:
 
I would say the problem is probably they are becoming sexually mature. You need to separate them all before you either have serious fights causing nasty injuries and/or babies. Even if you plan to breed in future it would be very unsafe for the females to become pregnant so you young. If you are lucky and separate today you might have just caught it in time to prevent this.

You need to separate completely, so no sharing cages and no playtime until you've worked out the sexes. At minimum you need to neuter any males before they could all live together. Males will fight each other over territory and females and females will fight each other over the best feeding/resting spots.

Thankyou Tamsin, for your respond. Today i was checking their sexes. And what i found is, nipples under Milky's body (the one that caged together with Oreo the female). I can't find Milky's penis, because she/he was moving quickly and running. Is that a prove that Milky is female? They're sweet to each other (Milky-Oreo) when they're inside the cage. So, i think they're both female. But i don't know. I'm very confused right now. What should i do? Thankyou for helping! :)
What i'm thinking about, are their behaviour connected to the territorial issues?
 
Definitely this, its important that you separate them immediately then rebond once they are all neutered :thumb:

Thankyou Gemma for your respond :)
Yes, i am planning to neutering them immediately, after they're 4 months old. On January. Is it okay? Thankyou for helping! :)
 
I would take them to a rabbit savvy vet to be checked over to confirm their sex, and separate until after they are spayed and neutered and recovered, it can take around 6 weeks for hormones to diminish after the op
 
Thankyou Tamsin, for your respond. Today i was checking their sexes. And what i found is, nipples under Milky's body (the one that caged together with Oreo the female). I can't find Milky's penis, because she/he was moving quickly and running. Is that a prove that Milky is female? They're sweet to each other (Milky-Oreo) when they're inside the cage. So, i think they're both female. But i don't know. I'm very confused right now. What should i do? Thankyou for helping! :)
What i'm thinking about, are their behaviour connected to the territorial issues?

No the nipples alone don't prove that Milky is a female. You will need to get them both sexed by a vet to be sure either way on their genders.

Their issues are definitely territory related yes, and as their hormones develop they will become even more territorial and will probably start fighting in the cage aswell unfortunately.

4 months is a good age to get them neutered but they will need to be separated between now and then, and rebonded 6 weeks after they have been neutered. If you don't separate them you risk them seriously injuring eachother and/or producing a litter of babies.

Good luck :wave:
 
Hey guys! I already check their sexes according to references that you've given and many sources also. And I'm very sure that Milky and Oreo are both doe, an Benji is buck. So, what are your conclusions? Thanks!
 
No the nipples alone don't prove that Milky is a female. You will need to get them both sexed by a vet to be sure either way on their genders.

Their issues are definitely territory related yes, and as their hormones develop they will become even more territorial and will probably start fighting in the cage aswell unfortunately.

4 months is a good age to get them neutered but they will need to be separated between now and then, and rebonded 6 weeks after they have been neutered. If you don't separate them you risk them seriously injuring eachother and/or producing a litter of babies.

Good luck :wave:

Thanks Gemma! I'll working on it! :D
 
I would take them to a rabbit savvy vet to be checked over to confirm their sex, and separate until after they are spayed and neutered and recovered, it can take around 6 weeks for hormones to diminish after the op

Thanks Zoobec! I'll working on it! Thankyou for the info :D
 
Even people that have been sexing rabbits for years can get it wrong, so I think it would be best if you get a vet to sex them.

It sounds like they are reaching sexual maturity so they should be separated until they are neutered. Your doe could get pregnant soon, and getting pregnant so young is very bad for their health and can be dangerous.
 
I imagine the aggression issue are because they are getting hormonal and can smell each other. When you let them out to exercise they are fighting over the extra territory. You might find if you neutered the male and keep them all together in a big pen without letting them in/out at different times you might be ok. If you can it would be worth neutering the girls too, it really helps with the hormonal aggression.
 
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