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Could one of my rabbits have killed the other?

T

TesB

New Kit
Help. We have 2 females who have both been spayed and have lived happily together for the last 2 years. Both were fine this morning but we have just found one dead with awful injuries to her head. There are no signs of damage to the wire mesh of the cage/run. The biggest gap into the run is only 2 or 3 centimetres wide so not big enough for any large animal to get in. The surviving bunny is acting quite strange and not eating any veg. We cannot see any sign of blood or injury to her either.

We took both rabbits to the vet yesterday for a check up and the surviving bunny had her yearly vaccination. Is it possible she could have reacted to something and attacked the other rabbit? It is really horrible to think she is capable but we are struggling to think what else could have happened.

Thanks
Tes
 
I'd personally have a post mortem done by a vet, or ask a vet to examine the rabbit that has passed away to help confirm for you.
I'm so sorry you lost one of your girls.
Although it's possible for rabbits to kill each other, because your surviving bun is showing such signs it sounds like a stress response.

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I would guess ferret or other wild predator (rat for example).

Rabbits will fight but rarely do damage just to a head and not if previously happy and neutered. Could she have got her head stuck in the gap?

so sorry
 
Hm, it does happen that rabbits kill each other, but I've never heard of spayed does doing it, and in all occasions I've seen the result of fighting rabbits the injuries were to the lower abdomen, when they go into kill mode they grab the oponent with front legs and rip the belly open with the claws of their hind legs.

Head wounds are imho more typical for marten, ferret ect. That would also explain the stressed out second doe.
 
Yes. The suggestions of a ferret/rat make sense as ferrets and rats are more than capable of fitting through tiny gaps.

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parsnipbun said:
I would guess ferret or other wild predator (rat for example).

Rabbits will fight but rarely do damage just to a head and not if previously happy and neutered. Could she have got her head stuck in the gap?

so sorry
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I agree with Parsnipbun. In all my years of bonding and rehoming rabbits I have never come across a rabbit attacking and killing another in this way.

I'm so sorry for this - it sounds like a terrible shock :(
 
Rabbits can and do kill each other. But not normally in happily bonded pairs and as already said not by attacking the head, normally in a bunny fight they aim for the genitals and bowel and sometimes the throat. I would say your other bunny is blameless. Could a predator have got a paw through the bars? Otherwise I agree that a rat or the like is the most probable culprit.

I am so very sorry for your loss, that must have been a horrific thing to find :(
 
Thank you all for your thoughts. It was an awful shock as we have had Pip since she was just a few weeks old. Elsa, the surviving rabbit, was a stray which we adopted form our local vet over two years ago when Pip was 6 months old. They have occasionally chased around but not been aggressive.

We are trying to decide if we should get a vet to look at Pip's wounds to identify the cause. Obviously being the weekend it is difficult. Knowing that rabbits need companions, we would like to have an idea if Elsa might have been responsible as I would hate this to happen again to another rabbit. We are definitely going to put an extra layer of wire mesh around the run just in case something did manage to squeeze through the bars of the door.

Tes
 
TesB said:
Thank you all for your thoughts. It was an awful shock as we have had Pip since she was just a few weeks old. Elsa, the surviving rabbit, was a stray which we adopted form our local vet over two years ago when Pip was 6 months old. They have occasionally chased around but not been aggressive.

We are trying to decide if we should get a vet to look at Pip's wounds to identify the cause. Obviously being the weekend it is difficult. Knowing that rabbits need companions, we would like to have an idea if Elsa might have been responsible as I would hate this to happen again to another rabbit. We are definitely going to put an extra layer of wire mesh around the run just in case something did manage to squeeze through the bars of the door.

Tes
Click to expand...


I'm glad you've posted to RU and welcome :wave:

I think it might be an idea to get some kind of closure on this, as it sounds unusual. A vet may recognise something and give you an idea how it may have happened.

Take care Tes xx
 
We had a happy bonded pair and one evening found her ear ripped off, nothing could get in, however something could grab an ear through the bars, it was a fox. She survived and the pair stayed happily bonded. My gut instinct is definitely some other animal.
 
I'm so sorry you've had such a tragedy. I too, would suggest it could, have been a rat. I hope you have taken the surviving bunny in somewhere, where she's safe. We have recently been plagued with rats. The first time in over 30 years of rabbit keeping. The rats like the fatballs we put out for the birds. We tried a humane trap and once caught we drove about two miles and released them into a field. We caught 3 over 3 days. Now, I'm afraid we have had to resort to poison. Don't like doing it but, I'm afraid, needs must. They say, if you see one, then you've probably got loads of them.
 
Thank you. We have made sure that Elsa is safe in the upstairs of the hutch which is all wood so no way for anything to get in. The bottom run is already double fenced which we thought would be enough to stop a fox getting near them. We didn't think anything else could get near to them either.
 
Rats only need a tiny gap and burrow underground and under wire. It's so very sad for you and traumatic for Elsa; either way she's lost her partner. I have two bonded girls, Heather and Rosie, they were used for breeding and were seized by the rspca. They were kept together at rescue and as Heather was pregnant, Rosie was spayed and put up for adoption . I said I'd have Rosie but would wait for Heather to wean her babes, then I'd have both together. I left them together but visited every week until Heather could be spayed. They've been with me together for 2 years now and have the odd chase around the garden, but only usually with exuberance.
 
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