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Re-bonding fighting rabbits

Ingrid

New Kit
Hello,

I have two female rabbits who have lived together since they were babies, they are different races but about the same size. They have always enjoyed each others company (washing each other, sleeping next to each other etc.) but have recently began to fight, I guess that it's because they have reached sexual maturity (one is six months, the other five). More than fighting its Coco bullying Lichy, biting and tearing of her fur, and Lichy running to hide wherever she can. Last week we had to take Lichy to the vet because Coco had teared of fur to create a 2 times 2 bold red patch on her back, we hadn't realized the bullying was that bad, since then we have them separated.

The thing is that we always wanted to find a male rabbit for Litchy and get baby rabbits in early fall. What I wanted to ask is if it's worth trying to neuter only Coco (the bully) and then reintroduce them to each other or is there no chance for them to be friends again unless both of them are neutered? Keeping them separated means a lot less space for both of them than if they could share. Any advice very appreciated, thanks!
 
Hello! I had 2 sisters one bullied the other so I had thrm both neutered but the bully still carried on. Now the 2 both live separately with their boyfriends and are so happy. The bully is so sweet with her man, you would never believe how she treated her sister. So, ime, it won't work.
 
You need to have both of them neutered as soon as possible - if the fighting continues you stand very little chance of rebonding them. Apart from that, there are severe health implications for unneutered rabbits, ie about 90% will develop uterine cancer by the age of 5.
 
I would have them both spayed asap as Babsie said. Personally I would never advise breeding, there are tens of thousands of rabbits in rescues needing homes already :cry:
 
Hello,

I have two female rabbits who have lived together since they were babies, they are different races but about the same size. They have always enjoyed each others company (washing each other, sleeping next to each other etc.) but have recently began to fight, I guess that it's because they have reached sexual maturity (one is six months, the other five). More than fighting its Coco bullying Lichy, biting and tearing of her fur, and Lichy running to hide wherever she can. Last week we had to take Lichy to the vet because Coco had teared of fur to create a 2 times 2 bold red patch on her back, we hadn't realized the bullying was that bad, since then we have them separated.

The thing is that we always wanted to find a male rabbit for Litchy and get baby rabbits in early fall. What I wanted to ask is if it's worth trying to neuter only Coco (the bully) and then reintroduce them to each other or is there no chance for them to be friends again unless both of them are neutered? Keeping them separated means a lot less space for both of them than if they could share. Any advice very appreciated, thanks!


Hi Ingrid and welcome to the forum :wave:

If you are thinking of breeding your rabbits, then please read here first:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...re-considering-breeding-then-please-read-this

Also, this Forum is pro rescue rather than pro breeding, just so you are aware :)

Regarding the spaying of them, I would definitely get both done, as it will help enormously with their behaviour and also prevent the incidence of uterine cancer:

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/neutering28807.pdf

Spayed females are likely to live longer then their unspayed sisters.
Up to 80% of unspayed female rabbits develop uterine cancer by 5 years of age


Coco is asserting her authority over Litchy and although it may look like bullying, it's common rabbit behaviour with two unspayed does. This may well disappear when they are spayed :)
 
Thank you all for your advice. I understand where you´re coming from but the situation here in Colombia is different. Rabbits are mostly seen as food and are not common as a pets, as far as I know shelters only accept cats and dogs and pet stores are very irresponsible in their breeding (pets from there have all kinds of bugs and other behavioral issues). There are already several people interested in buying litchy´s babies even though they're not even born yet. But still I really appreciate your comments because I guess the most important thing is that coco and lichy can go back to being friends, we do expect them to live another 7 years at least and want them to be happy.
 
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