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Rabbits occasionally fighting - to separate or not to separate?

user123

New Kit
Hi all,

I have two mini lop brothers aged 8 months who were neutered around 4 months ago. For all intents and purposes they appear to be a very happily bonded pair and spend lots of time grooming each other and snuggling up together - in fact it's very rare to see them apart! Neither my partner or I have ever seen either of them be aggressive and the more submissive of the pair definitely doesn't seem to be afraid of the more dominant one.

We have had several incidents where we have found one or both rabbits with injuries (typically bites on the ear) which indicate that they have been fighting. The first incident was shortly before neutering and the second shortly after neutering, whilst they were being boarded elsewhere. We attributed both of these to hormones or being unsettled due to a change in the environment and were relatively unconcerned as the vet didn't seem to think that them being housed together would be a problem.

Unfortunately this week we found a large amount of fur in the hutch and both rabbits had injuries to their ears, the more submissive rabbit requiring antibiotics for the bite on his ear. The vet has said that they should be separated permanently, but before taking this measure I wanted to check if there was anything else we could try first, as it seems a real shame to keep them apart permanently given they enjoy being together 99% of the time - but obviously their safety is my number one priority. The only reason I ask is that this vet hasn't proved to be the most rabbit savvy in the past, and a second vet I asked suggested we could try spraying Pet Remedy in their hutch and run as that may help calm them down.

What would you do in this situation? Is there anything else I could try to try and remedy the situation before separating them for good?

Thanks!
 
Hello and welcome. Sorry your questions haven't been answered before now. The problem is your boys are getting more mature and as such want their own space. It is a sure bet really that as they have had a fight they will go on to have more. The more submissive rabbit probably wants to assert himself more now and doesn't want to live under the dominance of Alpha bun. I personally wouldn't advise sprays with the rabbit's sensitive respiratory system. Sorry I can't be more optimistic. There are no other animals around which might be going up to their hutch/cage are there, as thi could have set of "referred aggression"? Once again, our apolgies for not answering sooner. You can start a new thread asking for a Rabbit Savvy Vet in your area.
 
It can take around six weeks post neuter for the hormones to die down. I was advised to keep my two bucks separate until six weeks post op (they were fighting just after being neutered like your two, sometimes happily together sometimes fighting).

I parted them for six weeks then reintroduced them on totally neutral territory. I also introduced two does (spayed from a rescue) and they have been a happy group ever since.

I would also be sure that they have plenty of space once you have put them back together. 10 x 6 is the recommended overall space for a pair of rabbits but the more the merrier.

Best of luck.
 
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