Newly bonded rabbits fighting

Hi, 1st post into the forum and looking for some help

Myself and my girlfriend have had Barney our Netherland Dwarf house rabbit since about Easter 2018, from about 8 weeks old, we had him neutered in October 2018 to start the process of trying to find him a friend.

As we’re from Guernsey there aren’t any reputable breeders that do mini/dwarf breeds so we went to a very good local pet shop and the owner has good UK breeder contacts, she managed to get us a female which was (we believe) a cross between a dwarf Rex and Netherland

We’ve had her just over 3 weeks and they have bonded nicely and sharing the same pen.

Now since last night (Feb 25th) they have started fighting to the point where we have to intervene- tornado spins and all! And so now she’s in a seperate pen next to Barney, we let one of them out and they start going for each other through the bars! They simple have to be separate!

Question is, we got her very young, could she be coming into season? Could she in fact be a boy? Do we need to spend the next couple weeks bonding all over again?!

Any help would be massively appreciated, she will be going to the vet next week to start her jabs, check up etc, we’ll have to have the privates checked too

Cheers, Will

It sounds like your new bunny is a boy but did you bond them in his space?

Hi Will welcome to the forum :wave:

You don’t mention how old your girl is.

Iv had to split up my 2 female buns as one’s hormoans kicked in really bad so it could be that.

I thought exactilly the same thing about my littlest nethi cross but Iv had them checked by 3 vets and they are girls. Have you had a vet check just to put your mind at ease?

I’m no expert so maybe some one else could come along and give better advice

Rabbits don't come into season. She may, indeed, be a boy. Then what Tonibun said about the bonding space.
I would keep them separate now until your vet visit. The big problem is that once rabbits have fought badly it can be difficult to re-bond.

How old is the new bunny? S/he might be getting hormonal, in which case I would keep them separated until after s/he has been spayed/neutered, and preferably for about 6 weeks afterwards to allow the hormones to subside. You will need to rebound in a neutral space where neither bunny has been before.

Hi guy, thanks for the quick reply’s

Tonibun- we have Barneys pen in our lounge-diner which is a very good size, but when we’re home Barney has always had the run of the house, so everywhere is kind of his space really, we started with a separate pen next to his so they had their own space but can see each other and get close

Lisa1981- I reckon she couldn’t of been much older than a month old when we got her, we have said we’d go back to pet shop and see if we can get more info

Babsie- unfortunately we’re away from Thursday to Monday morning so hopefully we can get her to vet Monday afternoon

What’s odd is that they’re both in their cages now and just chilling out, it’s only when one is out that they go for each other through the bars or when they’re both out free roam

Hi Zoobec, unfortunately both have been all over the house so there isn’t really a neutral space

Please don't let either of them out to free-range: keep them in their separate cages - it is a matter of territory and whose territory it is, so allowing them to free range or allowing one of them out of his cage will cause problems. Bonding is by no means easy and has to be done very carefully otherwise you run the risk of it never working.

The strange thing is they were fine for over 2 weeks when they shared the same pen, no problems so I wouldn’t say territorial problems

Hopefully she’s just super hormonal as she’s great to give attention too, and loves to ignore our personal space but the last couple days she’s been a bit skittish when we go near her

Bump

This is how Beauty was when her hormoans kicked in but if she was a month when you got her ( which is extreamilly young ) and you have had her 3 weeks that makes her 7 weeks and i think that may be a bit early for hormoans.
I would definantly take her to the vet though.

Zoobec said:

How old is the new bunny? S/he might be getting hormonal, in which case I would keep them separated until after s/he has been spayed/neutered, and preferably for about 6 weeks afterwards to allow the hormones to subside. You will need to rebound in a neutral space where neither bunny has been before.

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This would be my response as well.

I would get her checked out at a vet and see if she is OK to be neutered yet. Don't put them together again until a few weeks after neutering or you risk serious injury to them which will cause more problems (and expense) long term than neutering.

If she is really a he, the same applies. Neuter and re-bond a few weeks later.

Hi Shimmer,
Ideally if she is a she, we wouldn’t get her neutered due to risks, our vets say it isn’t at all pleasant for a female as the op is all internal, obviously, running high risks

Is she is a boy, we would get her neutered to bring down the hormones, how successful can it be having two boys together as we really want to keep her, but at the end of the day we got her for barneys company and if they’re going for each other that isn’t good to have them together

I would look for a vet who has more experience with rabbits. Spaying a female is routine, otherwise she will be constantly hormonal and runs a high risk of uterine cancer - but you need a vet that is confident to do it and does it regularly, which presumably yours does not. It may not be possible to have a successful bond if she remains entire as she may continue to pester Barney incessantly.

Two neutered boys should be fine together. I find it an easier bond than a girl / boy.

Just to add if she is a girl and you don’t get her spayed but bond her with Barney then you would end up with almost constant baby rabbits.

Both of my girls were spayed 10 days ago with no problems by an experianced vet and the only thing they needed was pain meds and a bit of encouragement to start eating again.

Spaying is always worth it in my opinion.

Why, then, if they lived together for 2 weeks in the same cage, did you separate them?

Will Elliott said:

Hi Shimmer,
Ideally if she is a she, we wouldn’t get her neutered due to risks, our vets say it isn’t at all pleasant for a female as the op is all internal, obviously, running high risks

Is she is a boy, we would get her neutered to bring down the hormones, how successful can it be having two boys together as we really want to keep her, but at the end of the day we got her for barneys company and if they’re going for each other that isn’t good to have them together

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I am afraid I would change vets - and very swiftly. You really need a vet with special interest and knowledge of rabbits. What your vet told you is, to put it bluntly, ridiculous. Un-neutered females stand a very high chance of developing uterine cancer. Yes, there is a risk with rabbits and anaesthetics but things have moved on considerably. Obviously spaying isn't pleasant - as with any female animal - but they soon recover (I don't expect the males are very impressed with being castrated, either). I really am amazed at your vet's advice and I reiterate my advice to change to a bunny-savvy vet.

ETA Have just re-read my post and realise it sounds 'hostile'. It isn't meant in that way, I assure you, but I do worry about the info some vets dish out.

Hi Will and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry your bunnies have fallen out and that you've had to separate them. My pair had a spectacular falling out a couple of years ago but I successfully rebonded them and they are still happily together. So it is possible to fix a broken bond.

I agree with Shimmer's advice. The key is to have your little girl spayed ( if she is indeed a girl!), give her time to recover and let those hormones die down as it's the hormones which will be the major spanner in the works if you try to rebond them.

My bunnies also have complete free range which made finding a neutral area for rebonding a bit trickier. However you can neutralise certain rooms. I used the kitchen and mopped the floor with a 50/50 water and white vinegar solution to neutralise it of their own smells. I then popped them in the kitchen and kept them there until they sorted themselves out. An alternative method would be a slow bond, where you put them in the neutral area for short periods, gradually increasing the time they're together over several days or weeks. I think you have to trust your gut on which method works best for you and your bunnies.

Good luck and I hope they'll be friends again.

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You may find it useful to take a look at this website which gives some very good advice/information

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

Lisa1981 said:

Just to add if she is a girl and you don’t get her spayed but bond her with Barney then you would end up with almost constant baby rabbits.

Both of my girls were spayed 10 days ago with no problems by an experianced vet and the only thing they needed was pain meds and a bit of encouragement to start eating again.

Spaying is always worth it in my opinion.

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I think Barney is already neutered.