Rabbit nipping her sister - getting worse

After some advice please....

We’ve had Hazel and Clover for just under a month. They’re 9 months old and sisters. They are rescue rabbits but were born in rescue at their foster carers, so they haven’t had a traumatic start in life.

Clover is definitely the dominant one and nips Hazel a lot. I know nipping can be friendly, but this doesn’t look friendly She’ll suddenly run at Hazel from under a bush and nip her on the back. Hazel looks upset and moves away. She doesn’t yelp or anything, but it’s always in the same spot on her back, and she’s got a scab there now

We thought at first it was just settling-in to a new home thing, but it’s definitely getting more frequent.

Other than the nipping, they’re okay together, but no better than ‘okay’. Hazel grooms Clover, and Clover gives Hazel the occasional cursory lick. When they’re in their hutch they sit together, but in their run or the garden they ignore each other.

This is our third pair of bunnies (the others are sadly no longer with us) and the others were male/female pairs and absolutely adored each other, so this is new for us and it’s horrible seeing Hazel being nipped/bitten

Should we do something about it? And if so, what?!

Wellington said:

After some advice please....

We’ve had Hazel and Clover for just under a month. They’re 9 months old and sisters. They are rescue rabbits but were born in rescue at their foster carers, so they haven’t had a traumatic start in life.

Clover is definitely the dominant one and nips Hazel a lot. I know nipping can be friendly, but this doesn’t look friendly She’ll suddenly run at Hazel from under a bush and nip her on the back. Hazel looks upset and moves away. She doesn’t yelp or anything, but it’s always in the same spot on her back, and she’s got a scab there now

We thought at first it was just settling-in to a new home thing, but it’s definitely getting more frequent.

Other than the nipping, they’re okay together, but no better than ‘okay’. Hazel grooms Clover, and Clover gives Hazel the occasional cursory lick. When they’re in their hutch they sit together, but in their run or the garden they ignore each other.

This is our third pair of bunnies (the others are sadly no longer with us) and the others were male/female pairs and absolutely adored each other, so this is new for us and it’s horrible seeing Hazel being nipped/bitten

Should we do something about it? And if so, what?!

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Hello

I assume that the girls are both spayed ?

Bonded Does are usually the least 'stable' combination, even if they are both spayed. Sometimes they will just tolerate each other, but never appear to show a lot of affection/closeness.

Jack's-Jane said:

Hello

I assume that the girls are both spayed ?

Bonded Does are usually the least 'stable' combination, even if they are both spayed. Sometimes they will just tolerate each other, but never appear to show a lot of affection/closeness.

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Yes, they’re both spayed.

I was a bit hesitant about getting a pair of two girls. The rescue centre said they ‘bickered a bit’ but that it was getting better. But it really isn’t. I’ve just checked Hazel again and she’s got a few scabs on her back.

I don’t know what to do Take one of them back to the rescue centre to be re-homed? We could ‘swap’ her for a male so the rescue centre wouldn’t be gaining an extra mouth to feed. Does that sounds callous? It’s just horrible to see them like this.

Wellington said:

Yes, they’re both spayed.

I was a bit hesitant about getting a pair of two girls. The rescue centre said they ‘bickered a bit’ but that it was getting better. But it really isn’t. I’ve just checked Hazel again and she’s got a few scabs on her back.

I don’t know what to do Take one of them back to the rescue centre to be re-homed? We could ‘swap’ her for a male so the rescue centre wouldn’t be gaining an extra mouth to feed. Does that sounds callous? It’s just horrible to see them like this.

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yes, it must be worrying for you.
most people on here have more rabbit keeping experience than myself but I think returning one & getting a different partner for the other may be a course of action that you might have to take - after all if they're not getting along too well they might both be happier with other partners.
perhaps sEe how it goes for a while more? although Hazel's well being mustn't be compromised.
Of course, there's no guarantee that Clover would behave better with another other partner

I hope things get better.

Wellington said:

Yes, they’re both spayed.

I was a bit hesitant about getting a pair of two girls. The rescue centre said they ‘bickered a bit’ but that it was getting better. But it really isn’t. I’ve just checked Hazel again and she’s got a few scabs on her back.

I don’t know what to do Take one of them back to the rescue centre to be re-homed? We could ‘swap’ her for a male so the rescue centre wouldn’t be gaining an extra mouth to feed. Does that sounds callous? It’s just horrible to see them like this.

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In my experience, yes, two females is considered a more ‘difficult’ type of bond than male/female, however that’s not to say it can’t work, and volunteering at a rescue I’ve seen lots of cases of happily bonded females.

I guess you’ve got a few options, and whilst you could take one of them back to the shelter, I’d personally try re-bonding them first just to see if it could work. How you do this of course is up to you, some day stress bonding is good for this (eg a short car ride in a carrier together can cause rabbits to find comfort in one another), however others don’t agree so it’s personal choice.

Is there any way you could house them separately if you feel the nipping is getting too out of hand? If so, could this be a longer term solution if you can’t rebond?

I’m sure someone more knowledgeable in bonding will offer advice on other different alternatives. But I’d just say to try not give up too early as bonds can change and develop over time (mine took 3-4 months to bond but now they are perfectly happy together). Also, I think a lot of rabbits are extra active and feisty at this time of year with some calling it ‘spring fever’ so this may also be adding to the situation I’m creating extra tension.

No, you’re right about Clover. Although maybe with a male who stands up to her a bit more she might behave herself. I’ve emailed the rescue centre and her foster carer for advice. Her foster carer had them since they were born so he knows them better than we do. We’ll monitor the situation and if it gets worse I guess we’ll have to consider taking one of them back

Almost worse than that though would be just carrying on having a pair of rabbits who don’t really like each other. Our previous rabbits had such a strong bond and that was one of the things we loved most about them - seeing them lying pressed up against each other all day, or grazing on the lawn about an inch apart We’ll never have that with these two

mismatchbunnies said:

In my experience, yes, two females is considered a more ‘difficult’ type of bond than male/female, however that’s not to say it can’t work, and volunteering at a rescue I’ve seen lots of cases of happily bonded females.

I guess you’ve got a few options, and whilst you could take one of them back to the shelter, I’d personally try re-bonding them first just to see if it could work. How you do this of course is up to you, some day stress bonding is good for this (eg a short car ride in a carrier together can cause rabbits to find comfort in one another), however others don’t agree so it’s personal choice.

Is there any way you could house them separately if you feel the nipping is getting too out of hand? If so, could this be a longer term solution if you can’t rebond?

I’m sure someone more knowledgeable in bonding will offer advice on other different alternatives. But I’d just say to try not give up too early as bonds can change and develop over time (mine took 3-4 months to bond but now they are perfectly happy together). Also, I think a lot of rabbits are extra active and feisty at this time of year with some calling it ‘spring fever’ so this may also be adding to the situation I’m creating extra tension.

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That’s interesting about the time of year. Fingers crossed that’s what it is.

We could separate them temporarily. We can put a barrier between upstairs and downstairs of the hutch, and let them out into the garden one at a time. The downstairs bit of the hutch opens out into their run, which they have access to 24 hours a day, so only the ‘downstairs’ rabbit would have access to the run. Not a huge issue in the short term, but not do-able on a permanent basis.

Rabbit nipping her sister - now injured

Update on this situation - sorry it’s long but I’m worried.

We noticed yesterday evening that Hazel was limping and not putting weight on one of her paws. We checked her but couldn’t see a wound. This morning she was looking very sorry for herself, so we phoned the vet. I explained about the paw, the scab on her back, and the way the rabbits are behaving towards each other. The vet thinks the hurt paw may also be a Clover-inflicted injury.

The vet has prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine. She told us to keep the bunnies entirely separated until Hazel has perked up, and to bring Hazel in to see a vet if there’s no improvement in the next couple of days.

Hazel is eating hay, and moving around the run a bit, but not her usual self. The vet also said to be sure Hazel is pooing. Always hard to tell when you have more than one rabbit, but now that they’re separated, we’ve cleaned out the litter box and will check that Hazel’s using it.

I talked to the vet about the bonding problems. She said we may need to consider breaking them up. So either returning them both to the rescue centre to be re-homed separately and taking a bonded male/female pair, or just returning one, and ‘swapping’ her for a male.

This would be a last resort, and a sad thing to have to do, but if they’re going to be unhappy together, its just not fair to leave them together.

It’s horrible when things go wrong like this

Wellington said:

Update on this situation - sorry it’s long but I’m worried.

We noticed yesterday evening that Hazel was limping and not putting weight on one of her paws. We checked her but couldn’t see a wound. This morning she was looking very sorry for herself, so we phoned the vet. I explained about the paw, the scab on her back, and the way the rabbits are behaving towards each other. The vet thinks the hurt paw may also be a Clover-inflicted injury.

The vet has prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine. She told us to keep the bunnies entirely separated until Hazel has perked up, and to bring Hazel in to see a vet if there’s no improvement in the next couple of days.

Hazel is eating hay, and moving around the run a bit, but not her usual self. The vet also said to be sure Hazel is pooing. Always hard to tell when you have more than one rabbit, but now that they’re separated, we’ve cleaned out the litter box and will check that Hazel’s using it.

I talked to the vet about the bonding problems. She said we may need to consider breaking them up. So either returning them both to the rescue centre to be re-homed separately and taking a bonded male/female pair, or just returning one, and ‘swapping’ her for a male.

This would be a last resort, and a sad thing to have to do, but if they’re going to be unhappy together, its just not fair to leave them together.

It’s horrible when things go wrong like this

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I'm afraid this would be my view too I'm sorry that Hazel is possibly injured and hope she soon perks up.

Could you try a trio with a boy in the mix? It could change the dynamics between the girls enough to be workable. Hazel needs to be fully recovered before you do anything. I would be tempted to pair up Hazel & new boy, then add Clover so she has to deal with 2 others, rather than a straight 3 way bond which could work out more stressful for Hazel. If she has the backup from Bun 3, then the Clover effect is diluted between them.

We don’t have really have room for a third bunny unfortunately. The rescue centre have offered to take both the girls back, then bond them with males and we’d take one of the male/female pairs. I think we’re going to have to do that. On the rescue centre centre’s advice we separated the girls entirely for three days, and have now reunited them but confined them to hutch and run rather than letting them out into the garden. Clover isn’t nipping Hazel nearly as much as she was, but she doesn’t groom her and they’re thumping at each other a lot. They just don’t seem happy

It is sad, but personally I think it's the best outcome for you and your family and also for the bunnies. I hope it all works out well. Let us know how you get on.

Thank you

I’m sorry that it hasn’t worked out the way you had hoped you’ve tried your best, and I am sure that you are doing the best thing for the rabbits, as hard as it is for you.

I feel like I’m giving up on them and just ‘sending them back because I don’t like them’. I am consciously doing the best for the rabbits, but deep down there is a bit of me that wants them to go back to the rescue centre because this is not an enjoyable experience for us either. I feel ashamed of myself for saying that. So I think I’m over-compensating and trying desperately hard to keep them together and keep them here, because I feel guilty about not really wanting them So it’s helpful to hear other people speak the voice of reason!

We’ve had rabbits before, and we adored them, and they adored each other, and it was a lovely happy bond for all of us. So I know this could be so much better for the bunnies and for us.

I feel sure starting again is the right thing to do. We can't force rabbits to get along with each other if they don't want to. 2 females will usually try to dominate one another - in the wild females will kill another rabbit over a nest area so I have read. You are doing the best thing for them :thumb:

They could have ended up with someone who wasn't prepared to meet their needs - so they could have ended up badly hurt with no vet attention, or living alone. This outcome is much better for the bunnies long term. The rescue is also doing the responsible thing. Sometimes things don't work out the way we would prefer, but that wasn't because of anything you did. They could each be re-bonded with a neutered boy and you could take one pair back.