• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Rabbits had fight few hours after being neutered- need urgent advice on separation

FiOr

Young Bun
Our two bunnies (brothers) were neutered on Thursday at 14 weeks old. Until then no issues between them at all. We collected them from the vets Fri afternoon and they both seemed fine & happily ran about, eating etc.
Around 10pm they were lying together then suddenly fighting. We happened to be in the room and were able to relatively quickly separate them but in that short time fur was all over the floor of their pen and one had quite a bad cut to its face.
Was extremely scary to witness and really don’t want to risk that happening again. The vet who’s a rabbit specialist isn’t in until end of next week. We saw another vet yesterday to check the cut and also the operation site of both. She advised keeping them separate but in sight/sniffing distance for 6 weeks until hormones balanced then trying to rebond them. From reading through threads here that seems to be the advice others have been given.

My husband can only build/adapt their pen today as no time in week.
He is going to build a separating ‘wall’ between them using 13mm welded cage mesh. Is one layer sufficient so that in theory the rabbits could lie next to each other. Or, even with such small mesh should we have a double mesh with few centimetres in between?

Thanks in advance for any advice x
 
Sorry to read this but it can happen after neutering as their hormone levels rise considerably before subsiding. Personally I would go for double mesh as Rabbits try to bite one another through wire but I would think total separation would be better if you can do this. This will give them time to forget about the fight in readiness for re-bonding although it can't be guaranteed they will get along again. They will need a good couple of months before you attempt to re-bond. This will need to be in a totally neutral area. Unfortunately pet shops and some breeders don't give you the correct information.
 
I would keep them separate. It could be hormones but also the different smell of the vet thats disrupted the bond. Allow them to see each other and hopefully they can be reintroduced once the hormones have completely subsided in about 6 weeks or so.
 
Thanks Tonibun
Advice sought until now been from the vets. The vets have a rabbit specialist hence we chose them but unfortunately he isn’t the emergency vet this weekend.
The rabbits both seem really sad and it feels so mean keeping them apart. Unfortunately we were keeping them indoors until after they’d recovered from operation so bit limited for space. One is currently in our large indoor pen and the other next to the pen in an indoor cage we’ve borrowed. (We’re swapping them over ever 24 hours so both have same ‘home’ as such.
Not noticed any aggression between them since but obviously not going to risk having them together until we can slowly rebond them. Plus as they are still pretty little I’m thinking it was more due to the stress of being taken to vets, sleeping there before returning home and being in a bit of discomfort.

Husband making a divider this afternoon for the pen and hopefully that will be okay. If need be and they don’t seem happy next to each other we’ll make it a wood panel between them.
Now they haven’t each other to snuggle up to I darent move them outside as even though we have just finished adapting a summer house for them it’s getting very cold at night.
 
Thanks Orinoco - I’m thinking the same about the changes of being in vets
 
Last edited:
Back
Top