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FORUM HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Rabbit Aggression

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    • Serenity
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        I have 3 rabbits, two males and a female who have been here for a year. Figuring they had settled in long enough, I bought a new one, a baby female who is four months (or so the pet store told me). Ever since I got her the older female (Ginny) has been EXTREMELY aggressive toward her, attacking her any chance she gets, biting, scratching, growling, chasing and kicking. The baby (Hermione) is extremely sweet about it and NEVER fights back, only runs. Occasionally the other two I have (Fred and George) will defend her and are very sweet but they are kind of afraid of Ginny, too. Help! How do I stop her!?


      • tobyluv
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          Rabbits can be very territorial, especially female rabbits. You cannot put rabbits together without going through the bonding process first, and before you start bonding, all the rabbits have to be spayed and/or neutered, with a few weeks passing after their surgery to let the hormones die down, before you start bonding. Do not put the baby rabbit with any of the other rabbits unless they are all spayed and neutered and you do proper bonding. You are risking severe injuries to the bunny if you let her be with your older female.


        • 12345ABCDE
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            You need to bond them properly, you can’t just shove rabbits together.


          • vanessa
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              I agree with Tobyluv and Sarah. Are the first 3 rabbits neutered/spayed? You need to house Hermione separately. Have her spayed, then wait a month, before starting to bond. In the mean time – you should do prebonding. Let them still see eachother, just no play dates with Hermione. Swap blankets/food bowls/litter boxes etc, and by the time Hermione has healed from her surgery and her hormones have died down, they should be ready to start bonding. But just adding Hermione to the mix will result in serious fights.


            • Serenity
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                I appreciate all of your answers, but I would please like a little more credit.  I have all of them neutered and spayed except for Ginny because I got her under special circumstances and I forget the details but I was told that her original vet could not have her spayed for whatever reason. I have not tried to prove it for myself by bringing her to a vet, which looking back is probably now a good idea.

                I did NOT just throw Hermione into the cage with the others, I did 6 months of research before I adopted my rabbits, I know better. I introduced them in a neutral territory and George and Fred are very fond of her now. Ginny has calmed down very much since I last posted and is now only biting or growling when she tries to lay down next to her, however, I did get them to share treats peaceably together. Ginny even started grooming her ears before remembering who it was, lol.
                I’m sorry if I came off rather rude or arrogant in this post, I honestly don’t mean to and I didn’t realize how poorly worded my first one was. Thank you for your help and tips and I genuinely welcome any more anyone has to offer!


              • 12345ABCDE
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                  Posted By Serenity on 5/25/2017 10:57 PM

                  I appreciate all of your answers, but I would please like a little more credit.  I have all of them neutered and spayed except for Ginny because I got her under special circumstances and I forget the details but I was told that her original vet could not have her spayed for whatever reason. I have not tried to prove it for myself by bringing her to a vet, which looking back is probably now a good idea.

                  I did NOT just throw Hermione into the cage with the others, I did 6 months of research before I adopted my rabbits, I know better. I introduced them in a neutral territory and George and Fred are very fond of her now. Ginny has calmed down very much since I last posted and is now only biting or growling when she tries to lay down next to her, however, I did get them to share treats peaceably together. Ginny even started grooming her ears before remembering who it was, lol.
                  I’m sorry if I came off rather rude or arrogant in this post, I honestly don’t mean to and I didn’t realize how poorly worded my first one was. Thank you for your help and tips and I genuinely welcome any more anyone has to offer!

                  Well to be fair, you never mentioned any of this in your original post 


                • Serenity
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                    Yes, I apologize for my hastiness.  I was panicking because I had Hermione in my lap at the time after she had been ruthlessly chased around her cage by Ginny and had literally screamed in terror, something I’ve only heard once before from Ginny when she was a baby and I had ignorantly put her on a leash and left her and she had gotten it tied around her neck. (Yes, I know, stupid of me, I haven’t put her on a leash since, she likes to roam free at the park under my watchful gaze).


                  • vanessa
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                      Is this a fenced park? Sounds a bit dangerous :-/


                    • Serenity
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                        The park I go to is very oddly built. It has like, seven weird grass spots that are surrounded with high, cement, V shaped walls that I think are supposed to be benches but no one uses them because they get too hot in the summer. They block wind and are lower on one side so that a passing dog could not get onto the grass spots. It’s pretty hard to explain…. It’s very cool, almost like it was built for rabbit play. I let them run around right at the crook of the V shape and sit at the wider part to stop them if they stray too far. Don’t worry, it’s very safe, dry and comfy and the kids at the park love to come by and pet them.

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                    FORUM HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Rabbit Aggression