Bunny Sisters

[BijouBunny]

Hi everyone, new to forum and am glad to have you all.  I just adopted my cut, spayed bunny sisters last week and of course they are so cute.  There is one sister who has more dominate in her behavior – more curious getting to know me, goes for the food first, more outgoing in general.  They are 5 months old and have always been together. I have seen them laying together, eating together, licking each other’s ears and generally doing their own thing from time to time.

However, last night when I let the “girls” out from their free range smaller area to the whole room (bunny-proofed) the more dominate one, Bijou, got really worked up, binky jumps on the rug, running in circles, etc. Meanwhile her sister, Sashi, is eating and just walking around.  All of a sudden Bijou starts to chase Sashi, meaning she runs after her and causes Sashi to hide somewhere.  A few minutes later Sashi comes out and Bijou chases her again.  This continues for a while.  Sashi, does not chase back, but seems to come out from her hiding place after a few minutes. No biting, fur flying, or anything like that, but Sashi does run away and hide.

Is this something I should be concerned about?  Is this just typical playful bunny behavior meaning,  “Come play with me?”  I’ve heard some things about females not getting along.  So, I’m just wondering if this could escalate or if this is typical playful behavior.

New Bunny Mom

[Linette]

Unspayed females sometimes get testy with one another when they reach puberty (and beyond), especially in Spring when it’s intense mating season. Even fixed bunnies can get more rambuncious in spring time.

It’s common for the more dominant one to chase and bully the other, even more so when hormones run high.

Often getting them fixed will help. I have had spayed pairs do well, both unspayed do well and one spayed (the dominant one, and yes she stayed the dominant one) and and unspayed do well together…it really depends on the rabbits.

If you can afford it, get them both spayed. Females that can never mate and have babies are happier (and healthier) spayed. Because all their hormones tell them they should be raising babies…they can be very grumpy when they can’t do that. If you can only afford to get one fixed, I would suggest the more dominant one. She might still sometimes chase the other and almost certainly will still hump the other, but it might stop them from fighting.

If you can get both spayed at the same time, that would be awesome.

[Tessie]

They are both spayed I think you said.  

 

It sounds to me like it might be a game. Does the one being chased seem distressed by it?

[Linette]

Oop, sorry, missed that they were both spayed!

I’m guessing it’s a touch of Spring fever!

[LittlePuffyTail]

How long since they were spayed?

[Author]

Messages