Hi! and fine in cage not in playpin

[Tarliyn]

First,

Hey guys, first time posting!

I have a situation. We got two bunnies about 6 weeks ago. We got one and then a few days later we her a friend from the same pet store and breeder but from a different litter(they had both spent most of their life in the same cage together). The first night we had to mediate as they go rebonded but after that first night things were smooth sailing.

Fast forward to now and we have a situation. Whenever the cage is closed the two of them are fine: the sleep together, eat together, and co-exist no issues but when we open the cage and let them into their play yard the bigger older one chases the smaller one.

My wife and I assume that their is some territorial thing about the play yard going on.

It has resulted in us keeping them locked up more of the day then we would like (we used to let them run their playpen basically all the time, now we can’t) and it causes lots of stress in the house.

Please advise, we need options we keep trying things and it isnt working. We just want them to get along, lol. I turn my problem over to the experts

[Doodler]

Hi Tarilyn! Unfortunately your bunnies are not bonded so you’ll have to take a step back and go through a proper bonding process.

I am assuming they are not altered since you got them from a pet store (unless it’s a store that adopts rescues). If they aren’t then that would be the first step and then you’ll have to wait until they heal and their hormones level to start prebonding. The bonding section of this websites has a lot of helpful tips!

At this point it’s important to separate them immediately. They might be getting along in the cage right now but this can change any second.

[Tarliyn]

Thats what I was afraid of hearing?

I will take a look at bonding page, to bond you have to spay/neuter? They are both female.

[tobyluv]

Besides the bonding page here, there is another page with good info on bonding: https://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/

You do need to separate your bunnies now. You’re fortunate that there has been no fighting yet. Rabbits can severely injure each other when they fight. Also, pet stores are notorious for telling people that bunnies are the same sex, then there is a surprise litter in a few weeks or so. So they really shouldn’t be together. It doesn’t matter if bunnies have grown up together and been housed together, when they reach a certain age, which could be as young as 3 months of age, they have to be separated. If there is any doubt as to the sex of the bunnies, they should be separated even sooner. Both will have to be spayed or neutered, then a few weeks after their surgeries, you can begin bonding. The article I linked to says to wait 2 weeks, but it’s usually better to wait around a month before beginning bonding.

[Author]

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