Is anyone succesfully keeping 5 rabbits in same enclosure??

[Flo]

We have Mum and Dad rabbit and three 9 week old bunnies all living in the one enclosure.

We have an indoor cage with a cat flap and tunnel for rabbits to run through and have access to indoor and outside cage.  At the moment everything is going beautifully but i have been told that even though they are all the one family, fighting and aggression can occur when they are going through their teenage years.

Dad is neutered and Mum will be soon love to hear from others who house several rabbits together and also at what age can we get babies neutered as two are male and one female.

[Gravehearted]

fighting and aggression are pretty much a given once they start to hit puberty. generally here in the states they neuter boys as young as 3 1/2 months, but often they encourage waiting until 4 months for girls. Some vets prefer to wait until 5 months for both, since buns can reach sexual maturity at different ages.

Since buns can get pregnant as young as 3 months old, I would recommend not housing them together for much longer And since Flo is still unspayed, she certainly could wind up pregnant by one of her own sons.

[Flo]

Yes thats a horrible but very real thought.

Flo has finished feeding now so spaying will be with in next 2 weeks.

Wht do you think about them fighting when they reach puberty, they all get on beautifully at mo.  Do you think thats a likelyhood or dependant on personality.

By the way Dad keeps chasing the Mum round trying to hump her when ever he can it has been 10 or more weeks since hes been neutered.  she doesnt get at all aggressive but does seem to run away from him when ever he starts doing it i feel sorry for her that she just cant relax.  . What can we do. She very occasionally does it back to him.

[MooBunnay]

I’ve had a lot of good luck with brother or sister pairs, at one of the rescues we had 5 bunny girls that lived in a little herd and got along quite well. The only problem is, that when you start to get the bunnies spayed and neutered, when you have to take one out to go to the vet, and then keep him/her separated while he/she recovers, its going to be tough to re-introduce the bunny BACK to the pack. I think that will be one of the biggest problems. I’d recommend separating out brothers and sisters, or going to get them spayed and neutered in pairs. Do Flo and Dad ever just lay next to each other or groom each other? He may be trying to establish that Flo is “his” since the boy babies are getting older.

[Flo]

Yes MooBunny they do just lay together and groom each other its not just chasing her around all the time.  I do believe they are in love. Last week i decided Flo had had enough of Thunder humping her so i decided to let Flo out on her own to give her some space was feeling so sorry for her BUT what does she do lies beside the cage next to Thunder sniffing and grooming each other through the cage??!!

I give up i just dont understand the dynamics of the bunny.

[osprey]

Our boy DJ still chases his friend Curly Sue, even though he was neutered many months ago.  This behavior is particularly apparent when we have foster bennies in the house.  I think it is a way for him to show other bunnies that Curly Sue is "his".  i think as long as she does not fight back, you are OK.

 

[MooBunnay]

When Juli and Kramer encounter foster bunnies it usually turns into a big “spat” and someone loses some fur (or in most cases, they BOTH lose some fur) so I think, as Osprey said, that Thunder is just feeling a tad insecure with all these young buns running around (I don’t think that buns have much of a concept of the word “incest!”)

[Flo]

Your so funny MooBunnay i am sure they dont discriminate between family members!!!!.

Thanks Osprey too for your input

Its nice at the moment Thunder seems to have eased up on the humping bit with Flo and they seem to be grooming each other more and spending quality quiet time together (yes i no im getting quite carried away with these buns!) Thunder is especially chilled out and is grooming the babies quite regularly as well.  Gorgeous!!! Flo getting neutered real soon and am not looking forward to the personality changes that puberty will bring to my happy family.

I will keep u posted.

P.S. Moobunnay u asked me on another topic re posting some photos im sorry i have no skills in this area i will have to teach myself

[Author]

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