Loving Brothers to Biggest Enemy’s

[DiscoDisco]

We got our 2 loving brother bunnies about 1 month ago, they are about 16 weeks old now, they love and care for each other so much. There original names were Disco & Disco but now we just name them by the children’s names as we brought them one each so they are now Vincent & Eva, even though Eva is a girls name. Eva has always been the strong & bigger bunny, she is a little fatty always eating and she was always the protector & would always groom Vincent, Vincent was placid even a little scared & has always been the weakest one.
They roam free in our courtyard all day while we are at work as our fences are solid & 4 meters in height & when we come home from work we open the house up so they can wonder in & out, we have really struggled potty training them, they poo everywhere & at night we keep them safe in a large double story hut they love.
As I came home from work yesterday I could see there was bunny hair all over the courtyard, I got scared & thought has another animal tried to attack them?? I had a closer look at them & I could see Vincent had bitten Eva’s ear but other than that there were no other major issues, I called the vet to see if they could desex them & thank god they will next week for me but I didn’t realise how bad things were about to get with Eva & Vincent’s behaviour.
Vincent the smaller more timid bunny kept trying to hump Eva the strong bunny quite a bit to try and take the dominating bunny position but Eva just wasn’t having a bar of it, now if they even see each other it’s like they want to kill each other. Now Vincent is so terrified, so scared of anything & anyone that I just don’t know what to do. We have separated the hut off to 2 seperate levels now & we need to keep them locked up while we are at work & separate them when we are home to one inside & one out side then we swap.
Tonight I had to close the door & Eva was getting so angry with us, she was stomping her feet at us like she was going to attack us,it was scary but funny, I didn’t know what to do. I’m scared they will hate each other & never be like how they were before. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to let me know. I’ve never had bunnies or pets so I’m a beginner.. please help with any ideas.

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome to the forum, sorry you are having a rough start of it!

Unfortunately what has happened to you happens to many people who are not given the correct info by who ever they get their bunnies from.

Babies get along wonderfully, then they hit puberty and everything starts going wrong. The lack of litter box habits and the fighting are all related to hitting puberty.

You were correct to separate them! Can you clarify whether they are actually male and female? Or both male? Sorry I’m just confused with the naming!

I’m interpreting this as they are both males? Which is good, so there isn’t a concern of pregnancy.

So, you said you have an appointment for their neuters, which is great, because that is the next step. For now keep them separate, and make sure they can’t nip each other through the bars or get to each other in any way (bunnies are great at finding ways to escape their pens and get at each other).

Once they are neutered, allow them to heal and for their hormones to settle for several weeks (I believe most rescues allow 3), but really you will want to wait until you see the hormonal behaviors die down.

Next you’ll go through the bonding process with them. This first involves pre-bonding (which is living side by side and swapping cages until they seem unfazed by the switching and seem to not be upset by the other rabbit). Since yours fought and are currently acting very aggressively towards each other, you might need a longer pre-bonding period. After that, supervised bonding sessions in neutral territory (a place where neither rabbit has been, ideally not too close to their main areas). This allows them to establish their dominance hierarchy safely. Since you are new to bunnies and bonding, I recommend checking out the bunny info tabs at the top. There is a section on bonding that has the basics (plus lots of other good info on diet, housing, medical care, etc.).

So for now just give Vincent extra cuddles and make sure they absolutely cannot fight anymore. No more contact or play time together until they are in their bonding sessions after their neuters.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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