Male won’t stop biting my female and babies !

[Charlieduffy166]

So about 8 weeks my female rabbit gave birth to a surprise litter of 5 and I separated my male rabbit from her , we have 2 left but one is getting rehomed soon,  we wanted to keep the last baby so we have three , we have just started letting him in an open pen with the mum and babies and in the beginning the mum was humping him but no he is biting them all and scaring them , is this normal ? And will it stop ? I had to separate him in the end because he wouldn’t leave them alone and they are terrified .

[DanaNM]

Hi there,

Just so I’m clear on the timeline, the babies are 8 weeks old? So, usually adult rabbits get along with babies, but this isn’t a true bond, and once the young rabbits hormones start to kick in the adult rabbits will usually fight them off. 8 weeks is a bit young for this to start happening, but it could be that since the babies are weaned the mom is just “done” with them. Or if you are talking about the dad attacking them, he could view them as a threat. Rabbits don’t recognize family relationships.

You should keep the babies separate from the adult rabbits at this point, but the 2 you have left can stay together for now. Once they hit 12 weeks (if you still have both), they should be separated from each other as well to prevent another accidental pregnancy and to prevent fighting when they hit puberty.

For rabbits to live together and be “bonded”, they should all be spayed and neutered. I’m assuming you are working on getting the parents neutered and spayed?  Once all the bunnies are neutered and spayed you can work on bonding them together as a group. This process involves supervised “dates” in a completely neutral area (where none of the rabbits have been) to allow them to work out their dominancy hierarchy. During dates you would supervise closely and prevent fighting.

. . . 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.  

[Charlieduffy166]

Yes my 7 month old male is castrated but my female isn’t yet , we want to keep one of the babies they are about 8 weeks but he won’t stop biting them and scaring the baby and mum , we really want to keep the baby but we are worried he will never get on with the mum or baby

[DanaNM]

Gotcha! Yes I think dad needs to be kept separate from mom and babies. He could hurt a baby very easily, and wouldn’t be able to properly bond with them yet anyway (since they aren’t mature). Since he and the mom weren’t castrated before, it’s also likely that they weren’t fully bonded (as they were just getting along for the purposes of mating).

If you aren’t familiar with the bonding process, you can read about it here: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

. . . 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.  

[Charlieduffy166]

So do I need to neuter the mum first ? And wait till the baby is matured?I’m just worried the dad will never get on with them

[GlennTheLionhead]

Hey,

It’s very common for rabbits who are just placed into the same enclosure to start fighting or showing negative behaviours. So I think if you bond them properly after they are all spayed/neutered, they will eventually get on just fine. It would be rare for the male to not get on with the others but the bonding must be done properly.

[DanaNM]

You will need to do both: spay (the term for castrating females) and neuter (the term for castrating a male) all of the rabbits, and then give them some time for their hormones to settle down after the procedure (this usually takes between 3-6 weeks). Spaying females is also very important because female rabbits have very high rates of reproductive cancers when they are not spayed.

It is very normal for rabbits to fight with other rabbits when they aren’t in neutral territory. Imagine if a stranger walked into your house and declared “I live here now!”, you might be a bit annoyed or frightened! But when they meet in neutral territory they can become friends (by establishing their dominance hierarchy) before they live together.

. . . 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.  

[Charlieduffy166]

so my male and female have been separated as she has babies  and we now have rehomed them all and he was castrated , we are in the middle of bonding them . my female has always been very timid and my male is very hyper , they are opposites for sure but get on . He’s been doing the usual chasing and odd nibble but no done any harm , she just runs away or thumps her foot and he leaves her alone . He has also been grooming her and she is sitting and laying next to him . I am wondering when they can live in the same cage again because when ever we put him back in his she is always looking for him and he is for her

[DanaNM]

Is your female spayed now?  Both rabbits should be castrated for the bond to be stable. Female rabbits also have very high rates of reproductive cancers if they are not spayed.

How long have the bonding sessions been? In general, bonded rabbits should show a lot of positive behaviors (cuddling, mutual grooming, sharing food and litter box), and no negatives (aggresive chasing, hard nipping, lunging, boxing, grunting, fighting etc).

The usual progression is that you want them to be happy together in neutral territory for 48 hours (no aggression or fighting, with lots of positive behaviors) before moving them into their final area. (Ideally you would also have an intermediate, semi-neutral space). Then you should supervise for another 48 hours to make sure there is no fighting. It is also recommended to clean and deodorize their cage as much as possible to make it seem more neutral when you move them in together. Basically in each new location, they should be supervised for 48 hours to make sure the change in location doesn’t trigger fighting.

. . . 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.  

[Charlieduffy166]

My female isn’t spayed yet no but she seems to miss him alot ever since the babies have been rehomed she seems quite sad and anxious at the moment,  she’s very nervous all the time and she seems to be missing someone in the cage with her . Im not quite sure what to do she has always been a shy rabbit but I’m quite worried about her at the moment

[DanaNM]

I do think it is important to get her spayed before you consider them fully bonded. Aside from the cancer risk (which is close to 75% by age 4 and goes up after that), the hormonal fluctuations that she will go through can trigger issues with the bond. The male might mount her excessively, which can be stressful to her, and she will also probably have false pregnancies, which is also stressful for her. In the worst case she could lash out at him and they could fight and hurt each other badly.

Can you house them side by side? I can see that she could be lonely, so having him nearby should help with that.

. . . 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.  

[Charlieduffy166]

Yes they are caged side by side I just hope she feels better soon,  I’ve gotten her lots of new treats and toys but she seems sad still , I’m hoping that maybe some time on her own will help her feel rested

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