My rabbits’ behavior changed dramatically.

[@snugglemybuns]

Mid April, I adopted two wild, 2 month old cottontails (Hammy-Male, and Scotch-Female)/. I put them both in a two story chinchilla cage, in which they ate, slept, and played together. I built a pen around the cage that I let them play in twice a day for on to two hours each time.

Towards the end of May (30th or 31st), Hammy started humping Scotch. Fortunately, I had a scheduled appointment with the vet to have them both fixed on June 2nd.

After the appointment, Hammy was back to normal after a few hours, but Scotch wasn’t fully recovered for three days. During those three days, Hammy never left Scotch’s side. He brought her hay and kale leaves, gave her baths, and just stayed by her side the whole time.

I mention this because after they got fixed, they were attached at the hip and inseparable. Until last night.

When i let them out to play, I’ll usually leave them in the pen while I go make dinner or do a a quick chore. I never leave them unattended for longer than a minutes or two, and I always peek in to check on them and let them know I’m still nearby.

Last night, I had just stepped into the next room when I heard them screaming. I ran in as fast as I could to see a devastating cloud of fur. They ran into the corner and hid as if I was the one that hurt them. I entered the pen  and calmed them down. But after about 5 minutes, they became a whirlwind of teeth, claws, and fur, growling and screaming at each other. I shoved my hand in and tried to separate them, only to be met with angry teeth and claws (fortunately I’m up-to-date on my tetanus shots).

Finally, I grabbed whichever one I could, which happened to be Scotch .She kept growing, kicking, and biting.  While holding Scotch, Hammy growled and nipped at my heel and ankle. I tossed Scotch into the cage as gently as I could and slammed the door shut. Both Hammy and Scotch began attacking the bars, trying to get to one another.

So I picked up Hammy and held him tight to my chest, wrapped up in the bottom half of my shirt. He finally calmed down after about 20 minutes. I put him down and let Scotch out (big mistake). Earlier’s incident repeated, only this time Hammy was the one tossed into the cage and Scotch was left in the pen. I dragged the cage out of the pen and kept them separated for over an hour. I tried to let them see each other again, but this time I was ready and didnt let them get their teeth or claws into each other before I separated them again.

My cage is two stories, so I constructed a partition out of would, placing Scotch in the top part where she likes to be up high, and Hammy at the bottom where he likes to dig. They’ve basically been apart for the whole day. I let them out earlier tonight and they acted like they were back to their old selves again. But I don’t trust that they won’t try to kill each other again.

They’re both healthy. They eat and drink, poop and pee, run and play. They’re both fixed. Honestly, I can’t figure out why they suddenly started acting this way. Will they ever go back to being friends? Is it possible I had them fixed too early, before their hormones kicked in? How to I keep them separated in a space that was just barely enough for 2 bunnies to share? Any insight is greatly appreciated.

[DanaNM]

Baby rabbits do not truly bond, so once hormones come into the picture it commonly causes fights to break out. In your case, you did the right thing by getting them castrated, but there is also a change in hormones with the spay/neuter, so the rabbits smells change. Females can also have a post-spay craze, with hormonal fluctuations for several weeks post spay.

The rabbits should be separated completely (no time together at all, but they can be housed as neighbors) and give them time to settle down. Did you check them over carefully for injuries? Sometimes bite wounds can be completely hidden by fur. Make sure they cannot bite each other through fencing.

This will probably require some housing modifications on your part. I really like using NIC cube grids and/or x-pens to make temporary housing and fencing when needed during bonding. If you want to let them out to exercise at the same time, you can divide the main room up with fencing, but you want to be sure to use a double fence with a buffer of at least 6 inches between walls so they can’t bite each other’s noses.

Once they settle down, you can work on bonding them (dates in neutral territory etc.). If you haven’t gone through this process, I recommend checking out the Bonding section in the Bunny Info section.

All of that said, I’m a bit concerned by the fact that you “adopted” wild cottontails? Are they truly wild cottontails or were they feral domestic rabbits? My hunch is that a veterinarian wouldn’t have wanted to castrate a wild animal, so maybe they are domestic but feral??? Wild cottontails do not do well as pets, so the best course of action might be to find a wild life rehab center that can take them.

. . . 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.  

[Wick & Fable]

Firstly, I want to mention that wild cottontails may operate under very different mechanisms because of their genetic differences from domesticated rabbits. My post is based in domesticated rabbits,  since I have no experience with cottontails, so I’m unsure of their validity.

 

In domestic rabbits, the development of hormones can erase what is called a “baby bond”. Prior to reaching an age where the ideas of territory and mating are engrained with hormones, babies will get along very easily with other rabbits. Once these hormones develop however, the relationship may very suddenly degrade or completely dissolve. It sounds like they haven’t had a chance to work out their hierarchy, and this is a separate matter from hormones. It needs to be established in a rabbit bond.

Unfortunately,  many times bonding requires a lot of temporary overhaul on the owners part to rearrange space to ensure safe accommodations. I recently gave up essentially my entire bathroom for 2 weeks straight for bonding, leaving myself only a sliver to get to the toilet and shower. You may need to purchase an xpen to accommodate another space.

Some basic information about bonding can be found in the RABBIT INFO section of this website. Again, this is intended for domestic rabbits, and I’m unsure if bonding is as plausible between two cottontails.

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.

[@snugglemybuns]

Thank you for the replies. I never was under the impression that they were bonded. I guess I was just mistaken by assuming they had already gone through their hormone changes when they got fixed.

As for their providence, I’m not sure what the difference between wild and feril is. Their parents were “community” rabbits in my coworker’s neighborhood, wandering between everyone’s yards for a year or two. Then about two months befor I adopted them, the mother burrowed a nest in my coworkers back yard. Then about the first week of April (a week before I adopted them), six balls of fluff emerged from the burrow, in which my coworker immediately scooped them up to keep the coyotes and the meat breeder (one of my coworker’s neighbors breeds rabbits for meat) from getting them.

I took two (that’s all I had the space for) and the rest were picked up by other associates. According to my coworker, the parents were very friendly and let people approach them. The babies were your standard level of skittishness.

Since I got these two, they’ve friendly and social, for the most part. Hammy (the boy) seems to be down for whatever, if that means lap pets, or being held to my chest, or running circles around my shoe. Scotch (female), on the other hand, has always behaved like a moody teenage princess, like when she “reluctantly” accepts pets, but snips at you if you have the audacity to stop before she’s done with you.

I have had them separated for just over a week now. I let them play in the pen individually a couple times a day. I haven’t built their own enclosures yet because I’m still not working. The pen I currently have is a holdover from my chinchilla days, and they’ve learned that they can jump higher than 3ft I have erected. Taller premade barriers are intended for larger creatures, and as such, the bars tend to be wide enough for little buns to crawl through.

I guess all I can do for this moment is hold out until their hormones level out and hope I can get them bonded.

Oh yeah, and I did check them for wounds after their fight. Scotch was bleeding for a small wound in her lower back. I cleaned it up after the fight and it seems to have healed by now. Being “allowed” to touch her has always been on HER terms, even before this mess.

Anyways, thank you again. If there’s any other questions or suggestions you have, please dont hesitate to let me know.

[DanaNM]

Hmm, from your reply, it sounds more likely that they are feral (or stray) domestic rabbits? Can you post a pic just to confirm?

Anyway, yes for now just keep letting them calm down. Since they were fighting pretty badly, once you get their new enclosures built, they might benefit from being completely separated from each other for a couple weeks.

Then you can start having them as neighbors and doing pre-bonding cage swaps for a couple weeks or so and see how they react. Once you get to that point feel free to keep asking questions in this thread as you go through the process.

. . . 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.  

[@snugglemybuns]

It’s not letting me post a picture for some reason. But both my profile picture and cover photo have them in it.

[DanaNM]

Oh! Yes they are definitely domestic rabbits (which are a different species from cottontails). And very cute to boot! 🙂

. . . 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.  

[Hazel]

They’re adorable! Do you know what happened to their parents? I hope they were saved as well.

[@snugglemybuns]

@@DanaNM Yes, they are my little adorabuns. Now you see why I am a wreck. Do you know what type of rabbits they are? I just assumed they were cottontails because of their bushy little cotton tails. Lol

@@Hazel Unfortunately,  I have no idea. I believe the father was found left by a coyote. The mother disappears for a couple weeks and then reappears so we just hold our breaths until we see her again.

[Hazel]

Aw, that’s sad. 🙁  I bet they escaped from that meat breeder.

[LBJ10]

Considering there is a meat breeder nearby, I’m going to guess they are probably New Zealand (or similar breed) or a mix of “meat” breeds.

This is a very sad story, I do hope the parents can be found and rescued as well. Catching the babies and finding them homes was absolutely the right thing to do.

I agree with the advice you’ve received. They should be kept apart for now and time should be allowed for them both to settle. Once they are ready, you can restart the bonding process. Hopefully they can eventually go back to being friends.

[@snugglemybuns]

@Hazel From what I was told, the parents had been wandering the neighborhood long before the breeders moved in. The breeders showed up in January, but the parents had been around for at least a year before that.

@LBJ10 I looked at some photos online and the closest breed I can see is the Standard American Rabbit. The New Zealands are longer and harrier than my furbabies.

[LBJ10]

New Zealand and American are similar breeds, but their body types are a bit different. I was mostly going off the color (NZ come in red and black) and size. However, color does not necessarily mean anything, particularly in mixed breeds. You might get a better idea once they are full grown. 🙂

Do you know how big they are now?

[pinkiemarie]

Those are not wild rabbits but dang are they cute! Thank you for providing them with a home and rescuing them! More than likely you can reestablish their baby bond with some work and by going through the basic steps that you have to do with a new pair. Hopefully since they were friendly before it won’t be a hard process to get them friendly again.

[@snugglemybuns]

@pinkiemarie

I’m hoping so. I can’t afford another cage or to build separate enclosures. Right now I have their 2 story cage sectioned off so Hammy is on top with Scotch is on the bottom. They have no access to one another. But both their behaviors indicate they do miss each other.

On the first night, Hammy relocated his food dish and litter pan. Then he began dumping his food dish. At first, I just assumed he was being a rebellious little destructobun. But then I noticed the little behaviors.

Hammy started laying down and sleeping in the area that he had cleared out from the litter pan. Something significant about this cage is that there is a platform halfway between the 1st and 2nd floors. That platform is directly below the area Hammy lays in, and he only lays there if Scotch is laying on the platform below.

The second odd behavior was Hammy’s insistence on dumping his food dish. Even if I gave him some kale or a piece of a banana, he would take a couple nibbles, then shove it through the cracks in the cage. At first I thought he was just being rebellious. But before he would dump the food, he would look below him. If Scotch was right under him (which she usually was), he would push the food down so she could have access to it.

It was like he assumed that because they weren’t together, then she wasn’t getting fed. He displayed this same behavior when they got fixed over a month ago and Scotch was too woozy to feed herself. He would bring her food, then stand in the water dish, return to Scotch and let her lick the water from his paws.

The way I managed to get him to quit dumping his food was by making an obvious show of feeding Scotch first, whether it was food, water, or treats, THEN feed Hammy. Only then would he leave the his food dish upright.

Now if I can get him to stop sitting in the water dish, then freaking out when he realizes a minute later that he’s still wet, we’ll be golden. Lol

So I really do hope they can get bonded after their hormones settle because watching them interact with each other even when separated is both heart warming and heart wrenching.

[DanaNM]

Awww that’s so cute and sad. Maybe you could just get an x-pen as housing for one of them so they could see each other at least? You can get them relatively cheap online ($30-40).

. . . 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.  

[Author]

Messages