My rabbits keep humping and fighting!!

[Luna + Honey]

I have two female Netherland dwarf. They are litter mates and were born on the same day and have been together since birth (including their enclosure at the pet store), however they are not spade. Recently one of them (Honey) has started chasing her sister (Luna) around the cage and humping her! Luna will retaliate by making a wailing sound, and trying to attack Honey (she can also do this even if she is unprovoked, on occasion when I will go to pick her up she will scratch and bite my hand). What do I do? I have read that it may be best to separate them into different enclosures, so I put Luna in a small cabinet I have renovated (don’t worry, it’s no Harry Potter broom cupboard, it has all of her essentials and chew toys), it is however a little small for a growing and maturing bunny and I know this will not be able to be the solution for long. Is their any way I can prevent Honey from humping her sister, or prevent Luna from lashing out and hurting herself, Honey, or me?

Please Help!!

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome

Unfortunately this is a common problem, and it’s great that you’ve already separated them. Unlike some other animals, bunnies don’t tend to remember family relationships once they hit puberty and get hormonal.

If you want to eventually have them live together again, you will need to get them spayed, and then go through the bonding process with them once they are healed. This involves supervised sessions in a neutral territory to allow them to safely sort out their dominance hierarchy. If you check out the Bonding section under the bunny-info tab at the top it will give you the basics.

Spaying should also help with their territorial and aggressive behaviors, and will prevent them from getting reproductive cancer (which is very common in unspayed female bunnies).

In the meantime, make sure they cannot access each other, even though cage bars, as any nipping or squabbling can make it harder to bond in the future.

To improve the temporary housing situation, my go-to during bonding has always been NIC cube condo cages, as they can be disassembled easily and re-purposed once they are bonded. This link has a basic plan that would be great: http://www.bunssb.org/bunnies/perfect-cheap-bunny-cage/.

You might eventually want to get a couple x-pens to divide up their free-roam space with a buffer, so they can’t nip each other during play time.

. . . 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