Sister Bunnies Now Fighting?

[Clem and Clo]

I got two sister bunnies about a month ago from a Craigslist ad. They were born in August and my plan is to get them fixed at some point.

But this morning I noticed one was chasing the other around a lot. They share a cage (which is more like a pen that is 7 feet by 3 feet). The more dominant one (Clover) will chase Clementine around, sometimes they circle each other and go for a schuffle. There was no blood, just tufts of hair. I decided to separate them by keeping Clementine out in the room, and Clover in her cage. I gave both bunnies food, water and a litter box with hay and left for work.

Tonight they are getting along, sitting in the same litter box and eating hay and such. But every so often Clover will sniff at Clementines tail until Clementine runs away and Clover chases her for a bit.

I’m looking for advice on what to do. Is this just my rabbits becoming teens? Should I keep them separated while at work, and let them hang out when I’m home? Or is this them figuring out who is top bun, and I should let it be while there is no blood?

Thank you all muchly!

[BunnyLass568]

You should separate them until they’re fixed then go through pre-bonding then the full bonding process so separate them asap before anything really bad happens. I hope this helps!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pets-Passed away: Hailey (9 years old, half rat terrier and miniature pincher, Feb-5-2019),Monster (13 years old, mixed breed, Lhasa Apso and some form of terrier, Sep-14-2020), Demon (14 year old Lhasa Apso, Aug-3-2022) Blossom (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-7-2024) Thumper (6 year old bunny breed(s) unknown, April-12-2024)💔💔💔💔

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

Rabbits get hormone-crazy during puberty, and puberty sets in early, especially for smaller breeds. That’s often a nasty surprise to owners: one day you have cute fluffy babies and within a few weeks you have 2 delinquents on your hands. Boys are infamous because they’ll spray and hump things, but with bunnies girls are often fiercer and more territorial.

BunnyLass gives good advice: if they get into fights it can make bonding after the spay more difficult.

Do you have a good vet already? Rabbits are “exotic” animals for vets, and many vets don’t have a lot of experience with rabbit surgery. It’s best to find a vet with an exotic specialty. You can find them in the Vet Resources topic, the link is on the upper side of this page. If there is nobody in your area, ask how many surgeries a vet performs on rabbits.
You can also spot a rabbit-savvy vet based on their advice: a good vet will tell you that rabbits need to eat before and after surgery to recover. Humans, dogs and cats need to be fasted because they can vomit during surgery, with the risk of suffocation. Rabbits can’t vomit so it’s safe for them to get anaesthesia without fasting. In fact, they’re going to need that energy to keep their digestion going and to recover. Our vet adviced us to bring some tasty food for our bun to recover a bit after his neuter. A spay is a bigger surgery than a neuter, so your girls need to keep their strength up. Wishing them both a safe spay!

[Asriel and Bombur]

No play time at all. Completely separate until after they are fixed.

[A Happy Herd of Hares]

I would separate if they’re fighting.
A loooooomg time ago I bonded two not spayed sisters successfully with no fights, but many people disagree with that and I respect that. If they’re already fighting the need to be separate or spayed.

[Ellie from The Netherlands]

It’s still advisable to spay does, not only for behaviour issues but for cancer prevention.
Unspayed does have a high chance to develop uterine cancer by age 4, and spaying eliminates that risk.

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