Teenage bunny troubles.

[Michelle B]

Hi, I am new to this site and to bunnies. I have two male mini rexes, Rui and Emrys, that have been with me for about three and a half months now. The stay in their cage when I’m away, but get to run around the apartment for a couple hours every day when I’m home. They get along pretty well for the most part. They play chase, they cuddle occasionally, I haven’t seen any grooming really. About a week ago I noticed that Rui had two bald spots on either side of his back. When I looked it seemed as if he had been scratched. I assumed that Emrys had done it trying to mount Rui while I was at work. I chased Emrys down, he hates being touched, and trimed his little razor claws. After that I kept a close eye on Rui and checked the spots every night. They seemed to be healing well, and his fur was growing back so I thought he would be ok. Tonight I got back from work and saw that he had been hurt again in the same spots. This time much worse. They weren’t bleeding, but one side was pretty raw. I gave him a raisin and put a little hydrogen peroxide on it, which didn’t seem to bother him as much as I was afraid it would. I’m thinking that I might need to put them in seperate cages for a while. But in the meantime Emrys seems to be pretty interested in Rui’s wounds, he keeps sticking his nose at them. Because of Rui’s fluffy hair I can’t tell if he’s licking them or what. It doesn’t seem to bother Rui. So, I’m not really sure what to do at this point. The funny thing is that, as near as I can tell, Rui is the dominant rabbit. He’s a few weeks older, so he’s bigger and Emrys usually follows his lead. Their cage is big enough that Rui can run away if he doesn’t like what Emrys is doing, and he definetly has no problem giving me a nip if I do something he doesn’t like. Any advice would be welcome. Neither one has been fixed, we’re waiting for the vet’s ok.

Ok, I take it back. Emrys is grooming Rui right now. I can’t tell what’s going on it their cute fuzzy heads.

[RabbitPam]

It might be wise to put them in separate cages while you are at work, then let them out together when you can supervise them. If they are not yet neutered, then they are coming into their teenaged hormones, and are becoming more agressive. This will change for the better after they are taken care of by the vet. You don’t have to lose the bond – maybe put their separate cages only an inch apart, so they can see and smell each other all day, just not reach with paws or teeth. It’s not a surprise that Emrys is grooming Rui’s wound, but it also was probably caused by him as well. Sounds like they basically get along, but the dominence issue has gotten to the point of harm, which could escalate. Can you book the vet for the neuters now, even if it’s weeks away?

[Michelle B]

Thank you for the advice. I will probably be moving them to separate cages this weekend. I might have to do a little furniture rearranging so they can still be next to each other though.

[Beka27]

They are so cute! Welcome here! I think separate cages is a good idea at this point if they are unneutered. Mounting and chasing can quickly elevate into vicious fighting, and if you’re not home to supervise, one or both could be badly injured.

[Michelle B]

Well, they’re in separate cages now. They seem to be pretty confused about it too. Rui seems to be enjoying having his own cage, he was lounging full spread in the litterbox, which I’ve never seen him do before. Emrys misses Rui and keeps trying to figure out how to get to him. This is probably a good experience for both of them, I just hope there’s not trouble when I put them back together later.

[BinkyBunny]

Having them separate can cause them to completely unbond but under the circumstances it sounded like they could have gone down the route anyway, and I also agree it is the safer way to go at this point as they are reaching sexual maturity??? (what age are they).

One bunny may take a beating for a little while, but at a certain point, most will end up fighting back and then they can really hurt each other.
I would say you could still give them supervised playtime though to help continue any bond they may have.

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