Weird bunny nesting behaviour

[kayleigh]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to this forum so apologies if I haven’t posted in the right place.

I have two female rabbits, both almost two years old. Quite often, my younger, less dominant female has made nests and has pulled out the other female’s fur to do so. (neither are extremely dominant, but the older female is significantly larger and stronger and shows minor signs of dominance).

I am aware that nesting like this is a sign of a phantom pregnancy, but my question is why is she pulling fur from the other rabbit? They have never shown aggression towards each other, and are constantly loving. They don’t fight, and the larger rabbit seems bothered by this, but not to the point of thumping or fighting.

Thanks for any help 🙂

[Wick & Fable]

I assume both females are unspayed, based on the fact that one is nesting. Is this correct? Since the topic of intentional breeding is prohibited on these forums, there are not many users who will have experience with females going through nesting behavior (since many people have already spayed rabbits and this stops nesting behaviors).

My uneducated thought is that if an animal is nesting, it’s going to get material wherever is convenient and accessible, which at this point seems to be the other female rabbit.

I would caution leaving them alone unsupervised or together at all at this point — if one is going through nesting, it may cause some tension in the relationship, especially if it’s leading to pulling out the fur of another. Females especially can be quite territorial and having two unspayed females can be an unpredictable relationship. Rabbits can lethally injure each other when provoked or feeling threatened.

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.

[LBJ10]

Perhaps the other bunny has “better” fur for nesting material purposes? It’s hard to say. As Wick suggested, it’s probably just a convenience thing. I would definitely be wary of these interactions. They could trigger a fight if the other bunny gets annoyed enough.

[Cinnamon Bun]

Are you 100% sure that they’re both female?

[SweetPotato]

Ooh @CinnamonBun that’s a really good point! I’ve heard so many stories about people (even vets!) not being able to determine the right gender of a bun 😂

[HipHopBunny]

I, unfortunatly, also had to go through this with my buns at one point as well. 🙁

My three girls were all very loving towards one another in their early months, so I’d always thought that they’d have no problem. At around the age of 6 months, though, one started getting more dominant over the others. This behavior progressed, until the point of her pulling fur from the others, and gathering hay. When she started doing this, soon the others started doing the same behavior. I was very alarmed, as I had no idea why they all were pulling fur from themself/others, and was quite worried. They’d continued to do this, so I had to separate them.

After they were separated, they all still continued pulling fur from themselves, as well as gathering hay and other materials for nesting. What I did – to make it so they didn’t keep pulling fur – was I gave them extra amounts of hay for bedding, as well as cotton for soft padding. This helped greatly, for anything I gave them, they took. It’s hard seeing our bunny girls in so much stress. 🙁

Are there any vets in your area that could spay them? After I got all of my ladies spayed and started the bonding process, their relationship – and overall interaction – became much more positive. 🙂  They’ve also warmed up to me much more as well. 🥰

Wishing you the best!!

[Cinnamon Bun]

@SweetPotato – Lol, yep that happens! This is exactly what I was thinking. If the other bun’s gender wasn’t determined properly, there could be a possibility that one’s male, and it isn’t a false pregnancy. I’m not an expert, and I’m not 100% sure that’s the case, but I would still be careful. I assume they both haven’t been spayed yet, so you can never be absolutely sure. I hope everything turns out okay! ♥ 

[bunbun00]

My girl isn’t spayed yet and she literally farts around the house finding everything she can to make a nest with and the other bun just stays well out of her way. She flops down sometimes as she’s panting like stressed herself out (like phew I’m so tired all that work). It makes me laugh so much but I do feel bad! She gets so proud of it😭 I wouldn’t be too concerned unless they’re hurting each other.

[Bunny Hop]

my female bunnies are seven years old. By the time I found out that it was a good idea to s spade them. They are already too old. They are bonded amazingly. Pepper is nesting today. I am glad it’s not both of them. It makes a huge mess. I don’t let them free rome  on days like these. My bunnies haven’t heard each other. I know I can’t speak for everybody’s. I wouldn’t be concerned unless they start to get aggressive. I think it’s more frustrating for me than the bunnies. Let me tell you. My next bunnies will definitely be spayed or neutered. Since now I know that this nesting behavior would be stopped.

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