Rabbit Advice Needed
We have 2 male rabbits (approx 6 months old). They are litter-mates. We were told they were both female, but that's a long story.
Anyway, when we found out they were male, we got them both neutered. This was just under 2 weeks ago.
Tonight, they started to fight. And, I don't mean play-fighting.. I mean proper trying-to-kill-each-other stuff.
We separated them for a bit, then thought they'd calmed down, so we put them back in the pen together. They started all over again.
One of them seems dead set on humping the other one, and this seems to be what starts the fight.
The vet told me it would take approx 4-6 weeks for the hormones to calm down, so my question is.. does anyone here have 2 males, and will my fluffy little pals be able to revert to their former ways, or will they be destined to stay apart from now on in?
At the moment, I have them in seperate pens. They are house-rabbits.
Any and all advice is welcome.
Anyway, when we found out they were male, we got them both neutered. This was just under 2 weeks ago.
Tonight, they started to fight. And, I don't mean play-fighting.. I mean proper trying-to-kill-each-other stuff.
We separated them for a bit, then thought they'd calmed down, so we put them back in the pen together. They started all over again.
One of them seems dead set on humping the other one, and this seems to be what starts the fight.
The vet told me it would take approx 4-6 weeks for the hormones to calm down, so my question is.. does anyone here have 2 males, and will my fluffy little pals be able to revert to their former ways, or will they be destined to stay apart from now on in?
At the moment, I have them in seperate pens. They are house-rabbits.
Any and all advice is welcome.
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Comments
Not an easy situation to be in, things may well calm down, and you have the fact they are litter mates on your side. Can you put them near eachother in their seperate pens, so they can sniff eachother but not hurt eachother.
You might just have to try putting them together again and again and seeing what happens as the hormones work their way out of the system, although im not sure the dominance thing is linked to hormones (as in it might just be part of their personality)
I hope things calm down
not by just plonking them together, mind, do it slowly.
have them penned up side by side where they can see & sniff each other
if there's going to be a major problem, they'll start through the mesh (i know mine do :rolleyes:)
unfortunately in the end it may not be due to hormones. the disruption in them could have been the trigger
it sounds like the humper wants to be dominant and the humpee isn't liking the situation and unless one of them miraculously gave in, you'd have to house them separately for good
So, I've closed the door to the cage, but they can still see and smell each other, but they just can't rip each other to shreds.
The ironic thing is, before they got neutered, it was the other one who humped all the time. Now the worm has turned and it's gotten ugly.
I'll try to re-introduce them each evening, but I won't be putting them in the same cage while we're in bed, cuz I dread to think what I'd wake up to tomoro.
Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it.
Edit to add: I'm glad I have extra food dishes, and litter trays lol
They had two rabbit brothers and they always slept cuddled up together etc.
Then they were 'done' and they've fought ever since.
They're permanently seperated now.
Sadly, I may have to consider separating them on a permanent basis. Since I don't want them to be in small enclosures, this means I'll have to house them outside.
if you put them out when it's warm, like in summer, they'll get used to it, then when it starts getting cooler outside they'll have built up a nice thick winter coat to keep them warm
you'd just need to supply them extra bedding and make sure their hutches are drought free and water proof, a bottle snug would keep the water from freezing in cold cold weather - even in cold weather they don;t have to be locked in their hutch all the time
on a dry day they can go out side just like on any summers day
they'd be perfectly happy
i've always kept my buns outside any they're perfectly happy and healthy
you can always bring them inside to see you for a while on some days too, so you wouldn't miss out in them
But, being honest, it's a practical thing. My living room is really cramped at the moment with one large cage for them, so I literally don't have room for two. Whereas I have a big garden, and I plan to put two hutches on the patio area, against the wall of the house. My husband is going to put up some fence panelling beside it just to cut down on draughts.
I ordered the hutches from zooplus earlier. They are the ones with the run underneath. They're about 4ft wide, and my buns are Polish (about the size of the Netherland Dwarf). I'm sure they'll have plenty of room in their new abodes.
I'm going to sit them side-by-side, because even though they don't wish to live together, they can still be neighbours. They'll be like Homer and Flanders... they don't like each other either! LoL
So, in all honesty, I feel they'd be happier in a 4ft hutch/run each outside, than in a 3ft single storey cage inside... and that's all I can manage at the moment. I've constructed a 6ft cage, with a divider down the middle, and I just feel like they are cramped. And, I can't allow them to free-range together, so what is the point in having them indoors. They will only be miserable.
I had a long chat with the kids and told them they'd have to muck in and help with the daily routine, and that they'd have to remember to go out and spend time with them too, so they know they haven't been forgotten about lol They're on board.. haha.. just now!
I do have a few questions about the outdoor living which maybe you could answer xdow. At the moment, I clean out their cage once a day.. but someone told me you only do it once per week outside. Could you tell me if that's right or not? I also have 3 black bags full of straw which were donated to me by someone who's furry friend passed away. I assume I use copious amounts of this in the hutch for insulation? Any and all advice welcome, as these are my first rabbits, so I'm fairly new to rabbit-care and extremely new to outdoor-living care.
i'll assume they're good buns & go in one corner?
i do mine once a week, but that's due to my life style more than anything - full time student through the week, only leaves weekends to clean them out
general rule is, you can do corner cleans as often as you like, and a full clean out once a week.
but yes, the straw will keep them warm, they only need it in their sleeping areas really
i give mine hay, as i buy it in bales and the guinea pigs can't have straw, but i basically seperate it out a bit when i take it off the bale, and fill the compartment completely (although loosely, they need to be able to move through it!)
with that, they pat it down and burrow into it as they want that way, and there's plenty for them to curl up in
not wanting to worry you with these, just somethings to be keeping an eye on
because they're outside, there will be more access to them by insects, so keeping their enclosures clean is very important not to attract pests.
keep a closer eye out for any lice in the fur too, my buns have never had them, but my guineas have.
cats and foxes - just make sure that their hutches are secure on a night and regularly check them for any damage
if they're wooden hutches, personally i'd re-paint them every year, not necessary but could stand to make them last longer
similarly for the roofs, if felted, one thing you could do is get an extra roll to recover the roof, leaving a draped length down the back of the hutch, covering the back wall just so that any rain water runs over this and not on your wood, it possibly insulates the hutch rear in cold weather too, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part!
bear in mind though, this is just what i would do, though, it's not needed
an old matt, or some clear plastic sheeting will make a good weather guard for the front of their hutches
I'll be putting them out by the end of the week probably. That should give them time for the fur to grow back in. By the time I managed to separate them (approximately 10 seconds), they'd managed to give each other a good going over and there was a lot of fur came out. lol... there's no flesh wounds though, so that's fortunate. And, they only got neutered 10 days ago, so it was also fortunate it didn't rip out the stitches. Ouch!
They're facing off to each other here through their fence just now lol... I think they're blaming each other for having a crappy small cage now lol
Do you think they'll be able to be in an x-pen together on the grass? As long as one of us is there too?
chasing them around with a sweeping brush pinning one down with it to grab him back in
was like someone had shaved a cat on the grass, but once i brushed the loose clumps off them you wouldn't think anything had happened to them themselves
if they're scrapping through the wire though, i wouldn't recommend having them together
let them see each other, but, i really would keep them separate for their own safety
I have 2 children, and the last thing I want is for them to see that one of our pets has killed or badly injured the other. So, if I need to keep them apart, then so be it. I'll be able to sleep at night knowing they are safe. Plus, they get loads of attention from me, so they won't get lonely.
I would agree with bunnies being fine outside so long as they're looked after well, after all that's where all bunnies originally lived
However be careful when winter comes round that that you don't bring them into a warm house and then put them back out in the cold as bunnies don't do well with sudden changes in temperature. Try to bring them in when the temperature is similar inside and outside or else wrap up well and go and spend time outside with them, rather than bring them in.
Tass - I had read somewhere that they don't cope well with sudden drops or rises in temperature. I'd say the best idea would be to spend time with them in their new habitat. There's plenty of room in our garden for us to do that. I also figured that once they're outside, the litter habits might change, so bringing them into the living room for an hour might be a messy way to spend time with them lol
It'll be good for the kids to a) get involved in painting the hutch.. and b) spend more time out in the fresh air instead of hogging the couch playing the Nintendo's lol
I'm looking forward to getting them outdoors now. They actually look really miserable in their half-size cages in here. They used to have so much more room.
I bought a huge bale of wood-shavings today, an extra water bottle and food dish.. and I have 3 big bags of straw, and plenty of hay and food, so I think we're all set.
(Including my husband and kids!
Although, mine are full of beans so would rather run around than sit and cuddle. That's probably cuz of their age, and them being a small breed though. I have read that the smaller breeds are more lively than the larger ones. I think the big floppy lops like to lay around on the sofa with you but mine were always too busy looking for something to get up to.. and trying to dig their way down the back of the sofa lol.
I've only just heard of this 'popcorning' thing the piggies do. It's quite cute. I seen a video of it on youtube lol
Popcorning is funny. They just sqeek and jump high into the air and then bolt up and down. My fellas do it all the time. When I first got them I was terrified they were having seizures lol!