Rabbits fighting!!!

[Akane]

In my experience does are far more aggressive to each other than bucks. I have no problems leaving the young bucks together and I've had adult bucks get in together with no more than a piece or 2 of pulled fur before they just laid down in the cage. The does on the other hand will lay in to each other and try to pitch each other against the ground or tear with their back feet for hours if they get loose together. The young does in cages start grunting and squabbling as soon as they reach maturity unless moved out of cages to large pens. The time I've seen the bucks get upset with anyone whether it's another buck or a doe is if they are both going after the same doe. Not caged next to or in with does my bucks do not fight.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Even with my gentle laid back rabbits I occasionally have some that have to be separated. I keep most of my breeders in their own cages. I currently have 4 males and 4 females in grow out cages according to sex, an adult male with his son, a mother with her 7 month old daughter and another grow out pen with 5 females. I have 2 rabbits I can't put with another except during breeding.
Now that said my rabbits ARE NOT THE NORM. Most rabbits are not as social as people think they should be.

If the males are not fighting I would leave them together for now but be ready to separate them. The females should be put in different cages.

 

[GallusGal]

Rabbits are social animals, but they're also very territorial animals. If left unaltered, same sex pairs almost inevitably fight, and does are notorious for inflicting a serious mauling on one another. I DO advocate keeping rabbits together, but only if they are spayed/neutered. They can benefit immensely from living in a pair or trio, but if you can't afford spay/neuter for them, housing them singly is safest. Good luck with the one who is injured.

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Quote:
This was what I was having trouble putting into words. They are social just not as much as people think. People see cute cuddly fluffy rabbits and think they should get along. I am just not good at getting what I am thinking down in print.

 

[thekid]

when i had two females the one tried to kill the other she tore skin off of her nose and tore some of her ear off

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I always always keep mine separated. They do get to come out for playtime supervised in a large pen but other than breeding time they are alone.

 

[cackydoodledoo]

Ok so first of all I was wrong on the sex of the rabbits. It was the two bucks that were in that cage so that explains the brawling. Have the "beaten" one in his own temporary area for now. Got the new hutch about halfway built tonight and will hopefully finish tomorrow. I am going to separate the females as well just to be safe. What I want to know is should I put the males side by side or put them male/female? The middle of the hutches is separated by a board so they can't see each other.

One other thing I found when taking the "unbeaten" male out to check him for injuries was he had a huge clump of poop attached to his back side. It was attached to his genitals and butt. Like the actual skin. It took me probably 30 minutes to get it unattached using water and scissors. I felt sorry for the poor guy as it had to be uncomfortable. Is this common in rabbits? I will make sure to check their back sides more often. My daughter takes them out of their cages and holds them quite frequent but I honestly don't do it near that much. Usually just reach in and scratch their ears a bit.

Sorry for the long post but just want to make sure I am doing the best I can for my babies!!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I've never had a problem putting them next to each other.


Only if I have A LOT of babies all at once and they can sit in their poo somehow will they get it on them, other than that no, it never sticks to them.


Does he have diarrhea? That may attribute to it.

 

[cackydoodledoo]

No it didn't look like diarrhea. It may have been softer than normal but it really looked like he just went and sat on it too long. I am going to keep a close eye on him though. He was the runt of the litter. Thanks for the help.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Softer than normal may indicate diarrhea, mine don't ever have soft poops even after eating greens...


How is he sitting in it? Are they not on wire? Wire should let everything fall through. If he can sit in it that can be bad news. Also it may mean your cage is too small.