The Girls are fighting

[Mack]

I have 2 mini Rex females. One is good natured but the other is becoming a problem. They are hitting puberty but aren’t old enough to get altered. Pippy is attacking Tina anytime they are in their cage. When in the pen Pippy will still go after Tina but there isn’t any fights because Tina can retreat. I have noticed that Pippy has also decided to start marking everything when she isn’t in her cage instead of using her litter boxes! I really don’t want to have to rehome her but I can’t have her peeing everywhere and attacking Tina. They have always loved together and usually snuggle and play until now. Tina still tries but Pippy just picks at her ? If anyone has suggestions I could use all the help I can get!

[Bam]

They should be separated but kept close enough so they can see, hear and smell each other. Then you get them spayed when they are old/big enough (some vets go by weight), wait a month for them to heal and for their hormones to die down, then you re-bond. Rebonding should go pretty smoothly if they haven’t gotten into any really bad fights yet.

If they are not separated, their fighting will in all probability get worse and one or both of them will get hurt. That’s sth you want to avoid not just because you don’t want injured bunnies, but also because it can effectively spoil their chances of ever being bonded again. Rabbits have surprisingly long memories and they are a very territorial species.

The pee-marking and attacking is of course hormonal. Girl buns can really become quite terrible at the onset of puberty.

[Mack]

That’s what I was afraid of hearing. Unfortunately that means she will probably have to be rehomed. I don’t have the space to have everyone in their own cages. The vets around here all said she must be 6 moths and I can’t have her marking and being territorial for another 3 months

[Bam]

I’m really sorry to hear that, because once rebonded after de-sexing, two buns are a lot happier than a single bun. Contrary to what previously have been assumed, rabbits are a very social species.
But I do understand the difficulties.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Yes that’s a real shame… I hope that Tina continues to be good natured up to her spay date.

[Mack]

Update:
I have the girls separated and all is well. Outside of their cages they are fine. I have noticed they are both finicky about how their cages are arranged and cleaned. I think this may have been some of the issue. So we will keep our fingers crossed that this is all they needed!

[Vienna Blue in France]

That’s great news that you kept both

If bonding is to take place post spaying, you could swap buns over in their cages so the smells mix and they don’t become tooo territorial… which can (will!) happen with female buns.

As long as the cages are same size and ‘equal’ you shouldn’t have any problem
(Though I suspect if things are going OK now, you won’t want to change anything… )

[Author]

Messages