Bunny not liking Dominance?

[cheshirette]

So I have Two Lionhead bunnies (they’re sisters), they’re about to be 5 months old on the 16th and they’ve been going through puberty since last month. So that means.. they were trying to assert dominance, which was my Albino bun (Cerise) who tried to show Cocoa (my brown bunny) who’s boss. Before, Cocoa didn’t really care about getting humped by Cerise, she really just sat there eating hay, but just recently I noticed little piles of fur inside their cage. I was thinking it was from Cerise and maybe she shedded but I groomed her a while ago.. but when I was petting Cocoa while she was flopping on the floor, I felt a bunch of scabs on her back and saw that some fur seems to have been pulled out. 

Then at night I would hear loud noises then saw that Cocoa is thumping while trying to run away from Cerise! I’ve never seen her do that before and I’m so surprised!  Then when I took them out the next morning Cocoa tried mounting Cerise and they ended up moving in some weird loop as if they were chasing each other’s tails. It went on for weeks and it stopped for a little bit. Though.. Cocoa’s been super jittery and has been running away in fear when touching her back when normally she’s fine with being petted there. 

TL;DR, is it normal for a bunny to not like being dominated?  And can someone explain to me why some fur was plucked off from Cocoa’s back? I don’t know if that’s normal for bunnies to suddenly pluck fur off of the other bunny’s back (or back of the neck?) 

I’m getting them examined tomorrow since I’m worried about the scabs and I plan on getting them spayed soon >< 

**EDIT 03/16/2017**

Found out today that Cerise is actually male! This explains everything!!  

[jerseygirl]

Some rabbits will accept another dominating, and some will take issue with it! If you feel they are getting too aggressive, you will have to separated them. The fur taken off the back near neck would be from how one is gripping the other bun when they mount them. They also might be nipping tufts out from each others butt area. They often target down low there. Be careful, as it can result in a nasty bite.

It can be a dilemma knowing when to separate and when not to. If they chase a little but things resolve, and they snuggle together like a bonded pair the rest of the time, you might be able to leave them together. I was able to do this with a foster pair of females that hit puberty. But full on chasing and fighting is not worth the risk. Especially if one is getting so stressed. Putting them side by side in enclosures will protect them both but still provide them a level of companionship.

[jerseygirl]

Just saw your update in 1st post. It’s super common for rabbits to be misgendered.   Hopefully you’ve found out early enough that there has been no pregnancy.

[Mikey]

Hitting puberty is not dominance. What you are seeing is aggression and the need to mate. Time to separate everyone ASAP to avoid further injury and accidental liters. To be completely honest so it doesnt happen again, rabbits should not be together until atleast 2 months after they are fixed, or you end up with aggression like this. Rabbits can and will hold grudges which can lead to broken bonds and injured rabbits.

[cheshirette]

oh my goodness that’s concerning, I intend on moving Cocoa to my room (again), I plan on getting them fixed very soon >__< 

[Author]

Messages