We adopted two bunnies, a male and his mother.
We had kept them separate, but recently put them in a cage together (three level . . .)
They had a brief fight, I think wrapping up who was boss, and the mom won. Now the bunny (about five months) lost a clump of fur from his nose, and has a scratch there also. First, will the fur grow back, and is the scratch (not bleeding) an issue ?
Why would you put them together? If the doe perceived the buck (regardless if it was her son), was an intruder on her territory, she would have attacked. I have known does to castrate a buck or worse under similar conditions. NEVER put a buck in with the doe.
Vice versa, putting a five month-old buck in with the doe (regardless if she was his mother), his inclination would be to breed the doe. That\'s what bucks do. Was this your intent?
It sounds as if the injury is minor (luckily). The fur may grow back, but it may not. Other than a bare patch, it will probably be alright.
You need to keep those rabbits in separate quarters.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Actually, it was recommended by the shelter we got the bunnies from . . . (we had the male netuered)
The intent was to allow the two (indoor rabbits) to have more companionship.
We had put the two together on a number of occassions in the past (within an indoor \"corral\" we had set up, and the two seemed to get along really well. The mother was even grooming the bunny, so (perhaps mistakenly) we thought in the same crate, they would get along similarly. They had seem ed to be getting along \"OK\" for the first hour or so, it was only after we left and came back, did we see the cut. (by the way, we saw the cut because the female was licking it as the two were \"snuggling\" on one of the upper levels of the crate)
We appear to have been incorrect.
I did separate the bunnies,
As far as the cut goes, although it was not bleeding, but was more of a \"fur gash\", I though a little neosporin might help heal it . . .thoughts ?
Thank you very much for the response. We\'ve only had these bunnies for a few months, and although we thought we did enough research, it seems we did not . . .
Females can get pretty nasty if they aren\'t spayed. To put them together, I would think you would have to have both rabbits fixed. My female beat up my male on neutral ground before she was fixed. Once my rabbits were spayed/neutered, I was able to keep them together. For bonding advice, check out this article:
http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/article...abbits.htm
Neosporin is a good choice.
Neosporin is a good choice.
Outside, you can put rabbits together as this allows the rabbits to define their space more easily and should one rabbit feel the need to \"defend\" its space, the other rabbit can easily move out of the \"zone\". In a caged situation, the rabbit being attacked has nowhere to go and the aggressive party perceives this as a \"refusal\" or challenge to the space in question.
Is the doe spayed? You mentioned the buck has been neutered, but spaying the doe can lower the territorial response considerably. Also, she\'ll generally be a happier rabbit.
For the well-being of both rabbits, I would recommend separate living quarters and open \"playtime\" together under supervision.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Thank you for all the info !
Shady Tree Rabitry (http:geocities.com/shadytreerabbitry) puts their rabbits in pairs and trios every fall, but I can\'t imagine how they do it!