Rabbit Web Discussion Board

Hi all! I have a question but first I would like to introduce myself. My name is Megan and I have two pet house rabbits. Both were unwanted pets and given to me by their pervious owners. The first is a New Zealand white (i think) about a year old. The second i just got about a week ago. The owner told me she was a female so I bought her home and introduced her to my female...only to find out it is not a female at all! So anyways I have been keeping them seperate. I took the male into be fixed yesterday and was anxious to put them together and see how they interacted. Okay so know I know that maybe I was alittle too anxious because I have just now learned that the male may still be potient for 6 WEEKS!! Needless to say the male is now staying in his cage for the next 6 weeks.

So now to my question....As soon as I brought him home he was still \"going after\" my female. Is this a behavior that will go away? Is there any hope of them being able to be out of their cages together unattended? I don\'t want him to always be after her. Do you think I could maybe train him to not do it or is that just animal instinct?

Thanks in advance,
Megan

There are residual hormones that stay in the tissues for weeks following neutering, so this explains the persistent behavior.

There is also a dominance/territorial aspect to mounting behavior in rabbits (and many other mammals too). I probably would not recommend actually housing these rabbits together as the activity resulting from dominance displays creates stress on both animals.

After a few weeks, you can try letting the rabbits out together in a large area. (Supervised of course.) As the two get used to each other, the aggression displays may lessen over time. You\'ll just have to adopt a \"wait and see\" attitude...

Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com

Thanks for the reply. I suppose time will tell. I was just really hoping that they would get along. My female just hops around all day and then is put in her cage at night. I was hoping for a hop along companion for her.

Thanks again,
Megan

I wouldn\'t worry too much about the lack of companionship for your bunny. Even without another bunny, she will find her companionship with YOU! Our Petey is an \"only child\", and he is very happy. I do have a couple of stuffed animals around which he loves to play with and give love licks! I bet in time though, your bunnies will be buddies.