Becoming a mess

[alysalouise]

I've noticed this past week, that the 4 babies have been urinating on and around the feeder and am wondering if its cause they are hitting that age and are starting to become aggressive towards each other?
As i fed them tonight, i sat and watched them, and as one of the grays approached the cage where i was standing peering in, one of the browns kind of ran over and made the gray uncomfortable and leave. And i noticed that both browns had been behind each of the grays sniffing. I have guessed that both grays are female and both browns are male. I am just uncertain i am right and am going to have a breeder that is somewhat nearby look at them for me

Some hutches i order just arrived and i plan to spend tomorrow reinforcing them before assembling them so we have no escapees and going to split the boys from the girls

 

[Azerane]

How old are they?

 

[alysalouise]

A couple months. I dont know exactly

 

[alysalouise]

These are from last week. No positive idea on breed or age

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[Azerane]

It's quite possible it's a hormonal thing, though young rabbits need time to toilet train anyway so will just pee wherever they feel like it It sounds like they're started to become interested in one another though, so it would be good to separate them as soon as you can. It's possible if the hormones are starting to kick in, that if one peed near the feeder, then the others followed suit in order to claim the spot as their own.

 

[JBun]

Yes, it sounds like they are getting their hormones in and marking territory. That is what peeing around the dish means. Definitely get them separated asap, as you don't want to risk any females getting pregnant or any fights breaking out. I'm not sure if you have individual cages for each of them, but that really would be best if possible. Males definitely need to be in separate cages individually, as they will likely start to fight each other as they continue to mature. Females can sometimes be kept together and be ok, but you would still be taking a bit of a risk doing it, especially if more than one is very territorial.

I'm not sure what your plans are, but if you plan on keeping them all, getting them all spayed and neutered would likely make it possible to keep them bonded in a group. No guarantee though as some bonds don't work out, but often with siblings it is easier for the bond to work out. If you did get them all fixed right away, you may not even need to separate.

You may be able to sex the rabbits yourself if you are comfortable picking them up. It can be a bit tricky to determine if they aren't fully matured, but if they are then males are usually easy to pick out.
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/sexing.shtml

 

[Azerane]

Ooh, they're cute. They look like they could be about 10-12 weeks.

 

[alysalouise]

They have been peeing in the same corner for weeks, so its very unusual that the feeder area is covered in pee all the sudden. Glad to know i am right on it being hormones. I only bought 3 hutches, 2 for these 4 and one for my giant baby. I'm hoping since the hutches are much larger than what they are in, they won't feel as cramped especially only have 2 in a hutch and won't fight and will keep a bond (i know it may come down to them not staying bonded as they mature, I'll have these smaller "indoor" cages on hand. Though I'd much rather not have to keep them in those if i don't have to)
I did hold them and sex them. I am just not certain as i didn't have another rabbit i already knew the sec of to compare to.
And none of the pictures i had looked at online were much help at all