Do 8 week old bunnies usually fight?

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

user 25471

Lionel and Murphy
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
152
Reaction score
46
I now have 2 little boys . My Holland Lop is 12 weeks and my Lionhead is 8 weeks. I house them in separate cages next to eachother about 6 " apart, and have been taking them out separately. I recently let them check out each - one on each side of a gated area. I have to keep My Holland from sticking his nose up to the gate b/c the Lionhead (the 8wk old) tries to bite him. I realize I cannot bond them until I have them neutered - but I didn't think there would be such aggression at this young age. I figured they could at least be together a little bit in a supervised situation - and of course know NOT to have them in the same cage together. Should I continue to let them investigate eachother (controlled) or am I making it worse and I should just altogether wait.
 
Wait altogether. There is no advantage, only risk, in allowing them to interact before they are both fixed. Aggression and fighting now (or attempts to fight, which it sounds like your 8 wk old would do if he was able) could prevent any chances of a future bond.
 
I now have 2 little boys . My Holland Lop is 12 weeks and my Lionhead is 8 weeks. I house them in separate cages next to eachother about 6 " apart, and have been taking them out separately. I recently let them check out each - one on each side of a gated area. I have to keep My Holland from sticking his nose up to the gate b/c the Lionhead (the 8wk old) tries to bite him. I realize I cannot bond them until I have them neutered - but I didn't think there would be such aggression at this young age. I figured they could at least be together a little bit in a supervised situation - and of course know NOT to have them in the same cage together. Should I continue to let them investigate eachother (controlled) or am I making it worse and I should just altogether wait.
I also have two unneutered boys one Leo lionhead/dwarf 4,5 months and other also lionhead name's Fred unknown age as was found on street. Fred is a very placid rabbit and Leo is very active. I brought Fred home in mid January and after a couple weeks I came to his cage with Leo just to see if they like each other. Fred was kinda friendly and came to say hello but Leo immediately tried to get him with his teeth through the bars. I keep them very separated after that and even if they can hear each other sometimes Leo would thump and Fred would pee near his cage door and thump back. :)

I have plans neutering them both next month hopefully and after a couple months will try to introduce them again, they never had a fight so hopefully they can accept each other, especially Leo he's very active and Fred is very calm maybe he's older as well.

So we'll watch and see if they can be bonded, if not I am going to try bonding them in couples with my lop girls, I've got two as well. Anyway it is too early they have to be neutered and then introduced again after 6-8 weeks.
 
I didn't expect the aggression toward each other this young (especially since the 8 wk old seems the instigator). Of course I would NEVER trust them alone together - just thought at this age they might be okay supervised.....but dont want to compromise success later on.
 
I didn't expect the aggression toward each other this young (especially since the 8 wk old seems the instigator). Of course I would NEVER trust them alone together - just thought at this age they might be okay supervised.....but dont want to compromise success later on.
Yes, my Leo who tried to get Fred was exactly 8-9 weeks old then.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top