HELP! Do I separate them????

[spankypod]

I recently took in two 3 month old sister rabbits from a coworker who bought them from a rabbit show at 9 weeks and then didn't want them. She was "bored" after a few days of them, she said.. and upset that they weren't 100% litterbox trained. She told me she was bringing them to a pet store. I felt bad for them and took them in.

This girl told me they were bonded and friendly with each other, and they were initially (snuggling, sleeping together), but now 2 weeks later the one that's a little larger has been pulling the hair or stomping at the other one. The smaller rabbit just runs away. This happens throughout the day, basically whenever they aren't preoccupied with munching on hay, and the smaller one decides to approach the larger one.

I have them in a 40x30x20h cage right now. I let them have play-time in my bathroom with some toys. I haven't had the time to rabbit proof my home yet, so the bathroom is what they get for now.

I plan on spaying them both as soon as they're old enough. Should I separate them until they are spayed? This is pretty much a nightmare situation. They seem very unhappy, whereas just a week ago they were loving each other.

I also cannot afford to buy another cage at this time ($100+ expense!). I suppose I could get something cheap, but I feel bad shoving one of them into a 24x24 pen when I'm gone for 8 hours a day.

ADVICE! Should I separate until spay and hope they rebond, or rehome one of them and just keep one?

 

[aurora369]

You can try building them a bigger cage yourself. Cube cages are very easy to put together for not a lot of money. A larger space may help and if it doesn't you can just divide the cage until they are spayed and you can bond properly.

Information about cube cages here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=28197&forum_id=17

--Dawn

 

[tonyshuman]

Agreed with above. Sounds like hormones are setting in and you will have to spay before you try to re-bond them. Good luck

 

[spankypod]

Thanks for that idea! I could definitely do a homemade cube cage. I have 2 days off from work next week, so I will work on it then.

I'm sure I'll be back for cage ideas. LOL.

 

[spankypod]

I ended up giving them free-run of my guest bedroom with their cage open to come and go for food/bathroom and the underneath part of the bed blocked off for easy cleaning of the floor.

I entered the room this evening to find them grooming each other!!

I guess that cage the girl had them in was just way too small. Maybe the new hormones, stress of moving, and close confinement made one of the girls pissy.

Even so, I'm going to make another cage to keep next to this one for when I need to confine them at night and when I'm gone during the day. This way, when they ARE confined, there's no chance of fighting in my absence.

So thanks for the suggestions, guys.

Oh, also, when do you recommend that I get them spayed? I heard 6 months one place, 4 months at another.

 

[aurora369]

I have had rabbit spayed at 4 months through the rescue I have fostered for. They did fine. I would recommend getting them spayed as soon as possible. Just make sure that which ever vet you take them too is "rabbit savvy".

As for the cage, I had a pair that was like that too. I could not restrict their space or put them in a carrier together. They would fight horribly. However, when given a large cage (5x2 cube condo) they would spend all their time laying on top of each other snuggling and grooming.

So it sounds like space and hormones where causing the problems. I'm sure it will get even better once they are both spayed. And I would recommend getting them both done at the same time.

--Dawn