HELP!!!!

[lilabunt]

hi. were brand new to this site and up until last week ive had no problems with my buns....until i rescued cujo the rabbit lol.. ok heres the background of the situation. for the last year we have raised lil a female mini rex (14 months old now), and po our mini lop (12.5 months old now) without any unusual problems. just the usual chase each other around the odd bunt and of course the humping. we bought them a day apart from 2 different places and bonded in the same carrier over a 5 hour drive home. they have been the best friends since we got them.. until last friday. i was out of town on work and found a white mini rex hybrid (they werent sure exactly but he looks like a rex) that had been dumped at the pet store by the previous owner stating he was a mean rabbit. when i first met him i tickled his bum through the cage and he flopped immediatly. i personally have never seen a rabbit flop in a pet store so i took it as a sign. when i picked him up to take him home he snuggled in my arms and licked me... i thought we found the perfect addition to our family. the drive home he went from being stressed to flopped in the cat carrier. when i brought him in the house he was a little sweetie. even after we half penned the girls room for an introduction he was great. kept jumping on us and having a great time. our female rex tried to box him through the xpen when ive read is normal behavior. oh let me state this. our females are not spayed and the male is not fixed either. after about 30-45 mins both my rex and the new guy were peeing to mark territory then all 3 of them flopped. we figured this was going to work. the as i went to get up the male charged me ears down grunting and took a chunk of skin out of my finger. at this point we immediatly removed from the influence of the females and made him his own room in the basement where our females havent been yet. neutral ground. for the first 10 minutes while everything was new he was fine. once he was used to everything he started charging and grunting and biting again. we have been trying to teach him (with the aid of work gloves) but it seems we get no where. he will chase you around the cage if you go near it. and it seems like hes pure anger until he flops. if hes out of the cage it still doesnt stop.. and now our 2 females have started fighting to the point of my rex having a cut and torn fur and they are seperated. please help. we want to help the new guy but if its going to affect our females like this then we are going to have to rehome him else where. any info is greatly appreciated

 

[KieraKittie]

I will admit I am pretty new to bunnys myself, but I have heard once females reach a certain age they don't really get along to well unless they are spayed, the male I'm sure will notice the available girls who are your but within age now of sexual maturity. What I have read is it can be as early as 12 weeks, though its unsafe to breed that young.

Sounds like a spay or neutering would help though I'm not 100%

 

[agnesthelion]

I'm new too! but yes, spaying and neutering is needed. It is next to impossible to bring an unaltered male into territory with TWO unaltered females without altercation. You couldn't create a better atmosphere for a bunny fight if you tried.

They all need to be fixed and time for hormones to disappear before an attempt at bonding again. And then i would seek advice from the experts on this forum for how to go about that.
Good luck!

 

[melbaby80]

The male needs to be fixed. He's acting out due to the females from the sound of it and having TWO unaltered females is asking for trouble. Even though they have bonded at a younger age their hormones now are telling them something different. You'll have to get your females fixed too and then re-bonded. Females benefit entirely from spays as it prevents cancer and allows them to live longer. Neutering your male will adjust his aggression and you'll have to re-bond with him. Once everyone is fixed you can try working on bonding all three.

 

[Bonnie Lee]

I completely agree with everybody here although it would some what make me hypocritical as none of my 3 buns are neutered or spayed lol, my male harvey and female Moshi are in the same room (separated and never allowed together unless I am breeding them) but neither of them have had any issues with sharing the space in my room and even now Moshi has babies but when I give her some time out in the room she goes up to Harveys cage and they do their little buzzes and licks on the forehead through the gaps in the bars of the cage.

Harvey and Winston my other male bunny have also had time in the same area but separated and also don't show signs of territorial behavior or aggression.

So I'm not sure if I just got lucky but it seems possible to have peace. Although if you don't plan to breed the females It's healthier and safer for them to be spayed

Sorry if nothing I said has helped at all... I babble a lot.

 

[ZRabbits]

It happens when a new bunny comes into the tribe, altercations do happen. They are trying to figure out who the boss is. The dominant one. This is all normal. Bunnies do jockey for status. They are no different than any other animal when comes to that.

But when bunnies jockey for position, it can bring on nasty altercations, which you are experiencing now. Now, even if you re-home your new male, Cujo, the girls will still try to find who the dominate one as they mature. When they are little ones, there is no dominate status, because there is no hormones.

Also having to unspayed female with a intacted male can also bring on babies. Lots of people have discovered how fast this act can happen, when a month later a doe is pulling fur and one day the fur is wiggling with newborn kits.

My advise, like others here, is have your pet rabbits neutered and spayed. The girls should be spayed to help give a longer life. Girls are prone to cancer and spaying your girls will help give them a longer life. The male, if really aggressive should be neutered. This will help them calm down, but don't be surprised if humping still occurs. Humping is not just for making babies, but also used for dominance. Girls even do it.

Also, males that are neutered, need to be kept apart from unspayed females for a good 2 months. Males hold their sperm a good month after neutering and can impregnant an unspayed doe.

What you are experience is all normal. Hope you find a good Rabbit Savvy Vet, and talk to him about what to expect with neutering and spaying.

Good Luck! Keep us posted.

K

 

[lilabunt]

thanks everyone. everything has been helpful. the reason none of them are fixed is that our original plan was to breed but now we are not sure. i think we might just skip the breeding and stay with rescuing poor little rabbits. and fingers crossed that there are no problems finding a good vet

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Neutering is a very good solution.

 

[ZRabbits]

lilabunt wrote:

thanks everyone. everything has been helpful. the reason none of them are fixed is that our original plan was to breed but now we are not sure. i think we might just skip the breeding and stay with rescuing poor little rabbits. and fingers crossed that there are no problems finding a good vet

Plans do change. Good for you for not rushing in and really thinking about the future with your bunnies.

Crossing my fingers you find a good Rabbit Savvy Vet. Maybe call a Rescue. They should have info on some good Vets. Plus you can get to know about how you can really get involved with helping other rabbits.

K