I'm scared by my two bunnies behaviour, is this normal?

[Kel4mum]

I have two lionhead rabbits, one male andone female. They have lived together for two months. In this time they have got on fine, with no fighting. Recently however, Princess has been making lots of noises towards Benji, and they start running round in circles, chasing each others tails, and she tries to mount him. Benji doesn't like it and he then nips at her. Later he is then chasing her and is trying to mount her, eventually she gives in, but after she will try and mount him, and he will then nip/bite her and chase her away. The whole time this goes on, they are making grunting noises. They are scaring me as I've never seen this before. Should I seperate them?

 

[TinysMom]

I would separate them - especially if you don't want babies. I'm guessing they may be too young to breed successfully (I wait until they're older) - but - it isn't healthy for them to breed now.

If they're not trying to breed - then they are trying to establish dominance which can also lead to bad fights.

I think they've entered their "teenage" phase when the hormones hit.

 

[Kel4mum]

Benjamin has been castrated, so they won't be having babies, and he is just over one years old. Princess is only 6 months. They have been grooming each other and are constantly laying next to each other. I don't really want to seperate them after being together for 2 months.

 

[Flashy]

Are they spayed/neutered? How long since those operations if they have been?

Has anything changed in their world before this happened? Like a new house addition? Change in circumstances?

Does it happen at a particular part of the day?

I would be inclined to only let them have supervised play together and keep them separate the rest of the time, but next to each other if possible.

 

[Kel4mum]

Nothing has changed at home. I have put Princess back into the spare cage, She started chasing him and grunting again, she wanted to mount him. I feel sad cos they were getting on so well. The thing that confuses me is that they are grooming and laying with each other inbetween this wierd behaviour. Benji was only done 6 weeks ago, and the vet told me they could share their home/sleeping area after 3 weeks. I was advised on here that he could still get her pregnant, so I took her to the vet to see if she was pregnant and the vet checked and said NO! He said that it was rare for this to happen. Could they be wrong? Could this explain the behaviour?

 

[Flashy]

Ah. Is she spayed? If she is not spayed I think you have found your problem, and that is probably pregnancy. How old is she?

Men are still fertile for up to 8 weeks after a neuter, so potentially you are facing a litter now.

 

[Kel4mum]

No she hasn't been spayed, she is approx 6 months old. So you think that the vet got it wrong? Could she just think that she is pregnant? The vet did feel her abdomen last week and said that he thought that she wasn't pregnant.

 

[Flashy]

I would suspect this behaviour is an indication of hormones.

She may have been freshly pregnant then, or not pregnant at all, but she may be now. You need to wait until 36 days after separating them before starting to rebond (but really she should be spayed first, to avoid hormone/territory issues).

She could potentially have kits at any point from here on in though, so you will need to be prepared.

I would suggest getting a nest box ready and any sign of nest building put it in in place where the nest in and put the nest in the box.

A nest box needs to be open at the top, big enough for mum to turn around it and high enough sides for any kits to not get dragged out. then the bottom should be lined with something like shavings and then hay on top. Then make a hole in the middle, a nice deep hole and any sign of a nest, put it in the hole.

 

[Kel4mum]

So should I keep her totally away from Benji?

 

[Flashy]

Yes, I think so. No supervised play or anything now we have established a bit more about the situation.

 

[Kel4mum]

But they can stay in the same room, but keep her in the cage, then secure Benji in his sleeping area, so she can have some exercise????

I'm feeling like I'm not good at this bunny business. I got Princess to keep Benji company and it has been hard work and a massive learning curve for me. I am so grateful to RO for all their advice. Without you I would be a nerves wreak.

 

[Flashy]

They should be ok in the same room, but probably at opposite ends so she doesn't feel threatened.

It might be worth setting up a pen around each of their cages so that neither can get anywhere near the other but so that they can have exercise. This should be ok until/unless she gives birth, then you may need a rethink. Also make sure the pen is high enough so they can't jump over it.

 

[Kel4mum]

They will have to stay in the same room for now as I don't have much more space here. If she makes a nest then I will move her upstairs into my room. Thank you Tracy.

 

[Flashy]

I would suggest moving him if she is settled there because it will be less stressful for him, as opposed to a potentially new mum.

They should be fine for now though

And it's no problem at all

It might be worth posting question in the Rabbitry forum. There are bound to be questions that arise about her potential pregnancy, and that's the best place to ask and the more you ask, the more prepared you are.