Rabbit Fights

[Lilylou]

I recieved a pet rabbit a few months ago as apresent. Recently I decided to get another bunny. A friend ofmy mom told me that the rabbits might fight at first and to seperatethe cage so they could get used to eachother. after a couple days I letboth of them out of the cage and Milenko, my origanal, who is twice asbig as my new bunny attacked shadow. I have tried to teach milenko notattack shadow and while she has gotten a little better I don't feelsafe enough to take the wire screen out that seperates the cage. Howlong will it take for milenko to become less teritorial and be nice toshadow?

 

[edwinf8936]

Well, they might never get along. Ihave three. Two are best friends but one doesn't get alongwith the third and the third doesn't get along with one of the others.

There are several methods to try, one is to try putting them togetherin a bathtub to see if being uncomfortable will help them gettogether.

Another thing is if the are not fixed they have a lot of hormones and should be fixed first, then wait a couple weeks.

Check out the bonding tips.



ed

 

[bunsforlife]

Try taking them for 'dates' in a neutral area,where your established bun has never been. The bathtub makesa fun place =D it puts them off guard and makes them a little lesslikely to get onery. There are a few other posts where theyhave more indepth instructions, and Buck Jones is very knowledgeable =D

 

[Carolyn]

Welcome LilyLou,

Completely agree with edwinf. They might never get along. As for thebonding tips, if you look further down the board, you'll see a postentitled "Basic Rabbit Care Information", in there, there's a websiteabout bonding rabbits.

It also depends on age, gender, personality, etc. Don't put the newrabbit at risk of getting attacked or 'stared down' by the other one.It can stress the new rabbit and the new little one can have a heartattack and you'd lose him/her.

Slowly and with patience is the way to go, but even then, it might not work out that they're able to be out together.

Keep us posted.

-Carolyn

 

[m.e.]

In truth, there are very few rabbits that will"never get along". Some just take a loooooooot longer than others, andit all depends on an owner's patience. Look at the House RabbitSociety's articles on bonding, and if you need further assistance, findyour local HRS chapter (they have House Rabbit Societies in countriesother than the US, too) and see if someone there can help you throughit. (http://www.rabbit.org/)

Don't give up on trying to give your bun a companion. It may be the best thing you ever do for her.