What does this mean?

[Crisi1987]

i have three baby netherland dwarfs, their about 3 and a half months old. theyve been housed together ever since we got them and theyve been so loving to eachother. i know that once they start reaching sexual maturity their hormones are stronger and they can get more aggressive, but i cant even tell if what their doing is mean. one of them, names otis will chase the other two all over the place and i cant tell if their playing or not, it seems like the other two are scared and are trying to get away from him as fast as possible. he ends up with some fur in his mouth. i checked them all over the place but didnt find any wounds or anything. so i just stop them from doing this when i see it. but i want to know if its a really bad things when they do this or if its playing or what.

 

[Bassetluv]

It sounds like Otis is displaying dominant tendencies toward the other two. You will probably want to separate them once this begins (plus you don't want them together at sexual maturity if they are not spayed/neutered). Dominant tendencies can be overtly or covertly aggessive...and it might stay the way it is, but chances are he will become more aggressive as he settles into his dominant role....

(That's my best guess, anyway...)


***oops...I meant to add: If he's pulling/grabbing fur from the other two, then I would consider it aggressive/bullying, and he could wind up traumatizing them...and/or fights could break out if it continues and either of the other two rabbits decides to fight back...

 

[Crisi1987]

thanks, were setting up that they'll all get neutored (because their all boys) soon, the vet we want to take them to wont do it until their 5 months old though. but i was wondering, i cant take them all at the same time to get neutored because its expensive, but if i take one to get neutored and bring him back and keep them seperated for a 2 weeks to a month, will they not remember eachother and will they try to fight with eachother?

 

[Bassetluv]

I guess you'll have to take it as it goes and see how they are with one another. Even if you were able to have them all neutered at once, they would still have to be separated until they fully recovered from the surgeries...and rabbits often will fight with one another after one (or all) go through something as traumatizing to them as an operation. They will be coming home with strange smells on their fur, and that in itself can trigger aggressive responses from the other rabbits.

Once you've had them all neutered you will probably have to go through re-bonding them...they may or may not all come around and be best buds after this, or one or more might never get along. As rabbits mature they change, and bunnies that were bonded as kits can suddenly decide they no longer want to share the same space. But give it a try once they are ready...you might just be successful.

 

[Crisi1987]

thanks a lot, i hope everything works out for them, they really are allcute together lol. i also thought that maybe otis is being more aggressive because his brother just died, i dont know if rabbits show sympathy or depression like that, i know my other animals do, i had 6 rotweilers at one time and two of them were the mom and dad of the others, but the dad had to be put to sleep because of aggression and all of a sudden the other dogs became depressed and stopped eating and stopped drinking, so our vet decided to put them to sleep. i wonder if rabbits can feel that way too.

 

[naturestee]

Bassetluv wrote:

I guess you'll have to take it as it goes and see how they are with one another. Even if you were able to have them all neutered at once, they would still have to be separated until they fully recovered from the surgeries...and rabbits often will fight with one another after one (or all) go through something as traumatizing to them as an operation. They will be coming home with strange smells on their fur, and that in itself can trigger aggressive responses from the other rabbits.

Actually, if they go in together and come home together there shouldn't be a problem. I've seen this suggested elsewhere, and I did this with Fey and Sprite. They comforted each other. If you can't get your boys neutered all at once, your best bet is to keep them separate until they are all neutered and recovered.

Otis is being aggressive and should not be housed with the other two. Pulling fur is a half-step down from biting the skin, and I have seen skin pulled out with the fur before.

Crisi, rabbits do show sympathy and can get very upset about losing friends. Sprite hardly left her cage for a week after I had to put Fey in a smaller cage to recover from an injury. But they were together for a year and a half. In any case, it's not really safe to leave Otis in with the other two.

 

[TinysMom]

Crisi1987 wrote:

thanks a lot, i hope everything works out for them, they really are allcute together lol. i also thought that maybe otis is being more aggressive because his brother just died, i dont know if rabbits show sympathy or depression like that, i know my other animals do, i had 6 rotweilers at one time and two of them were the mom and dad of the others, but the dad had to be put to sleep because of aggression and all of a sudden the other dogs became depressed and stopped eating and stopped drinking, so our vet decided to put them to sleep. i wonder if rabbits can feel that way too.

I would separate them- or at least take Otis away from the others. I have two Netherland Dwarf bucks that were littermates and so loving until they hit puberty - then they wanted to KILL each other. They got separated immediately - and they both got spayed on the same day.

I tried to bond them again - but with their personalities - it just isn't possible. They both like living alone in their OWN cage and they don't want another rabbit with them.

I think it is going to boil down to the temperments of each of your rabbits as to what they'll take. I do know that buck/buck bondings are supposed to be the hardest!

Peg

P.S. Good luck with them!