What's going on with these two?

[BunnyBunch]

Have two New Zealand sisters- my Doodlebug and Sugar. They were housed together at PO's home so we kept them that way when we got them in January. They were constantly plucking their own fur during this time. Also Sugar was being very vocal toward doodle, and doodle was contantly chasing sugar. It progressed to doodle mounting Sugar constantly as of mid february, and then to her snapping at sugar. At this point (a week ago) I seperated them for fear that Sugar would get hurt. Neither has plucked their fur since. They shed like crazy though, and I am unsure of what to use to groom them and how often. also doodle has a noxious odor coming from her rear end. It is emitting from two pockets, one on either side of her genitals. She does NOT like me touching her there when I try to look. Is this normal (the smell)?? Sugar doesn't have this problem. Sugar has stopped vocalizing since she was taken away from Doodle until recently. Now she grunts and lunges at me when I try to shooher back into her cage from wherever she has wandered to. This poses a tremendous concern to my hubby and I as we have a 17 month old son who's always walking and crawling around, and whoplays with the buns. We know her change in attitude is not something he'll understand or know to avoid. We need advice on how to best nip this behavior in the bud before he goes waddling by and gets bitten! For now we have put an additional lock on her cage door so she can't let herself out (outsmarted us for a bit there). We want to be able to all cohabitate again though.

 

[katt]

okay, first how old are both girls? and are they spayed? and are you 100% sure they are both girls?

it sounds like the smell is the scent glands, and while kinda messy and really stinky to clean, it can be done at home

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=55074&forum_id=10

it also sounds like hormones are playing a big part in this, and that getting both females spayed will help to correct this issue.

 

[BunnyBunch]

PO had them for 2 1/2 yrs she said. Also told us that both were fixed by gifter before they were given to her foster daughter. She has no paperwork on this though because gifter was foster daughter's sister. Have sexed them myself by way of online help, and had a vet sex them. Both are definately girls. Vet didn't see a spay scar on either girl, but said that if they were spayed at a young age that there wouldn't be a scar as their bodies would have healed perfectly. Vet we went to said the only way of making sure is to open them up, which we don't want to do unnecessarily. also vet said that spay surgery would be quite costly for a mature adult doe as opposed to a young one, and that it would be detrimental to their health to do surgery at this point. I don't agree with that though, as we have 2 adopted buns from the local humane society who are approx. 3yrs old and were fixed by the shelter just fine. So, I am completely clueless as to what to do now.

 

[juliew19673]

At the bun Shelter I volunteer at we do have 2 female buns that are fixed and still try to "nest". They can become very agressive - but its not as bad as those females that are not. Not sure, but is ultrasound any cheaper than surgery? Or at least here in California - when a bun gets fixed you get a "certificate" that you have from the Vet that fixed them.

You can also check with your local Human Society and see if they have vouchers for a discount spay/neuter of buns - at least then you would know as I'm thinking they sound like they weren't...

Will follow your story and happy to help find you rescources in your areato help figure this out as I'm just as curious as you are to a solution.

 

[BunnyBunch]

Ultrasound I was told by two vets in area is estimated at $500+ per bun. Checked with county HS, and they have vouchers but not specifically for buns. Said I could buy two vouchers if I could find a bun vet to accept them. So far have had no luck on this endevour. I love our bun vet but she said no to vouchers, as well as other vets local to us. Husband and I have been thinking of scheduling them both for a spay anyway, but don't have the money to do it.