Rabbit attack

[tonyandlaurie]

Hi again bun moms and dads just wanted to first stop by and say merry christmas to everyone, second i wanted to ask a question about my male bun, we have had buddy for about 6 months now and the other day out of no where he attacked my legs and feet, i was shooing him away from the gate and he just turned and started growling lunging and biting me and our other bun, we got her about 2 months ago and he has never showed any kind of agression before, he is normally a great boy, he lets us pick him up and love on him, but now i am kinda scared to let my kids play with him because i dont need my babies hurt by my buddy....any suggestions would be great....thanks

 

[LakeCondo]

Is he neutered? It sounds like a hormone problem to me, but if he IS neutered already, that's obviously not the issue.

 

[ldoerr]

I was going to ask the same question. Is he neutered? If not then that would be the first thing that I would do. He might just be coming into his personality. You might have gotten him mad for some reason, there are lots of things that can triger an attack. Also, is the female Spayed? Both of them have to be fixed before you introduce them.

 

[tonyandlaurie]

No neither is fixed but the female is way to young to mate....and i am kinda scared my 3 or 1 year olds are going to trigger him.....i didnt know rabbits are so hormonal..lol

 

[kmaben]

hormonal ohhhhhhhhhh yes! Getting him fixed will calm him right down. Probably. My little bad rabbit still has an attitude problem but she calmed down some after getting spayed. Everyone will tell you that

 

[ldoerr]

I have a friend who left a litter of 1 buck and 3 does together for a little while. When they turned 3 months old all the females gave birth to their brothers babies. So it is posible for rabbits to get pregnant as early as 2 months. I assume that your doe is at least that old. If she is, she should not be near the buck until they are both fixed. Bucks can still inpregnate females 2 months after their neuters.

 

[kmaben]

hormonal ohhhhhhhhhh yes! Getting him fixed will calm him right down. Probably. My little bad rabbit still has an attitude problem but she calmed down some after getting spayed.

 

[ladysown]

that behaviour is young male saying MINE this girl is MINE so back off buddy.

Ah...too young to mate? by who's reckoning? Bunnies are able to breed as young at 13 weeks old (youngest I've heard of was 9 weeks old). So if you have had them running around together unneutered be prepared for babies. Especially since you've had her two months. She would have at minimum been four weeks old...putting her at around 12 weeks old minimum...potentially older... So quite possibly able to breed.

So you have a choice...

You can get him neutered fairly quickly. OR you can pen him up so you can more carefully monitor what type of behaviour that you will allow.

 

[tonyandlaurie]

Oh geeze...lol.....well that will teach me for asking someone at the pet store....i am not sure how old she was when we got her but she was quite a bit smaller then him...now shes almost the same size....what are some signs of pregnancy

 

[JBun]

She probably isn't pregnant, though it is a possibility. 30 days is about how long it takes for them to have babies. If she starts ripping out clumps of her fur, she's pregnant and will be having babies within a few days and will need a nest box and a bunch of hay to build her nest. So if by one month after being separated from the male, she doesn't have any babies, then you're good.

Yeah, typically pet shops know nothing and are the last place you want to take advice from. The libraby section on this forum has a lot of info on rabbits, as well as the House Rabbit Society website. A neuter is definitely the way to go for him. If your girl was at least 8 weeks when you got her, then she might be old enough now to get her spayed as well.

 

[Imbrium]

she *should've* been at least 8 weeks old to be sold in a pet store (though occasionally, they're sold younger than they should be), putting her at about 4 mos old... females hit sexual maturity around 4-6 mos of age (though it's possible for it to happen earlier). she's probably hormonal or about to be herself, in addition to the male being hormonal. your best bet is to get them both fixed ASAP.

if she *is* pregnant and you don't want to bring a litter of kits into the world when there's already so many homeless rabbits, it's possible for a female to be spayed up to 2-2.5 weeks into a pregnancy (often referred to as an "emergency spay") - because the uterus is removed during a spay, it also serves to terminate the pregnancy.

 

[tonyandlaurie]

I agree there is way to many homeless baby buns, i dont think shes prgnant cause i held her and kinda felt her belly (doesnt mean they are to little to feel) well heres hoping, a d i am looking for a vet right now who can spay them both, i think they will be much happier and i might get my sweet buddy bunny back..

 

[Blue eyes]

If you have trouble finding a rabbit savvy vet, you can call a local rabbit rescue and ask for recommendations.

Be sure to keep them separated for now. After the surgery they will need to still be kept separate for 1-2 months. The male's hormones can take up to that long to fully dissipate.

Once the waiting period is over, you will want to re-introduce them as if they have never before met. There are some good bonding tips on this forum and (I think) in the library too. Bear in mind that bonding can be tricky. Sometimes 2 rabbits simply won't get along. You won't want to leave them unsupervised together until they are fully bonded. Fights can be vicious and even deadly. Hopefully things will go smooth for you. Thankfully you will have plenty of time to read up on bonding.:biggrin2:

 

[Imbrium]

here are good sites on bonding for when you introduce them:
http://www.cottontails-rescue.org.uk/matchups.asp
http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

try to house them near enough to each other while separated that they can see/smell each other but just far enough apart that they can't fight (or fornicate) through the bars - this can help preserve some of their "baby bond" and make re-bonding them easier.

I wouldn't rely on feeling her belly to tell you she's not pregnant - they have to be 10-14 days along in order to palpate them to see if they're pregnant, and even then it can be a little tricky to do correctly

 

[JBun]

Here are some lists for good rabbit vets. You could also try the humane society, rabbit rescue, or a spay/neuter clinic which often will do it for a much better price.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/finding-vet-13366/
http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets.html

As long as your female is spayed, if they seem to like each other and get along, you may not need to wait 8 weeks after your male rabbit is neutered, to put them together. I only had to wait about 3 weeks to put my male rabbit with my female, as that's when he stopped chasing her around to hump her all the time. But if they are showing signs of irritation or aggression towards one another, then you'll need to wait for those hormones to fully settle down.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Get both neutered--less problems and a better and healthier rabbit.