-pinky-

Story of the rabbit fight

Today i went out to see my two rabbits Blaze and Leo. Leo is a fawn coloured lionhead male, and Blaze is a chocolate and white english male. They seemed ok, and it was a nice day so i put them in their run. First i picked up Leo, and he was fine, but when i lifted up Blaze i noticed lots of lumps all over him. I thought it was odd, and got a little worried because he's a bonny rabbit with a lovely brown stripe on his back which is why he is called Blaze. I watched him to see if he behaved oddly, and soon enough Leo started to bite and attack Blaze in furious fighting rage!...

Fur flew everywhere and Blaze then tried to attack Leo from behind but Leo swung round and bit him on the shoulder! I quickly grabbed Leo and put him in the hutch leaving poor Blaze to think about his terrible misfortune. The lumps must have been from where Leo had been biting him. So, what on earth do i do!?

Why are they fighting?

Well when i went to the petstore i bought Leo knowing he was a male, but when i bought Blaze they told me he was a girl, but they also said because they were young, he was never to sure of their gender. After many months i checked them out...you know...as you do, to see their gender, and it turned Blaze was male. Lucky i gave him a multisex name! I knew males were territorial but they had lived together peacefully for so long...8 months infact! I left them, and now, 1 year later, Leo has finally decided its his two story luxury condo, as i'm sure he'd see it through his eyes. So now...i'm left with a hot cross bunny and some poor rabbit that got put in the pan with him...

How can i help them!?

I've put Blaze in an old hutch i now use for the chicks whenever my hens start clocking. They have both calmed down, and i'm sure the lumps will heal. I've put some special cream on them to get rid of the swelling. But i'm worried They will both get lonely. I might be sending Blaze off to a friend since Leo is from a much better breeding line, and he's of a better nature. Blaze is very flighty and scared of other people whereas Leo is soft and cuddly, and he comes when you call his name. I can't be with Leo all that often to keep him company since i'm really busy...so, will he get lonely and if so, what can i do?

Please help...i love my animals, i hate it when they don't get along!

Dojo

Are they neutered? Male pairs don't usually last if they are intact.
One of my pairs is a bonded male pair and both are neutered and never fight, though literally the day before the second ones surgery, just after his testicles had dropped, they had their first fight. Wasn't a serious one but all was forgotten once the second male was neutered and now they are back to being inseparable.
Neutering is straightforward and has many health benefits as well.
It would be helpful if you could let them see each other each day for now through wire or something just so they don't totally unbond while you decide what to do.
Good luck

Tazmiche

You should NEVER have 2 un neutered males together!!!
Google the house rabbit society, you will find so much info as there are many branches of it it the US. I have a male and a female, both had the 'chop' so to speak......the first week with them the fights were dreadful!!! I know 2 males will be worse unless from the same litter and then the fights calmer...but still they fight!!

I suggest neuter them.....divide the run so they see each other....in time (may only be days) house together divided in sight of each other and from then on a day at a time!!

Mine are house rabbits and are her with me now, give them time and with care they will be as crazy and demanding as these 2 are!!!!

sirdarksol

Awesome advice above.
Rabbits can be absolutely vicious. A friend's rabbit actually killed a lab that had gone up to check it out. The lab was tame and not a rabbit chaser, but the rabbit (who was cornered in its pen) didn't know that, and lashed out with its back legs. If they aren't neutered, get them neutered. Then "acclimate" them as Taz suggests.

cherbear

I had my male rabbit for about 5 years and wanted to get him a mate. When I first brought the female home. Oh those fights looked horrible. Fur everywhere. My male was neutered and female was spayed. After a few days they were fine and the two were together always. My female rabbit actually attacked my cat and in order to get the rabbit off the cat I had to pick the cat up. The cat didn't even do a thing to the rabbit. The cat just sat there and cried as the rabbit was bitting him.

joy613

Male rabbits even neutered will fight. At least you gave your rabbit a gender neutral name, I have a dwarf named Sister, he is neutered. I have 3 house rabbits 2 are pair bonded and the other one will get beat up if they could get to him. One of my rabbits actually gotten a bloody nose through the cage, he was on the outside trying to make nice to the female (he was neutered at the time). I made sure that they other 2 were pair bonded before I let them out. It took several months before I allowed them together, now when they are out they are sweet and loving.

cherbear

Thats what I had to do as well. I had a play pin that I put the female in and the male always had free roam of the house. He would go up to the play pin and lay next to the female and sniff her out through the play pin. And eventually I put them together and then there was a few fights and after that they would snuggle up with each other.

KyWildFish

My rabbit is a pain in the you know what. Totally belligerent and totally messy. We have tried to train him to use his pan but that has never been consistent. He doesn't like people or anything else for that matter, a real nasty nature. We spent the recommended time with him while he was a baby and he was sweet and attentive, then it all changed and he is a terror. We are currently looking to rehome him.
From that experience Ive learned that they can have a massive change in personality for some reason. Its probably the fact that all our rabbits are intact, but its hard to find someone who knows how to neuter them properly.

joy613

My question what are you feeding him? I have a female rabbit that is allergic to alfalfa and she gets nasty when she gets any because it causes such pain.

KyWildFish

He is getting Timothy hay and a nutrient pellet. I sup his diet with "Spring Mix" salad from those pre cut and washed salad bags and he gets some fruits.
We have researched a lot about him and found that its just him. A local breeder suggested we should have talked to breeders before buying him to get a more laid back bloodline. He probably just needs a doe and a hutch to be happy, but we dont have the space at the moment.

Dojo

Are there any small animal vets near you? Neutering a male rabbit isn't half as fiddly as spaying a female, and as long as the vets know how to dose their anaesthetic for the rabbit properly it is usually low risk.
Lots of just regular dog/cat vets often regularly treat rabbits even if they don't advertise as small animal clinics.
It def sounds like the problem is he is intact, once males hit puberty they can sometimes turn nasty like that, and spraying urine is hard to stop in males without neutering them.

If you can't find a vet and want to rehome him you could try a rabbit shelter or normal shelter which also takes in rabbits, and maybe they could find a vet to neuter him before they rehome him or else they could find a home where someone has the space for him on his own, because rehoming a rabbit with behavioural problems will be quite difficult.

Angela_96

I love lionhead bunnies! My mom has one its a lonner male.
Def need to separate the males out, maybe give you an excuse to track down 2 females? I see them on craigslist all the time, I have been tempted myself to get one.