HOUSE RABBIT SOCIETY ---- Maryland,
Washington DC, and Northern Virginia Chapter
My rabbits HATE each other........
So you took the plunge and on impulse
got your bunny a friend, to find out it's not that simple--they HATE each
other....
First and foremost, both rabbits MUST
be spayed or neutered to greatly diminish and territorial tendencies.
Find a neutral part of your house/apartment
for the introductions. Even spayed/neutered rabbits can be quite territorial,
so this is important.
If the rabbits are showing a lot of
sexual interest (humping for example) don't stop it--this is alot better
than aggression and it will subside as the bunnies get acquainted. Don't
be surprised to see a female rabbit humping a male (or another female)--this
behavior is in part a dominance behavior, and sometimes the female is the
top bun. Closely supervise this and stop any circling behavior. Males might
pull hair from females during this phase--don't worry as long as the bunnies
aren't upset. A water sprayer can come in quite handy here to fend off
aggression with a quick squirt to the aggressor.
A great way to get 2 buns used to being
close is to put them in a cat-style carrier. Put the carrier on top of
a running washing machine, or take the rabbits for a car ride! They will
be upset about being in the carrier and will huddle together for comfort.
It does wonders for getting them used to being close. After the carrier
session, let them out together again for a short time. Immediately stop
any aggression and call it quits for that session. Short positive sessions
are the most effective with rabbits that really don't like each other.
Leave one rabbit in a cage in the same
room as the other, uncaged rabbit. Sometimes it works to swap cages for
a while. Eventually the rabbits will get used to having the other around.
Just remember, with patience, they WILL
eventually become friends.
