my bunny is biting my other bunny

Question
My mom recently bought herself two bunnies on a whim so of course I get to
take care of them they seemed to be attatched to themselves at the pet store
so we bought them together there is one boy and one girl. After a couple of
weeks I started noticing scratches on the boy's back but I didnt really notice
anything to bad. They r outside rabbits so u cannot hear them from inside but
one night my dad woke up from them running around in the cage so he went
to check if there was a racoon or something trying to get at them bit they
were jus fighting. He calmed them down and went back to sleep but the next
morning the boy was out of the cage hiding in the bushes I put him back in
but noticing some fur missing then a couple of days later the boy was
missing again and when we found him he had a suvire gash on his eye and
so I cleaned it up bought some anointment from the pet store and separated
them to separate cages. I'm taking the boy to the vet tommorow but I jus
dont know what could have caused this behavior and I only have one
outdoor cage went for 3 but I had to separate the two so now one of them is
in an indoor cage and I'm wondering if they have to be separated forever

Answer
Dear Sarah,

I'm sorry you're having to take the responsibilty for your mom's impulse purchase, but I'm glad the bunnies seem to have someone caring and attentive (you!) to look after them.  If the bunnies are not neutered (and they are likely intact if you got them from a pet store), then there's a good chance the female is pregnant, or at least is having a false pregnancy.  If this is the case, she will *ferociously* reject the males advances, and this can cause savage fighting if the bunnies can't get away from each other.

By now, the female may have already taken a strong dislike to the male, but only time will tell.  For now, it would be wise to get them *both* to the vet to see how soon both can be spayed/neutered.  But do NOT put them back in the same cage for now, under any circumstances.  They will fight again, and the injuries could be much worse.  Not just pain, but expense at the vet, as you'll see. :(

Once both rabbits are spayed/neutered, bonding them again may be a time-consuming effort, but it might be possible if they have not fought so viciously that they now hate each other.  They should be kept physically separate, but able to see/smell each other until the bondings begin.  Use the tips in the articles here to learn safe bonding techniques:

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-a=00062824-sp00000000&sp-q=bonding&user=enter...

Until you are absolutely sure they are compatible and bonded, they should not be forced to stay in the same space, as fighting could start again.

I hope this will help.  You can find a good vet for the spay/neuters here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Good luck,
Dana