2 female lop eared rabbits

Question
Hi i have to females who were bought together from the same litter. They are now about 4 and half months old.About a month ago they had a fight but things seemed to settle down with them and they went back to loving one another,grooming one another and sleeping together. These last 2 or 3 days the more dominent one has done nothing to chase the other one apart from sleeping,eating and having a quick rest. The other rabbit looks so sad. I dont want to break the bonding up here but i just dont know what to do now. The dominent one has also tryed mounting the other one jsut the once. Would it be kinder to the other one to split them up permantly or have you any other suggestions. Dont really want to do this but it it means the other one being happier,could you please advise,thanks kim. They are both in a 6 foot x 2 foot hutch with combining 6 foot x 4 foot run so i think they have plenty of space.

Answer
Hi Kim,

yes it is sad to see this kind of thing happen, but it's part of their 'growing up'.  Rabbits are hierarchic and someone's going to be in charge.

That said, it sounds like one of your gals may have hit maturity before the other one.  My suggestion is to separate them but allow them to see the other, until the other gal seems to have hit maturity (should happen by 6 months old).  Then, using a good rabbit vet (not all are), have the girls spayed.  There are real health benefits to spaying, including for females, doubling their lifespans, allowing them to be good litterpan users, and cutting down on cage aggression towards each other and you.  It will reduce the chances of them fighting.  And you need to have both spayed, not just one - or else you will end up with the situation you have right now, again.  I would not put them together again if they are not both spayed.

After the last surgery, wait at least a month before starting to re-bond them.  And of course they will still see another rabbit near them, so this will be good until they can be together again.

The House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) has great articles about bonding/re-bonding rabbits.  I will point you to great articles on the House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org) web site:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/multiple.html

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/introductions.html

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/bonding-tips.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/expect.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-4/marriage.html

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-8/rabbits-in-the-plural.html

Lee