Fighting female rabbits

Question
Hi,
I have been so happy with me gorgeous two female, dwarf lop rabbits who
are now 10 weeks old (I have hed them 2 weeks) but their behaviour has
suddenly changed overnight.
They live inside in a large cage and I let them out daily to play and have a run
around the downstairs of the house, in the evening when my partner and I are
home they are out for hours on end. They came from a children's activity
farm and have been beautifuul natured towards us since day one,licking our
noses when we are at their level, jumping on our laps and sitting still for a
good old tickle and stroke. They are from the same litter and are affectionate
towards each other..... until yesterday!
I came in from work and let them out, they were playing and i noticed they
were doing a bizaree nose nudgeing at one anothers tummy areas and
bottoms, then they started to almost circle each other (looked a bit like a
dance) first one way then the next, then stoppibng and grooming one
another, then repeating then frantically chasing each other nose to bottom at
hugely high speed at which point a fight broke out and their was fur
everywhere, i separated them and calmed both down.... they had another
fight later on and i separated them again, then they both decided to jump
back into the ir cage and both ssettled down so i left them all night. In the
morning no signs of fights, no mmore fur pulled out so i went ot work. on my
return from work today I again let them out and this evening the same thing
happened and 3 more fights broke ou, the final one scared me as Pickles bit
Betsys nose and it bled a little, i have now put one in the cage and one in a
make shift pen in corm=ner of room.
I am absolutely devastated by this, i was advised to get two female rabbits as
company for one aother, i was told they never fight and I just dont know what
to do.....
HELP, please
A very worried and new rabbit owner

Answer
Hi Naomi

It is true that females can be bonded if they are very young and litter mates better than males can.  However there are more cases that they don't get along then do.  The best thing you can do is keep having supervised sessions while you are there.  Let them play and if they start to even look like they are going to fight spray them both in the face with a water bottle.  This should make them stop fighting long enough to groom.  I would absolutely not leave them alone when you are not right there.  They are still to young to be spayed but as soon as they are about 4 months they should be able to be spayed.  After that you will have to go through the whole bonding process.  

I am going to give you a few web-sites to read through about bonding.  For now keeping them apart with only supervised visits is your best hope that someday after they are fixed they will bond.  The web-sites explain in great detail how to bond them so make sure you read through them carefully.

I am so sorry that someone told you 2 females will never fight.  They themselves may have been lucky with bonding 2 females but there are just so many times as the buns get older that they don't want to share their space or they can't agree on who is going to be the dominant bunny.

After you read through the sites if you have anymore questions please let me know.

Thank you and goodluck

Pam

http://www.mybunnies.com/bonding.htm

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

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/expect.html   this one will be most helpful to you I believe and they have a phone number you can call for help.

http://www.rabbithaven.org/Q&A/bonding.htm

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

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

This should give you enough reading info for awhile.  Since your rabbits were initially bonded but had a falling out I highly recommend the car ride trip.  Place them together in a cage or large box.  Have someone else drive while you hold them and keep an eye on them.  Chances are they are going to be so terrified from the car ride that they will again turn to each other for comfort.

And here is something just for fun

http://www.rabbitbites.com/  



:)  please let me know how Pickles and Betsy make out.  I really do care about all animals and I hope for the best for them.