2 month old

Question
Hello Lee,
Recently, one of my two 2 month old bunnies is attacking the other one. One buck, one doe from the same litter. The buck chews on the doe's fur around the hindquarters and pulls off a chunk. The doe gets frighten and runs away like crazy but after a few seconds, she's back to normal. Is it normal for the buck to show signs of aggression towards the doe? One more question, is it normal for baby bunnies to have thinner, less fur around their neck and around their ears? Or does that mean they have mites?
Please answer back ASAP!
Thank you,
Phoebe  

Answer
Hi Phoebe,

as long as there isn't any blood or torn ears and such, he probably is trying to assert his dominance, rather than attack her.  If he was attacking her she would be screaming for help and they would be doing a lot more than pulling fur out of their behinds.

Chasing, small nipping, and fur pulling (they only pull loose fur anyways) are part of rabbits establishing dominance.  This always occurs with 2 or more rabbits in the same space.  The more submissive rabbit is generally more afraid of the process than the one who is more dominant.

It has to work itself out.  Once it's figured out, things will settle down as each knows their pecking order.  At least you don't have two rabbits who want to be dominant, as this is when real fighting can occur (neither back down and things escalate).

As for the hair issue, just how much thinner are you talking about?  If it was mites, you'd see crusting and dark residue that would be in the ears, around the ears and wherever else they were.  If they look normal but just have thinner hair (without redness or crusty residues) its just thinner hair.

You may want to have it checked out by your vet if they don't look the way you think they should.  It could always be a symptom of an underlying problem.

Lee