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bitting, growling

22 11:24:52

Question
I just bought my daughters 2 rabbits, one is a Jersey wooley and is the sweetest thing, she is not spayed.

The problem we are having is with the other rabbit we bought, not sure what kind of rabbit it is (rabbits are new to me)this is a young spayed female and seemed really sweet at first,
but now she has bit my daughter multiple times, will hide under the bed and when she tries to get her out she makes this funny noise and will advance forward like she is going to bite her..she will attatch the other rabbit and bite her hind end..she digs at our clothes like she is straightening them and then bite, she pulls and digs at the carpet.

What I want to know is normal behavior for rabbits, from my understanding I thought females got along.
will she continue to bite my daughter, is there any way to teach her not to bite.
My daughter is to the point now that she wants to get rid of the rabbit and get a nice one that is easy going and does not have these behaviors.

I have told her that we need to try and work with her for a bit longer to see if we can break her of these habbits..

Is this possible ?

thanks for any suggestions
Kimee SLC

Answer
You have multiple issues here.  Certainly digging at your clothes and carpeting is a normal rabbit behavior.  Attacking your daughter and the other rabbit are not.  And no, females do not automatically get along.

I would suggest that you separate the 2 rabbits for the time being and work on the new rabbit's biting behavior.  It sounds like she is scared, and her defense mechanism is to bite.  There's several different articles on ways to deal with this at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#aggbun Biting bunnies can be rehabilitated, but it is going to take some effort.  Depending on the age of your daughter you may or may not want to go to the effort.

As for the 2 rabbits together, they will need to be bonded, if they will get along.  There is information on this at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#bond  

However, the biting is definitely something I would work on first, if you can get her to quit doing that she will be much easier for you to deal with.

Kim