two bunnies!

Question
My girlfriend and I reciently got a doe polish dwarf rabbit that is 2 &1/2 months old (ashes is her name and shes great!) we thought she makes such a great pet and decided to get another ,we decided to get another female because of what we have read. Wen we got another rabbit (jessie a 1 & 1/2 month old polish as well ) there was emieadte agression from the older rabbit besides the useall puting head under neck show of domanace there was biteing and real fighting what can i do ?will it stop? please help all we want is for them to have friends its sad cause that was the decideing factor in our purchase of the second rabbit.. thank you for your time . cory mibury

Answer
Dear Cory,

It's never a good idea to bring a new rabbit into a home where there's already a bunny who has established her territory.  Bonding two rabbits is *very* tricky, and the one thing you must do now is to keep the two bunnies strictly separated so they will not fight.  Once they have a real knock-down drag-out fight, it might be difficult for them to ever be friends.

First step:  Both bunnies must be spayed.  Not only will this reduce their aggression, but it will also remove the very high risk of uterine cancer suffered by unspayed, unbred females.  Unfortunately, these two are too young to be spayed yet.  They really shouldn't undergo this surgery until they are *at least* six months old.

But in the meantime, there are steps you can take to help bond them.

The best source of articles on how to bond rabbits can be found here:

www.rabbit.org/

and here's a list of pertinent articles that will help get you started:

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

Contrary to what you've been told, opposite sex couples are easier to bond than same sex couples.  But if you ask breeders, they'll tell you same sex because that way you won't get any unwanted babies.  This is why the House Rabbit Society strongly urges all rabbit "parents" to have their bunnies spayed/neutered, and if they wish to get another bunny as a pal, to *let the bunny choose his/her own mate.*  This is essential for a good match, since (as you've already found out the hard way), rabbits are very territorial, can be ferocious fighters, and are *very* picky about their same-species companions.

Fortunately, these are baby girls, and you may yet be able to bond them.  But it must be done with extreme care, introducing them in a wide open, neutral territory where neither has established dominance.  At the first sign of aggression, you must step in (with leather gloves!) and break it up.  DO NOT let them fight.  They will NOT "work it out" as some breeders will tell you. They are more likely to severely injure one another.

Car rides together in the back seat (with a human chaperone) works well, as the shared stress helps break down barriers and helps make them friends.  More tips can be found in the articles at the link above.  Once you've had a look, please write back with any other questions.

Dana