Teach Rabbits to play nice

A friend of mine has a pet rabbit. She recently bought a second pet rabbit, but the two rabbits fight when put together.

Does she need to find a new home for her second rabbit? She tried a suggestion from a friend to put them in their individual crates and face the crates towards each other… but obviously with no success. :frowning:

Do any of you fellow dopers know about getting rabbits to play nice?

*This is another ‘tweener’ question. I suppose it could be under IMHO too.

I’ve been trying to do the same thing with guinea pigs recently and not having much success. We bought a “friend” for our guinea pig and they don’t seem to get along too well when I put them together - the older piggy acts very aggressive toward the newer piggy. Yet when they are separated in their cages (which is actually a single cage with a divider down the middle) they purr and chatter at each other and seem to get along OK.

My wife read a lot of tips on-line about introducing a new piggy to an older piggy. The older one, if he/she has been alone up until now, may start acting defensive and territorial, so it is recommended that you introduce them to each other gradually on neutral territory. Give them time to get used to each other, but you need to be able to keep them separate if they can’t play nice together. It may just take some time and patience - that’s what I’m hoping!

Go to the experts – the House Rabbit Society.

Here’s their page on Bonding multiple rabbits, but the entire site is a must-read for living with pet rabbits.

Edit: here’s another article from their site: Will they ever be friends?
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What you need is chickensto police the rabbits.

Ahem…

I recommend the house rabbit bonding info
De-sexing can help reduce aggressiveness and taking them for long car trips seems to be effective also.

Unless of course you end up with a pair of individualists like I did - the two rabbits now live in separate households. Fortunately I have ample time to spend with antisocial little fuzzybutt I still have.

You’re sure that’s not your SO you’re talking about?:smiley:

I had a lot of luck by putting both bunnies in a stressful neutral environment - one that was not the known territory of either rabbit. I put them in the back of my van, and gave them one cardboard box shelter to share. Bingo! Best friends!

Hmmm… Well he is the only male in my life at the moment, I am constantly cleaning up after him, preparing his meals, snuggles when he wants them and on demand…

Pretty darn close from where I’m looking

http://language.rabbitspeak.com/rabbittalk.html
I good site for deciphering behaviours