Rabbits may look cute and cuddly, but if they feel the need to fight, they will! If they sense danger or feel threatened, they freeze, hoping the potential threat will go away. If that fails, they’ll run away. And as a last resort, their final defence is to stand their ground and fight.

If your pet rabbits are at war, here’s some useful information to help you work out why, and how to deal with it.

How Do Rabbits Fight?

Fighting rabbits can cause serious injury with their long teeth and sharp nails. They’ll even fight to the death! Some of the behaviours of rabbits fighting include pulling fur, kicking, biting, lunging, chasing, snapping and growling.

Common rabbit fight injuries include deep skin wounds and eye injuries. Fighting also causes stress which they don’t cope with very well. Stress can lead to other problems like gastrointestinal stasis which is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate veterinary attention. It’s important to get veterinary treatment for any rabbit fight injuries as they can quickly become infected.

It’s usually pretty easy to tell the difference between play and real fighting. Aggression is usually sudden and often very violent. They’ll growl at each other too - rabbits play fighting don’t usually make any noise and are much gentler with each other. A little nip or body nudge are normal.

Real fighting can’t be mistaken… it’s just obviously aggressive!

Why Do Rabbits Fight?

Hierarchical / hormonal aggression

Groups of rabbits, even pairs, have a social hierarchical structure. This means some are dominant and others subordinate. Hierarchical positions develop when rabbits are as young as 7-10 weeks old. The older a rabbit gets, the higher up in the social group they’ll be, with younger rabbits dominated by the old ones.

Unspayed or unneutered rabbits tend to be more aggressive. When mating seasons come around in Spring and Autumn, fighting can be troublesome.

Dominant males that have reached sexual maturity will fight with each other if they’re competing for a female. Female rabbits fighting with each other is probably seen more commonly. This is usually because they’re competing for the best nesting areas. Subordinate members of the group often don’t get a look in!

The easiest way to prevent this is to have your rabbits neutered. This will not only stop dominant rabbits from fighting during the mating seasons, but will also help prevent associated reproductive diseases, especially as they get older.

Territorial aggression

Rabbits are very territorial. Both sexes will defend their territory from unwanted intruders. This will happen all year round but is more common during the breeding seasons. Territorial aggression is usually aimed towards other unknown rabbits that are seen as a threat.

Because hormones play a part in territorial aggression, neutering is a sensible option. If you have a pair of rabbits that have started to fight over their territories, you may need to consider moving them to neutral territory. Make sure your rabbits have plenty of space to explore, run around in and places to hide away in. Lots of toys to play with and other environmental enrichment like tunnels to run through and areas to dig in will help to keep them occupied.

Resource-related aggression

This is when your rabbit will defend a resource (something good that it wants to keep for itself) from its companion. This could be anything from food to toys or even the sofa!

Preventing this type of aggression is quite simple. Make sure there are multiple food bowls and plenty of toys to go around. If other items are causing an issue either remove them completely or increase access to these resources if appropriate!

Frustration-related aggression

Also known as redirected aggression. This sort of behaviour usually happens when a rabbit gets frustrated about something. They’ll redirect their frustration by being aggressive towards another rabbit - maybe if they’re bored or hungry. For example, if you take food away from them, your rabbit may take this out on their buddy!

You’ll need to work around this by providing plenty of environmental enrichment. Make sure your bunnies never go without their basic needs. This should avoid the feeling of frustration and avoid any potential fisticuffs.

Pain-related aggression

Any animal in pain won’t be feeling their usual happy selves. If your bunny is in pain, they may redirect any aggression towards their companions and fights can break out!

Problems like dental and joint pain are common causes of pain-related aggression. The solution to any pain-related aggression is to get to the bottom of the pain. Take your bunny to see your vet so they can check them over, find out the cause of their pain, and treat them as needed.

Bonded pair aggression

If rabbits are bonded, they usually live very happily together, often for life. But it’s normal for them to have the occasional scuffle. If bonded rabbits do suddenly start fighting, it could be due to a period of separation, a change in their everyday environment, stress, or illness. If you can’t work out why, it may be worth taking your bunnies to the vet for a quick check over to make sure they haven’t got any underlying health issues.

If bonded rabbits do start fighting, separate them straight away. Unfortunately, if this happens, you will probably need to start the bonding process again. Place each rabbit in a crate where they can see and smell each other but can’t physically get to one another.

When they’re happy in each other’s company again, start putting them together on neutral territory for brief periods. If they accept each other, you can slowly increase the length of time they spend together. If fighting starts again, you’ll have to start over - time and patience are key.

Finally, move them back to their original enclosure. You’ll need to keep a close eye on them for a while afterwards, but hopefully all will be well again. If you get a new rabbit, this bonding process will also need to be done to avoid any potential squabbles.

Rabbit may fight for lots of reasons, so make sure to separate any fighting rabbits straight away and get any injuries checked out by your vet. Getting to the bottom of why they’re fighting is important to prevent it happening again. If bonded rabbits start fighting, the bonding process will need to be started again. Prevention is the name of the game; be one step ahead to prevent any potential fighting.

Everypaw Rabbit Insurance

Here at Everypaw, we want to help you keep your bunny healthy and in tip top shape. So, when it comes to your young rabbit’s care, Everypaw’s Rabbit Insurance could be just the cover to look after your little thumper.

Get a quote

 

Content provided from Vetstream's Vetlexicon Lapis – www.vetlexicon.com/treat/lapis

Vetlexicon is the world’s largest peer-reviewed online clinical reference source. All our content is written and peer-reviewed by over 1,000 of the world’s leading veterinarians, ensuring relevance, accuracy and quality.