Okay, they're driving me crazy!  I've had my sister's rabbits since the end of March, and since then they've had numerous new toys and home expansions.  They came with a 3' x 3' house - these are two sizeable lop does - but because I can't let them out (evil chewers, and we're trying to sell the house!) I expanded their quarters a little :)  They now have something like 10' x 4' to live in.   They have a house, a tunnel, dumbbells (rope and plastic), rolly-bell thingy and a couple of other bits.  They get loads of hay, but they're still bored I think - and tetchy.  The dominant doe chases the other one quite a bit, and the other day I was woken up when she bit her friend's bum.  They're getting on better now, but I think I've got to so something else to keep them entertained - got word yesterday that I've now got them for another 6 weeks!!

Any ideas??

I put a large litter tray in with some soil and sprinkle food in it, keeps the rabbits entertained for ages digging around for food.. you could give them one box each?

When i worked in quarentine we had to look after a guinea pig and every week we would change all his toys (we used to put half in and keep half for the next week) and we also moved them around. He loved it when this was done and would go rushing (as fast asa guinea pig can rush) around to visit all the new bits.

I don't own rabbits but could you take half of the toys out and change them around so they have somethiing new to look at and do.

Also i thinkyou can get food activity balls for small mammals which may help.
As i say i have never had a rabbit but this is all i can think off. sorry if you already do it

Ours liked to chew up cardboard boxe.  She was a free-roaming rabbit and only put away at night so we didn't have much left in the garden that was growing - a bit like having our dog really just the size has altered.

Toys, games etc.....no good and a waste of money. All rabbits ever really need and should have is companionship and the chance to graze. Hay is boring compared to their natural diet. Poor things. My two (sadly now gone) always had access to fresh grass and the chance to run about. They did have a run, I guess about 7'x7' which they could get to when ever they wanted. In the winter, if the grass was too wet and muddy I would move them to fresher grass. They caused very little damage.....and the grass grew again !. I even collected sticks and sometimes small branches to put in there as they enjoyed ripping the bark off and it's great for their teeth !. Please let them graze, even just for a couple of hours a day, the fresh food and sunshine is needed.

They get loads of hay, but they're still bored I think - and tetchy.  The dominant doe chases the other one quite a bit, and the other day I was woken up when she bit her friend's bum.

Are they spayed? Otherwise they probably should be. Unspayed does generally do NOT make good pets at all as they do get very bad tempered when broody (with each other as well)  and can be very difficult to live with.

Hi, I have two rabbits and they are also demon chewers. I give mine an old yellow pages book and they strip the pages and dig at it for hours. Kitchen roll or toilet roll tubes stuffed with timothy hay also keeps them occupied and they love chewing and tossing egg boxes around, I also give them the drink holders that you get from McDonalds. Another favourite - get a cardboard box (like a crisp box) cut two holes in, one either side and put some shredded paper inside, keeps my two entertained. Be careful if you give branches - there are a lot which are poisonous (I never give mine any because I don't know one tree from the next:rolleyes:) If you google it I'm sure you will get a list of safe tree branches.

Hope this helps

Hayley

My friend breeds and shows rabbits and she never keeps two same sex adult rabbits in the same hutch, because they would attack each other. Each rabbit has a cage on its own, and the only time they get to be together is when they are being mated, and then its the doe (female) who goes in with the buck (male) not the other way round, if she isnt in season she will attack him and the breeder must get her out quick or the buck will get hurt. But if she is in season he will mate with her several times before the breeder takes her out. Does are not the gentler sex where rabbits are concerned, because when they are in season they want to be mated, when they are not mated they get moody and aggressive.

It might be a good idea to get them both spayed.

You need to seperate these 2 rabbits before one of them gets seriously hurt, wounds can get infected and flies can get to the wounds and lay their eggs, resolting in maggots in the wound. One rabbit is bullying the other thats not fair on the bullied one, the dominent one is trying to chase the other one out of her hutch, but obviously she cannt get away because she is locked in.

My two are kept together - male and female both spayed and castrated and they are true soul mates. I do believe that it's not wise to keep 2 of the same sex together unless they have been together since birth and both castrated/spayed at 6 months before hormonal behaviour kicks in. Rabbits are sociable animals and are best kept with another of thier kind rather than alone........once bonded they become inseperable. My two often chase each other around when they are having mad hour but they let each other know when enough is enough by thumping their back feet. If it is just 'play' behaviour that your seeing then I would leave them together because seperating them would really stress them out if they are bonded. There is a rabbit chat forum on the rabbit rehome website - lots of experts there could help you out.

Good luck

Hayley

My two female rabbits lived together from day one. Never any problems. Maybe it was because (as I posted earlier) they had access to the garden enclosure whenever they wanted - sometimes they would be outside together, sometimes one on her own. They were fantastic companions and would spend hours sitting together, grooming. It was lovely watching them. One was spayed at two years as a lump appeared, the other a couple of years later (the vet advised it due to the chance of problems as she got older). They lived to be nearly 7 and nearly 9 (she went in January).

Maybe if one of these rabbits has already started to fight it might be too late to do anything....I just wish people would consider the needs of rabbits before they get them. They have quite complex little lives and can't be expected to get on with eachother in unnatural environments.

I think they are more likely feeling the sap rising hormonally and are s*xually frustrated.  Does often fall out when kept together.  I always kept Rabbits singly in their hutches, able to see each other, but not in each others space.  they were fine let out in a run together for short periods.

My 2 does were not from the same litter, were bought 2 weeks bought (both were 8 weeks old when bought) and put in the same cage straight away. They were both spayed at 6 months old (went in for the op and came home the same day).  They never fought and were never bored because they had a 2 tier 4' x 4' hutch with a 10' x 3' run which they had access to all day every day.  My Dad built them a two tier 'house' and a 'tunnel', they had cardboard boxes to chew, wooden toy chews, flip n toss toys, a treat ball each (I used to give them veg for breakfast and put some of their tea in the balls) etc etc  In the good weather they also had access to an enclosed driveway.  Rabbits do need mental stimulation because as pets they are kept in situations where they are unable to roam and find stimulation for themselves.  Most importantly they also need a suitable and large living environment

Same here.......my Dad built the hutch and run !. The only problem was getting the girls to pluck up the courage to use the ladder/tunnel thing he made so that they could go up and down to the garden !. A quick push did the trick and they were fine !.

Thanks for all the advice guys.  Normally they do get on - it's because they're shut ni that they don't.  When they are at my sister's place they are free-roaming houserabbits most of the time - as they will be when she takes them to Finland in July.  They get on fine then.  They'll also have a bigger, better house to live in!

They are both spayed, have been for a couple of years now, they were done at about 8 months old I think.  Both grew up together.

Arched - I would dearly, dearly love to let them graze - of course it's the natural thing for them to do - but for one thing, our lawn is not exactly healthy right now (dogs and poor gardening skills... need I say more??), and there's no way I could get them to the lawn without risking death - Opi is a certified rabbit killer (and damned efficient too), and there's nowhere to put the dogs out of the way between the spare room and the garden.  It is frustrating.  Although, it gives me an idea - I've got some old plastic hamster cages, with big, high-sided solid plastic bases - a bit of compost and some grass seed and I'll have a mini-lawn in no time!  Aha!

I will try the toy rotation thing, whoever advised that (sorry! sieve-like memory :rolleyes:) - thanks!  Will invest in a couple more toys too, so I've got more to rotate :D

"Same here.......my Dad built the hutch and run !. The only problem was getting the girls to pluck up the courage to use the ladder/tunnel thing he made so that they could go up and down to the garden !. A quick push did the trick and they were fine !. "

I bought the hutch and runs (one 4' x 3' and the other 6' x 3') and my Dad "modified" them.  He made little doors so I could shut them in one run while I was cleaning the other out and a door giving them access out into the driveway Aaah a 'quick push' always does the trick... expect when you're trying to get a bun in a cat carrier to take it to the vets :rolleyes: haha

When I was a child our rabbits ran loose in the garden and were only put away at night due to the foxes. One night I forgot to put them away and only remembered when I was in bed so my dad said he would go and do it. He came back in with huge scratches up his arms where one of them had fought against being put in its hutch. When I woke up next morning and looked out of the window I could see one of the rabbits running around in the garden. I went up to the hutch and opened the door and next doors huge ginger tom rushed out spitting and hissing!

:D hahahahahaha thats a brilliant story!!  How on earth did your Dad get a cat and rabbit mixed up!? hehe

It was about ten o clock at night, dark and my dad is not really an "animal" person so when he felt something warm and furry he picked it up and fought it into the hutch.

And the spitting, hissing and 'wowling' didn't make him suspect it wasn't a fluffy bun bun ey!?  Thats a story to embarass him with on a 'big birthday' ;) hehe