Doe attacking the buck

by Georgia
(Panorama City)

Hi so my doe recently had a failed birth to one kit. It's been 3 days now and I decided to put her husband in back to her cage because they both looked lonely. When I put the buck in, the doe ran straight to the corner watching the buck. The buck wasn't even paying any attention to her. He was looking for some hay in the box and the doe quickly attacked the buck pushing him hard with her head. The buck didn't do anything and continued to eat then in a few seconds the doe attacked him again.

She looked really mad and I don't know what it is that is bothering her? When the doe attacked him again, he tried to stop her by putting his head in front of her head, facing her face to face. Then he licked her face and the doe got a little calm but she suddenly attacked him again o.O

What is wrong here? I really want my bunnies to unite again :/

***** Karen Sez *****
There's a very easy solution -- put the doe into the buck's cage next time. Does are capable of doing serious bodily harm to bucks that invade "their" space...I think your buck lucked out!

Your doe was 'mad' because the buck was invading her space.

Our Breeding Rabbits section explains all about how to breed, including taking the doe to the buck's cage and not the other way around. You've provided perfect illustration as to WHY this is important.

Lastly, and not related -- it's an all-too-human propensity to put people-thoughts into bunny heads. 'Husband'...'lonely'...

Gotta be careful with that! You always want to operate in the realm of truth.

'Husband'...? Fair enough. Interestingly, rabbit pairs DO mate for life, at least, for the life of the pairing. But the buck has no problem with multiple 'flings.' So, it's not exactly a 'marriage made in heaven.' And given that rabbits are born and bred with the purpose of feeding carnivores, they have very short life expectancies in the wild - 18 months IF they've survived past their first year, a big 'if' since 75% of bunnies have landed on a carnivore dinner table by age 12 weeks. Therefore the bonds uniting 'husband and wife' are tenuous at best.

'Lonely'...? Perhaps interested or curious might be a more apt description. This is because despite all you hear 'out there,' a rabbit's life is actually quite solitary, even when ostensibly part of a warren.

It's a good thing to correctly understand the natural and instinctual drives and purposes of bunnies.

Just sayin' ...

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Dec 12, 2011
by: georgia

Thank you so much (: They used to live together in the same cage ever since day 1 and I only separated them during the pregnancy. so I temporarily kept the buck in a smaller cage. Is it still possible for me to put the buck back in its cage with the doe without them fighting like they used to...?

***** Karen Sez *****
I cannot say for sure what is or is not possible as to your specific rabbits. However, if you want to house them in the same cage, you'll need to switch cages so that the buck "owns" the cage where you want them to be. Then, once he's established his scent in the cage (a few days), try to reintroduce the doe to the cage. If it works, great. If not, then I guess the answer was

Lastly, if you house the animals together, you can expect a litter of bunnies literally every 31-33 days, until the doe's health is trashed. Just sayin' - don't put put people-thoughts into rabbit heads and assume the animals are lonely.

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