Doe aggressive towards other does.

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ButtonsPalace

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I had to bring in my little Chocolate doe, Rose, about a month ago because she had a huge lump on the side of her parts, I'm still unsure what it was or what caused it and i'm really unsure about whether or not I should breed her. The lump has healed but I'm still unsure, once it shrunk I washed it and it went completely away..

Anyway, today I brought in Totoro and put her in my only spare cage, I put her and Rose's cage right up against each other in hopes they'd become friends through the cage, I was hoping I could house Totoro with Rose because Totoro has lived with her mom up until now (about two months, but she was most definitely weaned, I took her out because I had rebred mom and she's due any time now) So, I had them near each other about 3-4 hrs. and then went down and made sure everyone still looked ok before I let Totoro out of her cage, her and Rose sniffed through the cage for a few minutes before Totoro went to explore. Rose lost it when she left, so I figured oh you're obviously interested in her that's good. So I let Rose out and she went straight towards Totoro, I stayed close and watched what I thought at first was Rose asserting her dominance but quickly become Rose biting and trying to catch Totoro, I very quickly grabbed Rose and put her back in her cage. I made sure Totoro was all good too because she made a very I'm miffed sound after the ordeal, no blood although it looks like she lost some fur, I believe this might've been mom stealing some of her fur to make a nest though haha.

I know does don't always get along together but Rose, until about 2 weeks ago had another 3 does living with her, plus when I put her back in her cage though she went straight to the part of her cage closest to Totoro trying to shove her nose through the cage, she acts like she's interested in her which is why I really wonder what this random aggression was caused by.. Rose and Totoro are both very sweet and have been handled quite frequently since birth.. ( I had typed a bit more in the beginning parts of this paragraph, I went to submit but my laptop is being weird and I accidentally highlighted who knows how much of it and replaced it with ".." I tried to fix it but I've been working on this for quite a while now.
 
It seems like "normal" rabbit behavior. If she meant harmful business and the intruder was leaving one way or another you should've had a rolling ball of fur and blood. When rabbits go after each other, they don't just peck a little. It sounds more like pecking order establishment. Was she screaming constantly? Separating during pecking order establishment doesn't do any good, only makes it worse.

On the other hand, if you really think she means to kill, she isn't one to be in with another doe. Does can be FINE and five minutes later literally rip each other to shreds. It takes special tempers to do OK with housing all the time, and then even with litters I never separated the Lions I kept that way as to avoid fights.
 
She didn't scream she just kinda made a upset sound, like she sighed and squeaked a bit at the same time. I don't know how to explain it, other than by saying she sounded disrupted, Should I let them be together tomorrow? What signs should I watch for? (Like when should I separate; when is it a fight)
 
is there a real need to have them together? if not, I'd leave them separated.... biting to me signifies trouble brewing
 
I just wanted Totoro to have a friend because she seems lonely, I have a different doe I can probably put her in with that's a lot sweeter, once she's bred I would separate them but I guess it is easier just to have them separate huh?
 

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