Most rabbits mark their territory in one way or another, both in the wild as as pets. Unneutered male rabbits are usually do this the most, and often spray urine on things that they think they own. For house rabbits in particular, this behaviour is undesirable. Usually neutering solves this, as neutered rabbits rarely do this. This is a very good reason that house rabbits should be neutered.
There are other ways of marking territory that some rabbits do more than others, but these are not generally noticable to you and won’t cause problems for house rabbit owners.
One of the other signs of territorial behaviour in rabbits is chin rubbing. Rabbits rub their chin on objects because they have a gland under their chins from which they scent things that are theirs. This is undetectable by humans, so won’t cause you any problems even with a house rabbit, but the rabbit will be happier knowing that the table in the corner belongs to it because it’s rubbed its chin on it.
You may also find a few rabbit droppings left in hidden corners of rooms, like behind the door. This is another way of your rabbit saying “this is my room”. This is usually not a problem for house rabbit owners, because most rabbits do not do this very much, and the droppings are dry little pellets that do not cause any damage.
Dominant Behaviour
If you keep two rabbits together (or more), you may find that one rabbit tries to be dominant over another. This usually involves the dominant rabbit pinning the other down by putting its head on top of the other rabbits head, or sometimes by mounting or climbing on the other rabbits back. Although this could appear that the rabbits are trying to mate, it is actually one of the rabbits asserting its dominance over the other rabbit.
Usually, when the pecking order has been decided by the rabbits, the dominant behaviour will reduce or stop completely. If it continues regularly, and the rabbit subject to this behaviour is becoming distressed by it, consider separating the two rabbits, particularly if they share a cage or hutch.
My bunny jumps, mounts and climbs on my dog. Does this mean hes trying to tell my dog that the living room is his?
This does sound like rabbit territorial behaviour. Territorial behaviour is more common in rabbits that have not been neutered, and can sometimes lead to aggression.
My rabbit mounts & bites my leg when she is in the frontroom, What could she be trying to tell me?
Hi Saffron
Mounting is both a mating and a dominant behaviour, and can be caused by increased levels of hormones as a rabbit becomes mature (usually around 4-6 months old). It is more common with male rabbits than female rabbits, but female rabbits mount other rabbits or people too to show their dominance.
Biting and nipping while mounting is usually a behaviour associated with mating, and is usually experienced with male rabbits. Are you certain that your rabbit is female?
Neutering usually reduces dominant behaviour (for both male and female rabbits), so if your rabbit is not neutered, I would suggest that doing this might help.