Displaced Anger?

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 6sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 7 months ago by LBJ10.

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- 09/05/2015 at 7:52 PM
  HitchcockDT
  Participant
  25 posts
  I have 3 Holland lops: DigDug (spayed doe), Tolkien (neutered buck), and Hitchcock (spayed doe). Diggy and Tolkien are a bonded pair and live in the same pen. Hitchy lives in my bedroom by herself. When they’re in their respective pens, they can’t see each other. Once in a while Hitchy will manage to escape my bedroom and go wander around my apartment. Once Diggy sees her, she starts showing signs of aggression, especially charging the fencing. She never manages to get ahold of Hitchy, but eventually she turns her aggression towards Tolkien. Thankfully Tolkien just attempts to escape her and doesn’t actually engage with Diggy. Though, once she starts starts attacking, she’s very difficult to discourage. I’ve never had any problems with Diggy and Tolkien fighting except in these instances. It’s only when Diggy catches a glimpse Hitchy. I was wondering if anyone knew what this was or had any ideas how to combat this? Someday I’d really like to be able to house them all together.
- 09/06/2015 at 1:04 AM
  Gina.Jenny
  Participant
  2244 posts
  I’ve a boy lop and two fairly recently adopted and spayed girls. One of the two girls took an instant liking to my boy, and they are now happily bonded. The other girl just wanted to fight, but I now have her in a cage and run in the dining room, which the other two are free range in. I put food so the three eat along side each other, several times a day, and that has at least helped stop any fighting through the bars. I haven’t had any aggression between the pair though. I would guess that yr pair see so little of Hitchy, she seems like an intruder. The set up I have means the bunnies are all now very familiar with each other, they just aren’t yet sharing the same space, though I hope that will come in time. Is there any way you could move both pens to a neutral area so they can get used to the sight, smell, mannerisms etc of each other?
- 09/06/2015 at 10:01 AM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  It isn’t uncommon for a “new” bunny to cause tension in a bonded pair. What are your goals? Do you wish to try to bond them into a trio?
- 09/07/2015 at 1:04 AM
  HitchcockDT
  Participant
  25 posts
  Unfortunately, my apartment isn’t really large enough to do anything different than what I’m currently doing. I’m nervous setting up a pen for Hitchy near my other two because even Hitchy across the room will set DigDug off. Eventually I’d like to have a trio, but Diggy is making it a challenge. I’ve considered splitting Diggy and Tolkien’s pen into two (with some space in between), putting Diggy in one half, Hitchy in the other, and Tolkien in my bedroom. I don’t really want break up my pair, but I can’t see any other way to make progress. When Hitchy’s not in the picture, they’re very cute: they groom each other, Diggy likes to flop into Tolkien’s side. Hitchy comes into the picture and suddenly Tolkien is Diggy’s mortal enemy and she’s on a mission to maim Tolkien. It doesn’t really make sense to me that she doesn’t even attempt to get Hitchy.
- 09/07/2015 at 1:09 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  I don’t think housing them separately will really solve anything. DigDug and Tolkien obviously love each other. If you’re serious about turning them into a trio, you might want to try stress bonding. If it helps, take Tolkien out of the picture for a bonding session or two so DigDug and Hitchcock have the opportunity to interact without him in the equation. You could place DigDug and Hitchcock in a basket or box and drag them around or you could put them in a carrier together and take them for a car ride. The idea is to stress them out enough that they turn to each other for comfort.
- 09/07/2015 at 3:07 PM
  Kokaneeandkahlua
  Participant
  12067 posts
  From your current setup, I think your best bet right now is to make sure they don’t get near each other as that is causing the aggressive behaviour.
  
  It’s likely that Diggy is threatened (there is a bunny they don’t know and they are restricted) so I wouldn’t think this aggressive behavour definitely predicts trouble bonding them into a trio.
  
  Maybe in the meantime you can do the stunt double thing-a stuffed animal that lives in one cage for a couple of days and moves to the other cage, and back again. Gives them a chance to really get used to everybodys’ scent.
- 09/07/2015 at 11:01 PM
  LBJ10
  Moderator
  17238 posts
  True KK, you never know what will happen until you actually start bonding them. Since DigDig is the one feeling threatened by the whole thing, that is why I suggested taking Tolkien out of the equation to allow the bond between DigDug and Hitchcock to be worked on first. In groups, it sometimes helps to start with the individuals that are most likely to have an issue. I do think you’re right though. It might help to acclimate DigDug to the other bunny’s scent by doing some swapping of a stuffed animal, blanket, or litter box for a little while before actually trying to bond everyone.
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