Re-bonding after spay

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This topic has 12sd replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 7 months ago by Blake.

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- 07/31/2016 at 8:17 AM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  So I have two bunnies. We got them about 4 months apart. Before either of them were spayed they played fine together. After we got the first spayed (Marshmallow) when she was old enough they seem to fight a bit, not much. After a short period they got along great. They would eat together and snuggle a lot. I just got my younger bunny (Cookie) spayed this past Wednesday. She has been doing a lot better recovery wise than my other bunny. So I tried to reintroduce them, and Marshmallow is attacking Cookie. At first they groomed for like 10 seconds then it got ugly. She is chasing her and biting her. I separated her using a towel and put her back her cage. I felt bad for Cookie because I kept her in her cage for 4 days to heal. After the second day she was gnawing at her cage wanting out. I wanted to give them about 30 minutes of playtime together but I have to cage my older bunny.
  
  So they have a 10x12ish room which is theirs. I keep it baby gated off. I moved them to a new room about a week ago because I have been remodeling the house and needed to paint/tile their room. Their room will be ready in the next few days. They spent about 3-4 days in the temporary room together before I got Cookie (younger bunny) spayed. I’m wondering if Marshmallow (older bunny) maybe “claimed” the temp room as hers and now she’s being territorial?
  
  Would it be a good idea to leave their cages about 8inches apart in the temp room to maybe to get their scents reacquainted? Today will be day #5 since Cookie’s spay. I want to try and get them bonded soon so when I move back the their permanent room they will be good friends again.
  
  Thanks!
- 07/31/2016 at 8:03 PM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  Anyone with any advice?
- 07/31/2016 at 9:36 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  It sounds more like hormones, to me. Females rabbits can take up to six months to fully lose their hormones after being spayed. If your first spayed rabbit smells the hormones coming from your newly spayed rabbit, it could cause tension which leads to fighting. Youll want to keep them in the same room but in different cages. Alternate who gets to free roam the room at what times (example: Cookie gets 2 hours, then Marshmellow gets 2 hours, repeat). This will also get them used to sharing territory again
- 07/31/2016 at 9:55 PM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  They have their own cages. They are both about 2’X4′ so decent size. I’m hoping to that when I put them in the new room it’ll be better too. Any recommendation to how far apart I should keep their cages apart? Marshmallow was spayed maybe 2months ago? And both times thru fought a little bit she has been the aggressor. Never cookie. It’s kinda sad but her face is like why me? What did I do lol
- 07/31/2016 at 9:55 PM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  Double post lol stupid phone
- 07/31/2016 at 10:52 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  I would keep the cages about 2 to 3 inches apart. Its close enough to see and sniff one another, but not close enough to bite or try to attack. It might be worth keeping them in this situation for a month or two, so they can get reused to one another. Sometimes with spays, because the hormones are decreasing, they will smell different to one another, which can also cause fighting
- 07/31/2016 at 11:16 PM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  Oh lord I hope it doesn’t take that long. They rebonded quickly after marshmallow got spayed. But I’ll keep an eye on them and keep their cages close. Thanks for the help!
- 08/02/2016 at 6:08 PM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  So in following the above advice, does it sound like a bad idea to leave one bunny out all night and the other bunny out while I’m at work? That would give about a 10 hr turn each in the room. Just not sure if that’s better than a couple hrs each in turn but means I whe. I sleep/work they will be caged
- 08/02/2016 at 9:10 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Depends if they are used to roaming over night. You could try it, but make sure there is a barrier up so they cant cause fights through the bars if one irritates the other
- 08/03/2016 at 9:32 AM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  Before cookie was spayed they both had free run of the room besides when I’d clean it I close them in their cages for like 15 minutes. But they’ve been out non stop before the spay for over a month
- 08/03/2016 at 9:32 AM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  Before cookie was spayed they both had free run of the room besides when I’d clean it I close them in their cages for like 15 minutes. But they’ve been out non stop before the spay for over a month
- 08/03/2016 at 12:08 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Then i think swapping their times like that should be fine. But again, put up another layer or two of a barrier so they cant start a fight through the bars for whatever reason
- 08/04/2016 at 8:08 PM
  Blake
  Participant
  26 posts
  Update: they seem to be bonding well. I’ve swapped fee roam times. Marshmallow isn’t agrreeisve but I think cookie is just scared of her at times. When I feed them they will eat from the same bowl. They both ended up in cookies cage and it seemed fine. Cookie was in marshmallows cage for a bit the marshmallow got in and did run cookie out.
  
  Would it be a good idea to lock them in each of others cage separately?
  
  As far as bonding went , when they free roamed they interacted very little but that’s better than when marshmallow would attack cookie. Now she will only groom cookie and sometimes she gets scared, but marshmallow isn’t being aggressive.
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