Sisters fighting

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 6sd replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 8 months ago by Sirius&Luna.

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- 03/20/2018 at 4:42 AM
  Gemmawilson
  Participant
  3 posts
  Hi, I’m needing some advice. I rescued a pair of sisters in December after been neglected. They have always lived together but Daisy was always domanating Misty and they were always fighting. Misty was always pushed away from food and had bald patches on her back from Daisy humping her all the time. I took them to vet who confirmed they had both been spayed before I got them but this behaviour carried on. So Thursday I got a new hutch and seperate them as the vet advised. However Daisy has now started pulling her fur out and has now got bold patches on her tummy from it. Also she’s not eating much (one bowl of food since Thursday) which is unlike her. Not changed food and nothing else changed. When I seperate them I scrubbed the hutch and put clean bedding in. Misty has come on leaps and bounds and is happier and eating plenty. She’s binkying in her hutch and is also more tame around me. She was very timid before and used to hide behind Daisy everytime I went near hutch. I’m now at a loss as to what to do for best. If I put them back together theres a risk of them fighting and bullying again. When they are together in living room Daisy won’t leave her alone. She’s trying to hump Misty and fighting with her, chasing her and making grunting noises at her so I have to seperate them again. Any advice as to what to do next would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
- 03/20/2018 at 6:56 AM
  Sirius&Luna
  Participant
  2320 posts
  Hi,
  
  I’m sorry to hear you’re in this difficult situation! I’m glad Misty is happier. I think you were definitely right to separate them – it’s not fair to leave one bunny being bullied. It sounds like Daisy has taken the separation badly though. Despite her bullying, she must have still felt bonded to Misty.
  
  Can they still see each other? I think having their hutches close by, but not close enough to touch each other will help Daisy. You can also try and spend more time with her. It’s really important that Daisy keeps eating though, so do keep encouraging her with anything. If rabbits stop eating, they can go into GI stasis, which is a serious condition.
  
  Also a side note, since you say she’s eaten one bowl of food – do they get hay? Hay should be 90% of a rabbit’s diet, then they should get a small portion of pellets based on weigh (1/4-1/2 a cup per 6lb bunny – my 1kg bunnies get roughly a tablespoon each a day), plus some fresh leafy veg every day.
  
  If she’s still eating hay, but not pellets, then I wouldn’t be too worried, but if the only thing she’s eaten since Thursday is one bowl of food, I would be very concerned. Is she pooping?
- 03/20/2018 at 8:21 AM
  tobyluv
  Participant
  3310 posts
  How did the vet confirm that both bunnies were spayed? Was it with x-rays or some other method? Or did it happen that he or she was the vet who performed the surgery? Since the rabbits were neglected, it makes me wonder if their former owners cared enough to spend the money to spay them, unless the rabbits were already spayed when they got them. Unless I saw hard proof about them being spayed, I would be suspicious about that.
  
  All rabbits need to go through proper bonding procedures after being spayed or neutered, even if they are siblings or have been together since they were very young. Even if these rabbits were spayed, perhaps their owners never bothered to go through bonding with them, which is why there is humping and fighting now. After they have been separated for a while and if you are sure that they are spayed, you could try bonding them. Here are 2 good articles about bonding:
  
  https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/9/PID/940/Default.aspx
  
  https://rabbit.org/faq-bonding-multiple-rabbits/
- 03/20/2018 at 10:52 AM
  Gemmawilson
  Participant
  3 posts
  Thank you for your help. The vet confirmed they were spayed as he was the vet that did it when the original breeder had them. She then sold them to someone else who neglected them. They have both been chipped so by scanning chip brought up all past treatment that was done at that vets. The hutches are on top of each other and get out of hutches together every day for at least an hr a day together and then each have time alone with me. Daisy has had hay and they are given fresh fruit and veg every day too. She also isn’t drinking as much as before or maybe I’m not noticing it as much as they had 1 giant bottle between them and now got 1 giant bottle each. I’m still awaiting a call back from vets on some advice to help them but as of yet they not called back. The first thing they said was to seperate them which I have done already. They have been together since birth as from same litter. Thanks for getting back to me though
- 03/20/2018 at 11:14 AM
  Deleted User
  Participant
  22064 posts
  Being from the same litter doesn’t mean anything. They weren’t properly bonded, which means, unfortunately, you are going to have to do it yourself. It requires a lot of time and patience. As they haven’t been through the bonding process, and have shown aggression, it’s not advisable to have them out even for supervised play time, as you can truly have your eye on them the entire time, and a fight can break out in the span of a second. It might be a good idea to have them in separate rooms, so they can’t see or smell each other at all. This will allow them to forget each other, which will make actually bonding them easier than doing it while they hold grudges.
  
  How much fruit do they get a day? They really should only be given a very small amount of fruit 1-2 times a week, as it can really affect their gut health and weight.
- 03/20/2018 at 11:50 AM
  Gemmawilson
  Participant
  3 posts
  Fruit they may share an apple cut up and shared out between 3 rabbits once maybe twice a week. I’m wanting to know how I can help Daisy now as she’s now pulling her fur out and not eating or drinking much since seperating them.
- 03/20/2018 at 11:59 AM
  Sirius&Luna
  Participant
  2320 posts
  Can you unstack the hutches so Daisy can see Misty at least? Often bunnies will mirror each others actions when they can see each other, so I really think being able to see Misty at least will help.
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