Bunny refuses to groom and always results in fight

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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 4sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 7 months ago by Mikey.

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- 04/09/2018 at 4:21 AM
  GandF
  Participant
  16 posts
  I’ve been attempting to bond 2 neutered males, Honey and George, for a year and a half. It did not go well at first but I took a break and let them
  Just live side by side separated by wire for over a year now. I switch their litter boxes and sometimes area back and fourth. I recently noticed honey grooming George through the cage! They also lay next to each other with wire between them. I thought they must be finally ready to bond. I’ve tried several times in a neutral area. It goes really well- they are relaxed, no lifted tails or markings- until George asks honey to groom him… honey either completely ignores him or asks George to groom him. Eventually George gets tired of waiting, attacks honey and they start fighting- tufts if hair everywhere, sometimes small injuries. I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried the banana thing. It only made them fight immediately. I just don’t get it. When there’s wire between them, they act like they are bonded! Any suggestions?
- 04/09/2018 at 10:12 AM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Youve got two alpha buns and neither want to submit. Its going to be a tough bond, but that doesnt mean its impossible yet!
  
  Can you describe in a little more detail what happens? What is the “attack” from not being groomed and how does it escalate into full on fur flying fights?
- 04/09/2018 at 11:33 PM
  GandF
  Participant
  16 posts
  its hard to tell-they move so quickly. It looks like george nips honey’s face after he’s sick of waiting. I can’t tell but he lunges at his head so i assume he bites. Honey immediately responds by lunging at him and using his front paws. it’s chaotic but it looks like they are almost boxing and jumping at each other- turns into what i assume is a bunny tornado? as soon as one lunges, i try to separate them with a broom as quickly as possible. Honey has gotten out of his pen several times. By the time I get there to stop them, there are tufts of both rabbits’ fur and george has had a few cuts. I’ve also read that sometimes they just need to duke it out but there have been situations in the past couple years where they unintentionally got the chance to do that and still didn’t figure it out. I even found them laying near each other after evidence of a fight that didn’t get separated. I sat in the room for an hour to see if they bonded. george eventually approached honey again demanding to be groomed and they started fighting again! I have never seen george groom honey.
- 04/10/2018 at 4:15 AM
  Sirius&Luna
  Participant
  2320 posts
  To me, it doesn’t sound like they’ll bond. With such a history of fighting and with actual wounds, they’re likely to hold grudges and have got into the habit of fighting when they’re together. Now they both know the other is aggressive, and are learning to fear and fight each other.
  
  You could try totally separating for a few months and seeing if they forget each other, then trying again in a totally new space.
  
  You could also just accept that they’re happy near each other, but not sharing territory, and let them gain companionship through the bars of their cages. Perhaps in another few months of that, they’ll bond easily, but if this has been going on for a year and nothing has changed, it sounds like hard work.
- 04/10/2018 at 2:59 PM
  Mikey
  Participant
  3186 posts
  Yep, lunging and coming at the other with their paws up is the start of boxing. Coupled with the cuts and fur pulling, theyre dangerous to one another. Not to be rude, but allowed them to fight so many times and not being there to stop it likely taught them that they are allowed to fight. At this point, since youve said youve been trying for years to make this work, it is unlikely to change. Youre safer with two single rabbits as rabbits often fight to the death when given the chance.
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