bonding four bunnies and the males keep fighting

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This topic has 5sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 6 months ago by Bunny House.

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- 05/08/2018 at 7:42 PM
  Bunny House
  Participant
  1241 posts
  I apologize for the long post that is coming haha.
  
  I have two pairs of bunnies (Male and female in a pair, all fixed). So I got them all while ago and tried to bond but messed up since not all of them were fixed. Now all of them have been fixed for awhile now so all the hormones should be gone. Short story- I have tried bonding them all multiple times but have given up shortly after since the males fight to the death no matter if I stress bond or what. I have their pens within a couple of feet of eachother and in the past have had them within a couple of inches but of course they spray and poop by the perimeter. So I have tried stress bonding with all of them and for what ever reason the boys will fight, not mounting, I mean one of the buns has had some pretty good chunks of hair pulled out and lacerations on his body. This has caused him to lash out if he thinks he is going to be bitten. The other bun will lash out at him starting the fights. I have also tried to separately bond the males by themselves but still fighting. I always have them by each other and pet their heads and have them on leashes incase I can’t physically pull them apart when a fight breaks out when bonding. As soon as I stop petting, one will bite the other. I am honestly so tired and upset at how the two boys bond.I just want to cry, I really need them to all be able to bond so I don’t have pens all in my house. I bond in neutral territories and use a spray bottle and broom to break up the fights before the happen. I wish one of them would just mount each other but they won’t, they just want to fight and they also go for around the eye area which is terrifying. The girls get scared as soon as one of the boys start to fight and run away, so I am not sure if the two girls like each other or not.
  
  I feel like I am giving up because no matter what, they boys fight, I don’t know if its a territory or a protecting his girlfriend thing but I don’t know what else to do. Does anyone have good suggestions they have used on their male bunnies?
- 05/09/2018 at 11:42 AM
  BB8
  Participant
  101 posts
  Have you done pre bonding? If the fights have been very bad between the males you could separate them for a while and have them forget about each other and then retry pre bonding and then bonding again. I hope someone more knowledgeable can chime in! Best of luck!
- 05/09/2018 at 12:17 PM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  If they have actually properly fought and hurt one another, they need complete separation. That is even more crucial seeing as yours have learnt to fight whenever they see eachother. They need to forget each other. Separate them all. For at least a month and then pre bond, pre bond, pre bond!
- 05/09/2018 at 12:57 PM
  Bunny House
  Participant
  1241 posts
  BB8 and sarahthegemini,
  Thank you for the suggestions! I have tried prebonding before but I just started it again today and will switch their stuff everyday for a couple of weeks and get an imitation stuffed animal with each others scents to try and speed the process along.
  
  sarahthegemini-Do I need to block off the side of their pen where they can see the other rabbits since they do live in the same room?
- 05/09/2018 at 1:12 PM
  sarahthegemini
  Participant
  5584 posts
  You shouldn’t be pre bonding right now as they all need to forget one another. They shouldn’t be able to see or smell one another for a month. Then, you start pre bonding
- 05/15/2018 at 8:23 PM
  Bunny House
  Participant
  1241 posts
  I will try pretending soon then
  Hey guys, so I know in the past, when I put the pairs in the other’s house, they will dig, pee and poop all over. Is that normal when the housing gets switched?
  And then when they go back to their house, they act all normal and don’t mark it.
  Should I switch them once a day and keep the blankets there for a couple of days and then wash them so they have time to be in that pen multiple times to smell the other buns?
  Will the marking fade and when they actually all 4 have a date, they shouldn’t all want to kill each other?
  Ive had a stuffed animal in each pen to get the others smell in it and then I put it in the other’s pen and they don’t care about the animal but the real animal they want to kill. I Don’t know if there are secrets that has made bonding a quartet work with difficult buns.
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