Hey There,

I am having some issues with my two female hollands (both spayed.) My one Stella had a visit to the vet this week due to a bit of an upset stomach (wasn’t eating and acting abnormally) she had a belly exam and everything seemed to be normal, they gave her some fluids and sent us off with instructions to come back if she has a sudden change. Stella shares a large cage (more like a bunny mansion) with my other female Luna, both are free roam in the day and only get locked up at night. I let Stella out of her carrier and she went hopping into the litter and just stayed there for most of the day. Later at night I was getting ready to tuck them in, and get their dinner ready, I placed their veggies down and all of a sudden Stella lunged at Luna and took a chunk of fur and a bit of skin from her, thinking that maybe its because she isn’t well I separated her and placed her on the coach to “cool off” while I grabbed their hay. While I was in the garage getting hay, my mom came in panicked and holding Luna in her hands, saying that they were going to kill each other. I guess Stella had lunged off the couch and headed straight for Luna and this time managed to get her pretty good in the ear. Knowing I wouldn’t sleep with this going on I brought Stella upstairs and set her in an old cage I had. During the night she was fine, munching on hay and eating some greens and pellets. 

The next day I tried to reintroduce them and again they just went at each other, kicking, bitting and brawling. My mom intervened this time and got a nasty bit on her hand. I decided to let Luna out to roam, and keep Stella in the cage, Luna kept coming up to her to try and be nice but was only greeted by nips to the face and cheeks by Stella. Again I decided to remove Stella from the equation and took her upstairs to roam in my room. Come today I decided to reintroduce them again, Stella was less aggressive, but now Luna was being super aggressive, marking the cage, and lunging out when Stella got near. I read that people tried neutral areas to reintroduce, so I tried the bathtub thinking that would help as they have both never been in there, Stella was fine but Luna kept bitting at her behind, and eventually Stella turned around and they both got into it again, Stella again grabbing a hold of Luna’s other ear and tearing it up on the inside. Now in sitting here, thinking about what to do next. I’ve been rotating them in and out of the cage all day today trying to ensure it stays both their space, and its somewhat calmed things down but they still fight through the bars constantly. I am also using a squirt bottle with water which seems to be doing something but there is still aggression coming from Luna. I am at a loss for what to do next? Maybe the car thing people have mentioned, I’m going to try the set two cages up beside each other tonight (making sure they are far enough apart that one can’t get the other) but I am not sure what else I can try. I know bonding can be tough, they two hit it off right from the beginning after coming home from the breeder and I havent had a problem since. 

Any and all help is MUCH appreciated.