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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BONDING female bunny attacking male bunny

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    • agooodman
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        Hello all! I’ve been a long time lurker of binkybunny, but this is my first post! About 7 months ago I adopted 2 bunnies from my local shelter (one male and one female, both spayed/neutred, and bonded to each other). At the time I adopted them, they were about 3 months old. They were getting along great (cuddling and binkying and all that), but they didn’t seem to get along all that well with me (I couldn’t even pet them without them running away into a corner). I was okay with that for the most part, this was my first time adopting two bunnies so I expected it might take a lot longer for them to develop any kind of affection for me. However, after a few months Artemis (the female) began chasing Apollo (the male).  At first I just thought it was play behavior, but it eventually escalated into full on fighting. After the 2nd fight I separated both of them into different rooms/ cages. Because I am an absolute idiot, I left the door to Artemis’ room open while Apollo was running around. He got too close to her and she bit his nose pretty badly, so he had to go get stitches at the vet   this was about a month ago, and they’ve been completely separated since. I feel really terrible about this whole situation; I decided to get 2 bunnies instead of one so that they’d have a companion while I’m at work, but these two seem determined not to get along. The other big issue is I live in a relatively small place, so there are no more “neutral zones” for me to attempt to re-bond them. The only upside of all this is each of them now gets along a lot better with me, which is great, but I also want them to have a good relationship with each other too. Does anyone have any advice they can share?


      • jerseygirl
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          Such an unfortunate situation for you!

          My first thoughts go to questioning if your female actually was spayed at the shelter OR if it was an incomplete spay. 3 months old seems too young for them to have done this, although some shelters do infantile spays! Im not certain how common that is. Did you receive a spay/neuter certificate for each of them? That she started the chasing a few months after you bringing her home does fit with the age a female rabbit would normally be becoming hormonal, if intact.

          I just think for them to have a falling out like this, that there could be some hormonal or other health issue at play. 

          If not that, has there been any other significant changes at home that could have upset their bond? Any new pets? 

          It might take some work but it’s not impossible to get them back together. You can also create neutral space. For instance, block of the bathroom and de-scent by washing with diluted white vinegar. Or setting up an ex-pen with a tarp or some other temporary flooring. However, I strongly recommend finding out if Artemis is spayed before proceeding with any bonding work. 

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      Forum BONDING female bunny attacking male bunny