By that I mean, I’m not sure how I can bond them anymore than they already are? Ethel just gets overexcited.

Thank you for getting back to me. It does make sense that there is something wrong with the bond. Unfortunately, I’ve already taken them on a car journey to the vets (it’s 30 mins away) and doesn’t change it one bit.

problem is…well, Ethel is the problem 😂. Ethel nearly died when she was 3. She had a severe abscess and osteomyelitis. She’s had part of her jaw bone removed and needs to have depocillin injections for life. Ethel does tend to act like the world revolves around her because she is, essentially, a special needs bunny. She was fussed over A LOT when all this was going down and she’s used to getting attention and being the focus. So she’s always been highly strung with other animals and getting her own way. (Also makes her very difficult to stress because she’s very used to car journeys/vets/handling. Gus is easy to stress, but that’s stressing the wrong bunny!)

But saying that, in 3+ years of that behaviour, I’ve never had this problem with her. So I don’t know where it has come from. The chasing and mounting only used to come out around food. Now it’s all the time (with added urine).

I guess what I’m saying is that she has a little bit of a difficult personality to work with, because it’s her nature to be a diva. But I can’t think of a reason she’s suddenly so desperate to mark everything when he’s about.

However, you might be onto something with the bond, I just don’t know how to fix it. He couldn’t love her anymore if he tried, and she’s not aggressive toward him, just overly excited. (I don’t separate them because I think they will fight: she just doesn’t let him sit down in the cage because she’s mounting him constantly (and he won’t let her) so they run in circles and she’s just like a Catherine wheel of pee all over the place that I have to wake up to in the morning. And he keeps me awake stamping. They are together most of the day and rarely ever fight (if they do gus wins)).

Any ideas how I could improve the bond? Sorry, I feel like I’m saying “it’s not that” every suggestion you make. I’m just trying to make sure it’s coming across that these 2 are in love, but Ethel is like a peeing bull in a china shop.

No they aren’t scuffling at all (not for years). It’s only chasing. Gussy absolutely doesn’t allow it and turns his back on her and stamps, and it becomes a challenge for her. He has been in my room allllll day (his choice and she’s not allowed in there atm) and she just gets so so excited to see him. She goes wild.

He is grooming her, but she is very needy. So now that you mention it, he does deny her sometimes and when he does I think that does set her off. She grooms him also, but usually after he has groomed her first. He’s grooming her right now and she’s calm and docile.

They have been apart all day until now and she hasn’t had 1 accident. So I’m pretty sure it’s not medical in that sense. I still wouldn’t bet that there wasn’t an underlying hormonal condition, but my vet is adamant her levels are fine 🤷🏼‍♀️ She said her mouth has no inflammation either. She’s going to try to find a behaviourist for her because like you said, there is no trigger. Yes he is a little less submissive at the moment, but I think he’s just getting a bit annoyed by her.

I think you might be on to something about this bond though. It’s very strange. When she is calm he still adores her, but she seems to be wanting more attention than normal from him. Any ideas how I can improve this? Stop her from getting over excited?

She has never been one to chin anything, and recently, she even chins his poop!

I might try put them in the cage together tonight and just let her harass him into total submission for a few nights. I’ve been so focussed on getting her to be less dominant, maybe I should try to get him to be more submissive (even though he is already very chill and submissive)

I’m convinced the pee is 100% a reaction to him now. And yeah, if she’s not “horny” and hormonal, maybe it is the bond?

Oh and I don’t really have a neutral space because they are allowed everywhere in the house. The bathroom is the room they go in least. I put them in the bathtub today (no water). Ethel was shaking. Then I put Gus in there and she immediately humped him whilst shaking 🙄

Annnnnnd he’s just finished grooming her and she got up, humped him and peed. Give me strength

Thank you.

i did try puppy pads for a while, but they just dig them, bunch them up and then eat them. I don’t think any friends would have them due to the peeing. The only reason I ever intervene with the chasing is because of the peeing that inevitably follows when he doesn’t let her mount, so it’s a bit of a tricky one.

I will try to get some old office carpet tiles and use them instead. (Hopefully they won’t feel the same as my fluffy rugs and teach her to pee on them more 😩) I will have to put the pen in the hallway and cover the sides so they can’t see where they are. That’s a good idea thank you. And if they don’t pull up the carpet, then maybe a friend would agree to have them for a few days…..

The only thing that doesn’t fit with this is that she digs my floor and just urinates as she is digging.

my vet said she might just be becoming incontinent and can’t hold it when she gets over excited. I really hope this isn’t the case. She never does it on me when she’s jumping around begging for treats, so hopefully that means it’s still a territorial thing not incontinence.

The only possible medical thing I’ve noticed (just in the last few days) is that they are both shaking their ears a bit, like they are itchy. I’ve checked both of them and they are perfect. No wax, no scabs etc. So I think it’s just because they are both having a big summer moult at the moment and prob a few stray hairs getting in. Plus this peeing has been going on since February, way longer than this ear scratching. But if you think there could be a medical reason for this I can’t see, then please do tell!

I’ve put them both in the cage together tonight. I’m in bed and can hear the chasing and stamping as we speak. Trashing the place. However, the chasing only ever ends in bad moods and pee, never biting, so I think it’s safe enough to do. Let’s see if a few nights of that gets it out of her system (poor Gus, he’s soaked when I get him out of the cage in the mornings).

Thanks so much for all your help with this. I really appreciate you taking the time. I will report back in a few days x

I can hear them from my room (I live in an apartment). They didn’t fight last night, just stamping and chasing.

I’ve put them in the pen together today and she sprayed all over him again. So put her back in the cage for a while. When I let her out, the poops were literally falling out of her butt where she stood when she saw him!

i just can’t handle this level of marking! It’s insane. I wish I knew what was going on in her head

i think the only thing I can do is to see if my vet can find a behaviourist for her. See if they can see something I can’t.

i might be going to my mum’s next weekend so I will take them with me. See if a different environment helps. I doubt it though; she’s only been to my mums a handful of times and my mum even has a dog. She scares the dog and stops him going in the room because she just instantly claims it.

i think she’s a terrorist and can’t be helped 😂

Will update you, but I’m not sure how long it will take. Things still aren’t back to normal here with covid yet x

Hello, update here!

So I’ve removed the pen, and they now have full use of the lounge again, because she was peeing so badly in the penned off space. I assumed she felt ownership of the pen, that it was her area, and therefore marking it lots.

i’ve found that she’s actually improved when she has to share the lounge with me, and not have her own space. I’ve also put her back in with Gus at nights now, and this has made her peeing improve too, again I assume because she feels less ownership of the space. She’s still spraying him occasionally, and lots of mounting.

HOWEVER! HUGE DEVELOPMENT

The vet called on Friday and said she misinterpreted her blood results. That her hormone levels WERE high after all. She was booked in for an ultrasound of her adrenals on Monday. And they found her right adrenal was enlarged. They said that it didn’t look misshapen, so they don’t believe it’s malignant, but that there is likely to be some kind of adrenal disease present.

The problem is, that they aren’t sure they can operate, because of the large vein likely to be near the gland. They have no experience of this in rabbits, although they say it’s common in ferrets. They are referring her to a specialist

Does anyone have any experience of this please? Any help

Thank you for the replies guys. I’m very nervous about this, but I suppose all I can do is wait to see what the specialist says.

They are discussing the possibility of removing the gland, but they are concerned that there is a large vein near it. Does anyone have any experience, as I’m worried they will want to operate without me having done the research (as it’s very hard to find).