Hi everyone! First time posting, sorry this will be long because it’s a bit of a weird complex situation. So I have a pair of bonded bunnies, both desexed, both are free-range house rabbits with their main litter/food area in the laundry.

Maya is almost 8 years old and had been a single bunny almost her whole life until last December when I introduced Ricky who is 2. She is a lot bigger and older so I thought there might be issues with bonding but surprisingly they took less than a week to fully bond! The rescue said Ricky had been lonely since he lost his previous mate and Maya was happy to have company too, I think. During the bonding process, the usual scuffles happened but they got through it and they started to groom each other by Day 5, and settled into marriage. Maya is top bunny, Ricky always does what she says and follows her around. She gets annoyed at him very occasionally, shoving/nipping him out of the way for no reason, but he always complies immediately and goes back to her for a head lick, which she usually always gives. Aside from small incidents like that, they have been perfect together since December, lying together and grooming etc.

Then a week ago, I think I screwed up by opening up a back room which I had kept closed (for my own allergy reasons) during the whole time Ricky had been here. This room used to be Maya’s room years and years ago, before I moved her into the laundry. Maya and Ricky were perfect everywhere else in the house so I assumed one more room being accessible wouldn’t be an issue.

The day after I opened up the back room, I came home to see some fur had flown in the living room. I then saw Maya being quite mean to Ricky in the back room, never attacking but consistently chasing him away. I then saw there was a wound on Maya’s head (nothing on Ricky) and the vet said it may be a bite mark. She said maybe Ricky was retaliating to Maya getting territorial in the newly opened room. It seemed possible but I didn’t want to believe it since Ricky has always been the submissive one, it seemed shocking he would draw blood. I still wonder if she cut herself on a low shelf somewhere while lunging at him? Vet thinks it’s possible.

Anyway, Maya’s wound is healed now but their dynamic hasn’t recovered. I’ve closed the back room again but she seems to be annoyed/angry at him everywhere now, even places where they used to be perfectly happy a week ago. If they’re face to face, they will lick each other, but then Maya slowly reaches for his butt and will give him a nip and chase him away, just a few steps, but making it clear he’s not welcome. He never retaliates, he just hops away and gives her space. He doesn’t even seem that upset or stressed by her behaviour, but it makes me feel horrible when I see Maya treating him like that, it happens almost every time she sees him, especially when they’re both active. Between the nipping/chasing away, they do still sometimes lie together, groom each other, and they always peacefully eat side by side. But then out of nowhere Maya will chase him away, almost twenty times a day.

Just as I was typing, Ricky was lying in the doorway to my bedroom. Maya hopped up, sniffed his butt and must have nipped because Ricky ran off. They never used to be like this. I don’t know what to do.

I saw this advice on a different thread:

“There are other reasons for fighting in rabbits where both are adults and both are spayed/neutered. A change in the household (moving, new pet, new roommate) can also trigger some scuffles. In these cases, some bonding sessions in neutral space can usually repair the bond relatively quickly, as long as the fighting was not serious.

If the squabbling between adult castrated buns is not serious (no injuries or hard biting), often you can supervise them in neutral territory and let them reestablish their dominance, as you did in the bonding process.

However, if the fighting is bad (injuries, hard bites, locking on to each other), you should consider the bond broken. In this case, you will need to separate them, allow them to cool off for several weeks to allow the hurt feelings to repair, and then restart the bonding process.”

It sounds like a household change is what triggered the issues (opening up the back room). But I don’t know if their bond is fully broken or not. They still groom and coexist peacefully at times, and Maya’s not fully aggressive when she gets angry, but she does nip/chase very often and it’s upsetting to see.

Does it sound like I need to start the bonding process all over again? Or just separate them for a while? Or give them time to sort things out and hope Maya stops being annoyed at Ricky by herself? I’m worried about taking any drastic steps that might make it worse.

Sorry for the crazy long post. Any advice would be greatly appreciated (but not stress bonding advice please, the rescue told me that rabbit welfare organisations no longer recommend stress bonding). Thanks so much!