A bit of biting in bonded trio

[Karla]

Not sure if this post should be placed under Bonding, but then again.

My trio has been bonded since November. Easy bond, no problems. Molly, my dominant female, however does have her goes at Jack occassionally – always when he is feeling poorly, so there is a reason every time.

About two weeks ago she started chasing Jack around and would bite him. Usually a clear indicator that Jack is ill again, so I watched him closely without seeing anything. I did think however that it could be due to her shedding. This weekend Jack finally showed sign of UTI and is undergoing treatment now. So it COULD be the reason why she is acting up.

However, last time he had an UTI, she calmed down the day after the treatment was initiated. So, things should be different by now. However, she is still having her goes at him. Just now he jumped on the couch to get cuddles and Molly followed him and bit him on the side. We have tufts of hair flying aound from when she chases him, which she does whenever he doesn’t want to groom her. She runs over to him, pushes her head under his belly, and then he moves away and she will chase him around and bite. I’ve noticed now that he sometimes runs off as soon as she gets near him, and then the chase starts. I should tell though that he does follow her around quite a lot and does go over to her and grooms her on his own initiative, so it’s not a matter of them falling out as such.

Whenever I see her chase him, I shout, and she stops. And when I call her, she comes straight back to me. But I’m not sure if shouting is actually the way to go. I worry, I might add more stress to the situation. so what should I do?

[MarkBun]

Sounds like you’re on the right track. I would continue with the shouting corrections. She’s just having her issues right now with him feeling ill.

Although it is a bad thing with the nipping, I think it is really nice to have another indicator that one of your buns is beginning to get sick.

[Karla]

Thanks. Sometimes it is nice just to hear someone else tell you that it is okay

I do agree that it is nice that she does not allow sickness or weakness in her warren, because she always senses it long before I can tell he is ill, but I am not sure that Jack appreciates it though. I think he would prefer to get better in his own time without all the chasing.

[Author]

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