bad bunny pulling out fur

[Ellen Holland]

my little house bunny Dudley turns into ‘humpy humperson’ several times a day even though he’s been ‘done’. we have tried spraying him with water, locking him in the hutch on his own for 5 mins in a ‘time out’ kind of thing and even going so far as buying him a toy rabbit which a dear friend put in a hutch with another female rabbit in an effort to get him to bother the toy instead of our old bunny Gertie… we even got some cream to soothe her that he’s supposed not to like…  and this morning i found him licking it off! nothing seems to be working and although it’s annoying to keep telling him off i’m starting to worry as in the last few days he’s started ripping Gert’s fur out in his ‘excitement’ and when i left for work this morning she has a massive bald spot about the size of the palm of my hand on her back. we are currently looking at having to separate them, but don’t really have the space. they have all the toys under the sun, a big box to chew, things to climb on and we try to leave them the run of the kitchen during the day so they dont’ get bored.  does anyone have any suggestions on why he is doing this and how we can stop this behaviour. any suggestions greatfully recieved.

[Sarita]

How long have they been together? Did you formally introduce them in neutral territory? How long has he been neutered?

[Ellen Holland]

they’ve been together 14 months. took her to meet him to check they’d be fine together, which they were. he was neutered at 12 weeks because of his naughtiness and because then Gertie defended herself, it kind of helped and he stopped spraying me but still ‘humps’ whenever excited. she’s just been in bunny hospital due to age related issues about 10 days ago and it’s been worse since she came back. they still snuggle up together and seem lovey dovey, i’m just a bit concerned.

[Sarita]

It’s possible Gertie smells different since she’s been to the hospital too. Also since they were separated for a few days he may be reasserting himself. It’s good they are still snuggling though. Hopefully he will calm down soon since she is now back. I guess my advice is to wait a few days to see if he calms downs as long as he’s not injuring her.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’ll ditto Sarita. Keep an eye on the bald spot-the size of your palm? I hope you have small hands!! That’s a lot of fur pulling! Please keep us posted!

[Ellen Holland]

it is, it’s gone from nothing to that size in under a week… worried about her being cold without her lovely fur coat. will keep an eye on them and if it gets worse still we’ll have to do something about it.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Keep us posted! I’m glad to hear it’s growing in

[Ellen Holland]

thanks for all the support, just wanted to let you know things have calmed down. Dudley and i had words and since then he’s been much better. he still has days when he’s hard work and still plucks at her, but her fur is growing back and the bald bit is now only the size of a 10p coin.
thanks again.x

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