Behaviour Change

[Lykan]

Hello!

I have a spayed girl named Tess who’s around 10 or 11 months old now. I got her 2 and a half months ago. About three weeks ago, she had what appeared to be a false pregnancy, and since then her relationship with the boy she was previously bonded to (Gideon) has been a bit upset. She was extremely shy and submissive previously. She would always be the one that got chased around and would never fight back; she was always the one being mounted; she always asked for grooming but ended up being the one to groom him. During her false pregnancy, I separated them due to an increase in chasing — while they’d been bonded for about a month and lived together during that time, he was suddenly chasing her all the time again. I worry that they may have unbonded, but beyond that, I worry that her personality and/or hormone balance has changed so much because of it that I’m not sure if they’ll be able to re-bond. I’ve recently reintroduced them, but it’s not the same. He chases her around a lot, and it’s always fast-paced now (though he’s never hurt her or seemed to have any intention of doing so; when he catches up to her he seems to just stop). In addition, she’s started mounting him a lot, and he never seems to get upset in the moment but always responds by chasing her as soon as she dismounts. She also has begun asking him for grooming; he used to ignore that request and she would settle for grooming him instead, but now he just asks her for grooming in response, and she keeps thumping at him when he doesn’t give her what she wants. Will this new dynamic be permanent or can they find common ground again?

Additional details: since we got her, there has been a third rabbit (female, spayed) who has been kept separate but whom I know she has been able to smell. Gideon has recently bonded with this female, so I’m wondering if Tess can smell her on him (though their dynamic initially got upset before he was introduced to this third bunny). Also, my vet and I have entertained the idea that she was improperly spayed before I adopted her, but there is no evidence for this theory beyond the fact that she’s been difficult to litter train, which could also be because of the other bunny.

Thank you!

[DanaNM]

Was Tess spayed before or after the false pregnancy?? Or not at all?

If not, that changes all of the advice I gave in your bonding thread! I’ve never heard of a spayed bun going through a false pregnancy, so I would talk to your vet a bit more and see if you can find the records of her spay.

Having another bun in the house can definitely upset the bond of the current pair as well, so that sounds like what’s probably going on. If she was improperly spayed or not spayed, that would make her bond with Gideon unstable, and would also make it extremely difficult/ impossible to bond the trio.

If you are certain that Tess is spayed, I would continue working on bonding the trio, if that’s your goal. It’s common for pairs to split up in the trio process, and then they all rebond as a group of three.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Bam]

There has been some “experimenting” with only removing the uterus, not the ovaries on girl buns. This procedure was thought potentially beneficial because it allows the bun to keep it’s natural sexually driven behaviors, but without the risk of pregnancy or uterine cancer. It was believed that this would prevent the occurence of overcompensation of the loss of female sex hormones with adrenal gland testosterone. That’s a problem that can arise in both rabbit and dog females – castration actually resulting in an increase in aggression and territoriality.

There’s also the possibility of a semi-botched full spay, where some ovarian tissue remains and keep spitting out female sex hormones. The bun can’t get pregnant, it can’t get uterine cancer due to a lack of uterus, but it will still display hormone-driven behaviors such as false pregnancy.

[Lykan]

Thank you both for these responses!

Bam — She was allegedly spayed before I got her, but I was thinking the same thing about a botched spay. It was very reassuring that you made this point, though, as most of the people I’ve talked to seemed entirely unconvinced of this possibility since there apparently is a low but nonzero chance of a spayed rabbit having a false pregnancy. The suggestion of a botched spay was actually very timely as well — today was her appointment to get her hormone levels tested. They (the vet that the shelter works through, which I brought her to since the shelter I got her from wouldn’t cover the cost of the procedure if I did it through my own vet) found that her levels were elevated, and made an incision to see if it was due to a problem with her previous spay but found that the spay had been done correctly. I was told that there was nothing else I could do about it at this point aside from wait for her to get older and for her hormones to settle down, but I don’t entirely trust this opinion since the shelter I got her from is not well-informed in rabbits/is not rabbit-specific and this advice came from one of the staff there. Also, she was several months older than they’d told me (according to my vet, based on an examination of her tooth colouration), so I’m taking their claims with a grain of salt as much as is reasonable. I’m calling my own vet as soon as she’s back in the office in a couple of days to get a second opinion on what my options may be, but I’d love to hear your input in this matter as well!

DanaNM — Thank you, it made me feel a lot better to know that splitting up in the trio process was a common occurrence. I’m sure that she’s spayed after the double-check that they did today, though due to her still having higher-than-normal hormone levels, will it still be possible for the buns to respectively bond and re-bond?

 

[Bam]

There is a drug called Suprelorin (active substance: deslorelin) that can be used in female rabbits that behave hormonally after a spay. I haven’t used it myself, but my good rabbit vet held a lecture that I attended where she mentioned this. Its purpose in dogs is to not have to castrate the dog permanently, if it’s a genetically valuable dog that you want to breed later on –  for girl rabbits, it’s use is to ameliorate hormonal effects post spay, most often aggression and territoriality. You could perhaps ask your good rabbit vet about this?

 

[DanaNM]

I’m glad you got things checked out!

I do think a lot of the behaviors you are seeing are due to the third bun in the house, and/or the possibility that Tess and Gideon may not have been super tightly bonded to begin with.

I think it’s worth trying the trio, it’s hard to say what will happen until you try!

I think Bam’s suggestion about that medication is also a great one!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Author]

Messages