Bond broken due to scent gland cleaning?

[BunjaminML]

We started the bonding process for our bunnies last July, and finally got them bonded in March. In that time, we’ve been told not to get their scent glands cleaned because it might throw them off of each other if they all of a sudden smell different. I think we had it done once at some point, though, and it didn’t affect anything. 

Today, we took them to get their nails trimmed. Figuring they’ve been bonded long enough, we also asked to get their scent glands cleaned. They were fine both on the car ride home and initially when we first arrived at home. My husband and I went out to lunch and run some errands, and came home a couple of hours later to both bunnies napping next to each other under the couch. 

Alas, about 30 minutes later, I heard scuffling in the living room and saw the bunnies fighting. I think one of them, Mochi (spayed female) was trying to get Bunji (neutered male) to groom her and he was NOT having it. I think she lost her patience at him, which started the fight. No blood or injuries, but lots and lots of fur flying everywhere. 

My question: does this indicate a broken bond? Will we have to start from scratch all over again? They are now separated in side-by-side pens in our living room–basically our set-up when they were still bonding. We put them in a pen together in a neutral area shortly after the fight and they did alright. No fights; Mochi was grooming Bunji; Bunji was still not grooming Mochi but did loaf next to her. It might help to point out that Bunji is not a big groomer to begin with. He’ll do it when prompted by Mochi, but usually only for a short period and you can kinda tell he only does it coz he feels obligated to.

[Sirius&Luna]

I’ve never heard about scent glands causing a bunny bond to break. But I’ve also never been advised to clean them by my vet, I’ve always been a bit confused by the whole bunny scent glands thing. Anyway.

I think you’re doing the right thing. Having them separated but nearby, and doing short sessions in neutral territory. It could just be that you need to re’cement’ the bond. What helped you to get them finally bonded in March? Did you do any stress bonding? It might be worth revisiting whatever helped them in March.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Oh what a shame. Definitely go through the bonding process from the start but of course as they’ve already been there done that got the T-shirt, it will go much quicker than before.
So separate them, give them short times together, share food with them. Maybe will be over in 24:48 hours.
Maybe it was just a grumpy moment. Maybe one was hurting after the clean…. (is it like dog scent glands, hold and squish?!)
Good luck

[BunjaminML]

Thanks for the advice! I think Bunji isn’t recognizing Mochi for some reason, though Mochi is fine with him. We tried to put them in their old space today, and it quickly escalated into a fight. We resorted to a dual petting session and stress bonding in the car.

Hoping putting them in the pens and switching them around daily will eventually get him to recognize her again. And maybe she’ll start to smell like her old self eventually.

In the meantime, I guess we get to enjoy the living room again as a human space and not a bunny-dominated space for a while.

[BunjaminML]

Hi all,

Just wanted to post a follow up to this event. It seemed the bunfight resulted in Bunji getting an eye injury, the stress of which led to him not eating and us having to treat him for stasis. The resulting vet trips were great for stress bonding, though! Throughout the ordeal, we were doing our usual bonding sessions, with the bunnies either penned up together out in our patio or upstairs in the bathroom.

This past weekend, we let them both out together in the living room, which was their original space to begin with (we had not done much cleaning so I’m sure to them it smelled the same as before). We only locked them up in their side-by-side pens when we were out or in bed. Anyway, they got along great all weekend. They always loafed together, ate together, destroyed the same box together, lots of grooming overall. My husband thought they seemed closer than they did. A couple of times, though, they started to chase each other in a circle. I stopped before anything could happen, so I can’t tell for sure if these were fights or if they were just playing. A couple of times this morning, Bunji seemed determined to want to hump Mochi. She got away from him the 3 times he tried to do it.

Does this sound like they are ready for a marathon bond? Or do chasing and humping indicate still some aggression between the two of them?

[Author]

Messages