Bond Damaged? Drawn out disagreement between two bonded rabbits.

[Scarlet]

My two male rabbits have been bonded for two years now as I bonded them in 2020 . NZW and mini rex. They ate together, slept together side by side(still do) and did mutual grooming as well as did mutual humping.

Both are healthy and have healthy appetites, bowel movements, friendliness, etc.

But recently they stopped doing the mutual things besides eating and laying beside each other(no grooming or mounting). I witnessed when it began. One went to non-aggressively hump the other(?) and basically lay atop him and the other randomly turned his head and bit him on the side, no wound just a nip. It dissolved into both nipping each other after that -again, not leaving any marks save one time.

Naturally I separated them but both get depressed apart. One sits on the side of the fence and the other on the other side and they sleep side by side. The other also nudges the fence to cuddle him. Both will become prone to laying in one spot besides water and food, staring at each other and not leaving their side. So both are miserable apart and yet when I reintroduce them they’ll lay beside each other until one tries to mount.

For two years they had no issue with this, but it’s devolved into them upset with each other when together, and moping when apart. Is there any advice anyone can give?

Both are perfectly unharmed save one bite that happened during separation(small nip mark). I don’t know how to handle them being so sad apart but obviously having this disagreement neither wants to settle.

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, the scuffle doesn’t sound too bad. Sometimes there can be little tiffs in bonds that resolve on their own.

Can you supervise them in a neutral location for a bit? I suspect they may be able to work out whatever disagreement this was.

. . . 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.  

[Scarlet]

I’m sorry for a lack of information, I was typing this on the phone initially. They are normal almost all day when together. I’ll literally sit working beside them and they will flop Superman posed or loaf posed side by side, like really snug. They’ll even pass out on top of each other(both are very sound sleepers and asleep they have no issue with the other’s contact). But randomly they will have fifteen second fights. They start, they both do a bit of lunging, then both will share food or sleep beside each other. My concern was if they injure each other in the future. So far the only injury was one behind the ear, a tiny scab no bigger than a bunny bite. But I worry because it has become daily.

It’ll be a fine day, twenty-three hours no fighting, and then that fifteen seconds happens.

There’s been no change in body language outside of when one goes to groom the other, they pull away and the other becomes offended. But they’re always beside each other. No food aggression.

This has been going on for about four months and it’s consistent that at least once daily they will do this behavior, then go back to loving. My spouse and I call it them having a marital argument because it flares up and then vanishes.

 

I have many neutral areas(two tubs, a closet, a bathroom, and a room they’ve never been in) do I just put them in the place and wait or?

[DanaNM]

Hmmm that’s very interesting! Some couples do bicker a bit more than others, but it’s important to keep an eye on things, especially since you are noticing this happening daily.

How old are they? Just curious because sometimes male rabbits can have an increase in hormonal behaviors as they get older, leading to an increase in mounting, etc. Urinary issues have also been implicated in increased mounting. Have you noticed an increase in spraying, marking, or loss of litter box habits?  Do you notice a specific trigger for the tiffs? Like is it from a mounting attempt or an un-met grooming request?

And yes, you would move them into the neutral area and see if things improve. Sometimes buns just need to reestablish their hierarchy from time to time and it helps to go to a neutral space to do this. You could move them into the neutral room for a marathon until they  have spent 24 -48 hrs together with no tiffs, or you could do shorter sessions daily, whichever works best for you. You could even take them on a car ride together first.

. . . 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.  

[Scarlet]

They are both two going on three years old. Very little gap in age(maybe a few months), next year they will be three.

They absolutely use their litter box, heck, they even share one together and sit perfectly side-by-side using it, same with while eating food. Absolutely no food aggression, they share everything.

The trigger of their tiffs is grooming now. But only from each other(there’s others around them who they have no fights with but they are bonded to each other only). One will approach the other and put their head in front of the other one. For example Fuse will lower his head to Twotwo and Twotwo will reach out and warning nip him. Later on Twotwo will lower his head for grooming and Fuse will respond with the same nip. Then the nipped one takes it personally. Mounting no longer happens, even what I call “soft mounting” where one will just lay atop the other and not hump. They no longer mount. They still groom themselves, but each other? Instant disagreement.

[DanaNM]

Wait, so are there other rabbits in the house? Any new ones? If there are other rabbits around that they are not bonded too that can definitely effect the bond. Forgive me if I misread!

. . . 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.  

[Scarlet]

No one new. There are other rabbits, but none which interfere with them. My oldest boy essentially fosters the new ones as they come in(teaches them rabbit things as some don’t get to live rabbit lives before coming to live with me). It appears to be purely the lack of reciprocated grooming. Which I have no idea how to get them to recirprocate grooming and make up over it. I’ve tried them sharing treats and food and they’re fine until grooming comes into play.

[DanaNM]

Could you give me the full run down of all the rabbits in the house and the housing set-up? Having other unbonded rabbits in the house could definitely be the culprit here, even if there haven’t been any major changes in who the rabbits are.

If your pair is interacting with the other rabbits at all that can upset their hierarchy. If any of the other rabbits are unspayed/un-neutered, even having them in the house could be enough to trigger some scuffling.

Rabbits are territorial by nature, so the smell of an unbonded bun in the territory can cause what’s called referred aggression within the bonded pair.

. . . 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.  

[Scarlet]

It’s begun to resolve itself after a few tub trips. I think they associate fighting with being put in the empty bath tub which they hate.

At first for two days the NZW was trying to make amends. He tried to groom the mini rex, but every attempt got him nipped at and chased away. So he started ignoring him. For some reason ignoring him(even laying facing the opposite way beside him) bothered the mini rex, so on day three of this he’s begun to put his head under the NZW and ask for pets.

They seem to be mending it.

My set up is a large enclosure that takes up most of the living room with them allowed to free roam but due to them getting stressed out(the house is big and they ended up sitting randomly like they were lost and confused) They exist with an older rabbit who is the go to for all my rescues. No new rabbits have come in lately due to 2020 Covid so he helped those two learn how to rabbit. They bonded and mostly ignore him.

They have multiple toys, a low ramp, a pair of hiding places, a cushion, and cardboard boxes.

 

Can you explain more about the unbonded bun causing issues?

[DanaNM]

I’m glad the tub sessions are helping!

So there is a third rabbit who lives in the same area as them? Or just shares a free-roam area? Or they take turns in the free-roam area? In general unbonded rabbits should not be interacting with each other, and interactions between a pair and an unbonded rabbit commonly upset bonds. In the absence of another trigger, I think that is probably what happened here.

Many pairs will do fine with another rabbit nearby as long as the other rabbit is neutered/spayed, but they shouldn’t be having any direct interactions, including in the free-roam areas. Sometimes adding a visual barrier can help too, such as a towel or a blanket hung over the pen wall.

If they have been regularly interacting directly, then maybe you could try bonding the three of them as a trio? They may already be most of the way there if they are already interacting without fighting.

 

. . . 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.  

[Scarlet]

I wasn’t aware there could be a trio bond. I had it once with him and two other rabbits but I didn’t think it was an actual thing.

The older rabbit bonds with anyone and everything basically(human, rabbits, he’ll even bond with dogs) and he’s always been fond of them. To the bonded pair he just exists. But that might be wise, get all three bonded together and then it’ll balance out.

Is there any suggestions on how to get them to also bond with him?

[DanaNM]

The bonding process with the trio would be similar to what you’ve been doing with the pair. You would do dates in neutral territory and prevent fighting. You would continue these until you start to see positive behaviors among all the combos of buns (so all the bunnies cuddle with each other, groom, share food, etc). Most people like to start with short sessions and then gradually increase the amount of time they spend together. When they can share a neutral space together for at least 48 hrs without fighting and with lots of positives, then you can move them to a “semi neutral” spot and continue observing for another 48 hrs. If that goes well they can be moved into their final home together.
If doing long marathon sessions doesn’t work for you, it’s also OK to break up the sessions by doing long sessions during the day, and then go for some overnights once those go well.

. . . 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.  

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