Bonded Bunny Fight

[Ailsa]

Hello my fellow bunny lovers,

So I recently posted my concerns about my bonded male (neutered) duo who have been doing a lot of circling and bum nipping recently…well a few nights ago a fight eventually broke out. Flying bunnies, a lot of pouncing and retreating. Fur flying everywhere! They have been separated since this and are not particularly happy about being apart ( I even had to create a DIY Cage as they’ve figured out how to jump/climb out the pen). But I refuse to chance a bunny war…

A little background on my buns, for anyone who didn’t catch my last post. They have been together since near-birth, litter mates but not brothers. We got them at around 3 months old and they were neutered at 5.5months – until now they have never been separated. They were neutered together, recovered together (we spoke this through with the vet) and have been living together their whole lives. They are now approx 10months (bit of a guess, as I can’t remember when I actually got them…). Jon Snow is the more laid back of the two and naturally the more dominant bun – bigger and stronger (those nose bumps have some force!) and receives the majority of the grooming. Tyrion is the more playful and inquisitive of the two but likes to think he’s the dominant and gets upset when he doesn’t get groomed in return. Hence the bum biting and circling. Well I guess Jon Snow just had enough and wanted to assert his authority…

Anyway they have now had separate living quarters for two nights. I chanced letting them make up the morning after the fight – Snow requested a lot of grooming and Tyrion did a lot of ignoring which resulted in an angry nip from Snow. Needless to say I separated them again straight away before another fight could break out. 

Last night I used the pen to divide the living room in two, with both buns having access to their favourite spots (Jon Snow behind the sofa hiding and Tyrion on top of the toy chest observing the world). There was no aggression, Jon approached the fence a lot and again Tyrion did a lot of ignoring – quite obviously in the huff. I put some leaves down at either side of the fence and both buns ate together. Again Snow requested grooming and Tyrion gave a quick lick and hopped away. 

We decided that we’d try a wee bonding session sooner rather than later, so used a neutral space (kitchen). We used the pen to limit the space and sat in with them. Tyrion went in first and was a bit anxious (he knew something was up) so I stayed with him calming him whilst my partner coaxed Snow. After a bit of investigating, they both ate together, eventually groomed each other and flopped down together. They stayed like that for a good 20 minutes, I was so happy!!! We wanted to end it on that good memory, so we got them both back into their separate cages with some food, toys and lots of cuddles from us.

As the two have never been formally bonded, I have decided to keep them separate for now and go through some bonding techniques. Jon Snow is in the shared cage on his own and I am aware this may mean that he’ll lay claim to it, so I have ordered two brand new smaller cages for bonding, meaning that they both have equal living space and neither can lay claim to the shared cage.

The plan is to continue this for the rest of the week before perhaps allowing them to roam the living room together at the weekend. The plan is to keep their separate (new, once they arrive) cages for now, regularly swapping between them so that neither can claim territory. Also, my partner and I are going on a trip for a few days from Sunday and his dad (who has had rabbits before) is looking after them at my house so we’d keep them separate (minus their playtime) until next week. This would mean it’s manageable for both the buns and his dad…and should another fight break out they can easily be separated into their cages. Once we’re back we will try a bit of stress bonding with a wee car ride to the vet and take it from there.

Basically I’m looking for a bit of encouragement – do you think his would work? Is there something better we should try?

Also sorry for the loooooong post, I felt the need to get all the details in  

[DanaNM]

Everything sounds pretty good, but I would avoid having them roam the living room together at all until they are completely re-bonded, as it isn’t neutral and could cause a flair-up.

Their behavior in the kitchen sounds very good! So, if I were you, and I had time… I would opt to marathon them in the kitchen to re-cement their bond. It sounds like they felt the need to re-establish dominance, probably because they matured a bit. You could keep up the kitchen sessions and pre-bonding until after your trip, and then try to marathon them once you get back and have more days in a row to supervise.

I would definitely advise against having them have playtime together when they are supervised by someone else…. having an unfamiliar person deal with a bunny fight sounds very risky.

Unless you can think of another change in the household that might have triggered things? Maybe a new person or pet? Or any sort of new smell?

. . . 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.  

[Ailsa]

Thanks for your reply DanaNM  

Nothing new in the household. As they were never formally bonded, they haven’t properly established their hierarchy – we’ve had a bit of circling/nipping for a while now. Hoped they’d sort themselves out, but tbh I half expected a wee tussle eventually. The sad thing is they’re miserable without each other – coming to me for a lot of attention whereas before they’d go to each other, And although they are still eating/drinking and pooping, its a bit less than normal.

We had another kitchen session yesterday which wasn’t quite as nice as the day before. A bit of grooming, but a lot of nudging each others heads out the way to be the one getting groomed. Expected another tussle, but that gladly didn’t happen. Will see how tonight goes. I just hope one of them submits!

Thanks for the advice, I’ll keep the room divided for now and continue with the bonding sesh in the kitchen. Hopefully we can do a marathon one when we get back. 

[Vienna Blue in France]

Hi there Ailsa,
I suggest as they are only 10 months old that they have never been bonded as such. They were just baby siblings getting along and as you say now hormones are starting to kick in. So it’s great that they know each other, it’s great that they are already neutered. I suggest you do a lot of pre-bonding cage swapping and litter box swapping (shame you’ve ordered two identical cages) and go through bonding as Dana suggests.
You’ve got a headstart as they already know each other, it just depends when the first one will give in to the other. They need to be able to chase to sort this out amongst each other, so give them room to do so and then make that space a little bit smaller and a little bit smaller and a little bit smaller.
Very cute wee boys.

[Ailsa]

Hi Vienna Blue

We had another kitchen sesh this evening…sadly it resulted in a fight as both refused to groom the other! I’m still a little unsure of when to step in as, like you say, they need to work it out…but to what extent? At what point is it dangerous for the buns? I tend to allow the circling/nipping to an degree, but don’t want them to injure each other. This evening was another case of soaring bunnies and flying fur  it just escalated so quickly!!

Luckily the new cages arrived today, so they are side by side for company but separated by bars. A break for a few days whilst they settle in I think, then we’ll start again.

Thank you, they may look cute but they are in fact little devils… lovable devils of course!

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