Bonded buns arguing

[WonderToast]

So Sir Max (male) and Tillie (female, dominant) have been bonded and living happily together for months, but recently they’ve started bickering. Every time I’ve caught them at it (3 times now) it’s been early morning when it’s dark, but this morning I finally found the culprit of the aggression is Tillie. I was just getting out of bed when they started scrabbling around in their cage, and then she chased him out into the pen. Naturally I gave him some love, and then when I put him back they immedielty went back to cuddling and then had breakfast together. I just can’t figure out what her deal is, Tillie has always kind of been a jerk, but mostly just towards me, since they’ve bonded she’s been totally fine with Sir Max. Is it because she’s bored? Not enough space? (Their pen is about 3x5ft connected to a 4 level cage) I’m just not really sure what to do ):

Side note: any toy suggestions? They’ve grown bored of tp tubes and tissue boxes, and don’t really care for the limited petco or Wal-Mart selections.

[DanaNM]

When they start chasing, how severe is it? Do you have to intervene or does it stop on it’s own?

First thing, make sure no one has actually been injured. If anyone has any injuries, I hate to say it, but you need to separate them and go back to bonding. But it sounds like it’s prob just some chasing and lunging?

When Tillie gets aggressive, is it in response to something Max does?

Have there been any new people or smells in the house? New pets? New roommates?

My Bertha was getting cranky around breakfast towards Moose when their bond was new. She would chase him out of the litter box, and just act like a brat.

The things that helped them were:
-giving them 2 litter boxes (previously they had one huge one. The two litter boxes are side by side, and the same amount of space, but just having them be two separate boxes helped a lot.
– doing “couples therapy” – banana on both heads to get them both to groom more. Seems kinda like cheating, but it worked, and the effects lasted long after.
– doing a bit of stressing – car ride together in the carrier

I also started giving them their pellets in separate food bowls (even though they will eat out of the same one). Also make sure they have tons of fresh hay overnight, so they eat lots and aren’t so ravenous in the morning.

The other thing is to make sure both bunnies are healthy. If one isn’t feeling right, either they can lash out at their partner, or the partner can get grumpy with them. In my case, Moose also had a rotten tooth, so I think he wasn’t grooming Bertha enough for her liking….

In my situation, I changed a lot of things at once, so I’m not sure what was the most important, but I think maybe they were all factors, because I did see improvement with each change.

In terms of toys: Mine like shredding phone books, cardboard cat scratchers, the “barrel roller” toy, the “knot nibbler” toy, they love their willow tunnel, sea grass and timothy mats, and concrete building form tubes (from Home Depot) for tunneling. Moose also has a tiny cowbell which he loves throwing around. I recently got stacking cups (recommended by someone here) for babies… the buns will knock them over whenever I stack them up! My Bunston also used to pass a cat “batta ball” back and forth with me

. . . 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.  

[WonderToast]

They typically stop on their own. My first reaction is to tell them to stop, but I don’t think that has much effect to be honest. Nothing new in the house, no one is hurt, and they both actually just received a clean bill of health at a checkup a couple weeks ago. As for Sir Max being the instigator, I can’t be sure, because I’ve yet to catch an argument from the beginning, but I’m doubting it.

I should also maybe note that these two didn’t really respond to a lot of the common bonding exercises. So like, I’d try to stress them and they’d just get bored or annoyed, the banana trick always just left me with sticky bunnies lol.

Now that you mention it though, it is possible they’re just hangry, because it’s always before breakfast. Maybe I need to start giving pellets again at dinner. I stopped with them awhile back because they were getting a little chubby (and acting like fat pigs over them) but I’d rather they be fat than fighting

[DanaNM]

I had a thread on this, and a member recommended these really high fiber sticks to give at bedtime… I believe it was called “Fibafirst”. Apparently they take a long time for them to eat, and keep their bellies nice and full overnight.

Other than chasing before breakfast, do they snuggle and groom a lot still? Just be wary if you seen them “drifting” apart. Whatever worked for you in bonding them, might be worth doing a session or two just for your peace of mind.

. . . 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]

DanaM, I remember that, it was Vienna Blue in France that needed to keep her buns quiet during the night Fibafirst sticks worked. They are food though so that needs to be taken into account for buns that are on the plump side.

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