Bonded girls have fallen out!

[Kelly]

Hi, I’m new here and at my wits end with my bunnies.

They’re a female bonded pair (well they were anyway), it was a relatively straight-forward bond and have been living harmoniously for nearly 6 months. Hops is approaching 2yrs old and Fuggles nearly 1yr old. Both spayed. Hops came first, and we rescued Fuggles from looking sad in the adoption section if a pet shop whilst stocking up on litter! (Spontaneous to say the least).

I woke up about 3am the other morning to them making a racket, ignored it for a while thinking Fuggles got spooked by the thunder storm. Woke again a while later with them still being noisy, went to see what was going on and found clumps of fur EVERYWHERE and 2 panting bunnies at opposite ends of their enourmous hutch. I checked for injuries, there’s a few minor bite marks but nothing serious, and separated them for the rest of the night. They both seemed chilled when I went in the next morning so I opened the door and Hops went straight for Fuggles again, seemingly aiming to bite her bum area.

They’ve been separated since, but they can’t stay like this forever. Weirdly enough, I can let them out into the flat together and they’re fine, no chasing- even cuddling up and grooming one another, but as soon as I put them In their house together Hops turns into demon bunny and Fuggles seems terrified of being chased/bitten every time she moves. I have no idea what Hops’ problem is, she seems fine in herself and to my knowledge nothing has changed at all. I can’t understand why this has happened and it’s stressing me out as we won’t be able to keep both if this doesn’t improve and it’s traumatic hav8ng to think about which one will go

I’ve gone back to initial bonding steps, swapping them about in their separated areas to get used to each other etc, and making loud noises with a spray bottle to hand when Hops is mean.

If anyone has any ideas on what may have caused this or anything to try and improve the situation I would be really grateful.

[Sirius&Luna]

Are there any new smells or pets in the house? Are both eating and drinking normally? Sometimes one bunny being sick can cause fights between bonded pairs.

If they’re okay everywhere except the hutch, it seems like Hops has got randomly territorial of it, which is strange. I think doing a bit of swapping, and bonding in other areas would be good. Then clean with vinegar and air out the hutch, and rearrange things in it if possible so hopefully Hops will be tricked into thinking its a new space, and not the space that she’s territorial over.

[Sirius&Luna]

Forgot to say, also spring can cause bunnies to act out… Spring fever!

[Deleted User]

To add to S&L, when you got Fuggles, did you just put them together or did you actually prebond and do bonding sessions? I’m only asking because from what I’m reading, you got Fuggles at 6 months old, which is usually when females are spayed and if they’ve been bonded for 6 months it just seems like you’ve had them together since then? correct me if I’m wrong I’m just inferring from your post. But if you did just put them together when you got Fuggles, she might not have felt comfortable enough yet in her new living situation to put up a fight with Hops, but now that she is she is feeling more comfortable she’s not afraid to fight over little issues that might not have been big to begin with. In which case, I’d say do some actual bonding sessions with them.

[Kelly]

Hi, thanks for the replies. We did bonding sessions with them, we got Fuggles late August/early September when she was roughly 12 weeks old, had her spayed when the vet said that she was old enough. Gave her 8 weeks to heal then started bonding. They have been living together since the start of January this year. We did loads of bonding sessions, swapping living areas, small neutral areas gradually getting bigger. Then bought them a brand new house once they were happy in each other’s company so it was new for both of them.
From watching them, Fuggles isn’t standing up for herself, just running away and being scatty. Hops is the one who is acting up, it’s like Hops is exerting unnecessary dominance and being defensive of nothing. I hope she’s not sick, she cost me a fortune with an episode of gut statis a few months ago. They’re due vaccinations in June so I’ll get her checked out.

I put them together in their home last night, supervised with a spray bottle obviously and it wasn’t so bad. They’re still not friends and Fuggles just runs when Hops goes near her, but I didn’t witness Hops actually being aggressive last night. Fingers crossed for progress!

[Author]

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