BONDED, neutered males fighting – UPDATE

[TuffNFuff]

UPDATE: 3/12/11

To anyone else having this problem, if you are seriously afraid that your buns will hurt one another SEPARATE THEM IMMEDIATELY, because as our vet says, “Sometimes, bunny divorce just happens”.

We are currently faced with one bunny who is in critical condition, and another for which we may have to find another home. Rutherford and Warren’s fighting became very violent on Thursday, and Warren has a very serious gash on his belly (the vet said it would have been fatal if we hadn’t recently trimmed their nails). The gash is currently glued shut to avoid the stress of stitches, and Warren is convalescing in our bathroom, well away from Rutherford. It is really touch and go – while he appears to be drinking he is not eating much besides hay and we are having to force feed him critical care in addition to his Metacam, Baytril and infant gas-x. His is pooping very tiny little poo pellets, and we are in touch with our vet several times a day. He was very listless on Thursday and Friday, but seems to have his personality back and wants to play with Mommy and Daddy.

Rutherford is in their pen (which has been reconstructed to be smaller). He seems oblivious to the fact that his brother is missing, but his appetite too is not what it normally is. I love him so much, but if he and Warren cannot graciously co-exist, we will have to find a new home for him. The woman from our local House Rabbit society made plain that if these were her buns, she wouldn’t try to bond them, and she would find a new home for one.

There is a very slim chance that we can get them to co-exist peacefully, and we have heard of instances where the introduction of a bun of the opposite sex to a same sex pair can make all three happily bonded, but after the severity of Warren’s injury, we don’t know if we want to go down that road.

So, Binky Bunny owners, remember that, just like with people, sometimes bunny divorce just happens – I think that when they were babies our boys were good but as their personalities developed, they developed irreconcilable differences.

Keep your fingers crossed that Warren pulls through OK….

>>>>>>>>>>>

Our bunny boys (Warren and Rutherford) were bonded when we got them about 7 months ago. We got them neutered right away (they were 5 months old at the time and ready to be neutered). Since they have been neutered, they have gotten along very well. They are kept in the same pen and share food and greens bowls (see more info about their living arrangements and diet in their bio). Most generally, they flop down near each other, play nicely, snuggle up in the pen and both request pets from Mommy & Daddy at the same time.

In general, when they play tag, Rutherford initiates the activity by nudging Warren in the butt and hopping around the table, trying to get Warren to chase him. Warren usually complies, they have good run and then flop down near each other.

We have noticed, however, that once every couple months (maybe three times since we got them), they are NOT playing, but actually quite aggressively fighting. At first, we thought they were just trying to figure out their territory in the rest of the living room (they pretty much have the pen territory divided). This time however, the fighting is not subsiding. When they are really going at it, we break them up immediately by picking up Warren (the more easily handled) and get him calmed down, then they are both put back in the pen. However, these ‘normal’ tactics for dealing with their fighting are not working.

We have resorted to trying to apply stress to their day to get them to get over their differences and remember that they love each other. Yesterday, we ran the vacuum cleaner (which they hate), and they were good for several hours. Today, we put them in their travel crate and took them for a short car ride. They are currently not actively fighting with or chasing each other, but they are definitely sitting in their separate corners of the pen.

We noticed Warren has a pretty deep bite on his flank, which doesn’t look infected and is not bleeding. We are giving him Metacam and Baytril to help with any pain and prevent infection, but they both appear to be eating, drinking and pooping normally.

What is going on with my boys? Does anyone have advice to help repair their bond or explain this behavior? Do we just need to let it run its course? I am worried that they will really hurt each other if we don’t try to stop serious fighting. Also worth mentioning, we can’t tell if they have established which is the Top Bun.

Thank you!

 

 

 

[Beka27]

I would back it up a step and keep them strictly confined to their cage/pen space: Forced together time. Do not split them up at this point because once you do, it’s going to be that much harder to get them back together.

[Author]

Messages