Bonded rescue rabbits fighting

[Cwningen]

Hello,

We adopted two bonded female rabbits from an animal rescue centre about a week and a half ago. They were keen that they were rehomed together. Both have been neutered and are about 9 months old.

They were doing great. We started letting them out to roam the (secured) garden this week and then things seemed to go wrong. They had a fight in the garden, one lost some fur but no bleeding or cuts. The one that seemed to be leading the attacks is usually the most quiet/shy. We completely separated them for a few hours. While they were separated, we did our daily clean of their living space and divided it in two with wire fencing. Made sure that both had toys, food etc and put them back in.  Night one was fine. When I went out this morning it looked like they had managed to fight through the fence (neither had actually got through) and the same bunny had lost a little fur (but still no cuts etc).

Would be really grateful for advice on what we do now. We don’t really have anywhere else where we could house them completely separately so I’m worried about what to do.

 

[DanaNM]

I think it would be good to reach out to the rescue and see what they advise you to do. They may be able to take them back from you and work on their bond for you, since they were so recently adopted. It does happen sometimes that a change in location can trigger an upset in the bond. Do you know how long ago they were spayed?

I wonder if something in the garden triggered them? Maybe the smell of other animals? It could have also been “too much too soon” in terms of the new space.

If the rescue can’t do it for you, the best thing would be to work on re-bonding them. You can read about the process here: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

Basically you would do dating sessions in neutral territory while preventing fighting to allow them to reestablish their dominance hierarchy safely.

. . . 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.  

[Wick & Fable]

I’m sorry to hear that you are having these difficulties– it’s fortunate that no injuries have occurred outside fluff-loss.

It is possible that the rabbits were not properly bonded or the bond they had was not very secure. Transitioning to a new environment can tense a bond, but we typically do not see it dissolve to fights-through-a-pen-wall level. While unfortunate, you likely need to go through re-bonding the rabbits. If they indeed were bonded before, it hopefully will not take as long to progress through the steps. See here for a bonding overview: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/  .. essentially, you want the rabbits to establish comfort/hierarchy in a neutral space, and then progress to semi-neutral (where both rabbits have been before/the shared space). During bonding, you do need to house them separately. You should have a gap between their spaces so no nipping can occur through the pen wall.

As a side note– is one of the rabbit’s molting? This can potentially explain fur fluff everywhere, though unlikely based on your described context.

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.

[Author]

Messages