Bonding rabbits not getting along?? PLEASE HELP!

[Karrakov]

I have two bonded bunnies (Benny and Bailey) and lately they don’t seem to be getting along. They’ve been bonded and living together for about 7 months and Bailey was dominant from the start. They bonded very quickly and have been inseparable, constantly cuddling and grooming. I noticed a couple of weeks ago Bailey was mounting Benny pretty consistently and starting pawing at his back and even nipping a little. He seemed fine and wasn’t running away so I figured it was normal and ok. As time went on he was getting a little annoyed and started running from her when she would get at him and they weren’t cuddling as much. A few days ago he got GI Stasis (He is very sensitive and has stasis pretty frequently). There’s always been a pretty clear reason why he gets sick and this time I couldn’t figure it out. Then they were out playing one day and I saw they were hiding in the corner and Bailey was getting at him and there was a pile of his hair around them that she seems to have pulled out. So I talked to my vet and she suggested I separate them. I didn’t want to risk loosing their bond so I’ve been separating them at night and when I’m not home, but when I am around they are free roaming together. After the first day Bailey seemed to have calmed down a bit but then she started bothering him again and he was running away. I’m really not sure what to do at this point. Why is this happening? Should I keep them apart or separate? 

Side note: Benny was very sick with liver torsion a couple months ago and Bailey was glued to his side, grooming him and being very affectionate. I had the thought that maybe she’s reacting to him being sick recently? I’m really not sure, I’m grasping at straws. 

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I’m terrified that they will have to be separated. I can’t keep two rabbits that aren’t bonded right now. I did that before and it’s very hard. What should I do? Why is she doing this all of the sudden?

[Pinkbun]

Hi
I’m not an expert in this but I’ll try! Have the rabbits been neutered or spayed yet? What’s there ages? It’s sounds to me like Bailey is trying to become dominant or in charge of Benny. Females typically will do this as there much more possessive. For the fur incident are you sure it was bennys? As I do recall females can go through a phantom pregnancy and they get so much more territorial and will pull out there own hair to form a nest. They basically get more bossy and this happens to spayed females. As I’d a female who went crazy for a few days (she made a little nest…a www) but she didn’t like her brother near her as she wanted her own space. As I’m unsure of the ages of the buns I can’t say for sure but I hope these two scenarios help.
If you wanted to to help them bond try letting them run around on neutral territory (an area they haven’t been before) this works great as you’ll be able to witness if there’s a problem or if it’s dominating behaviour. I wouldn’t separate them entirely I’d let them see each other eg. Try C&C grid or storage grids there great for things like this. As you can build a run and the rabbits can still see each other without hurting each other. Even use a baby gate and see how they react to each other through it? Even just supervise them when there out. But I wouldn’t just separate them without them seeing each other as they’ll get stressed out and they will miss the confort (trust me my bun lost his friend and he developed depression, he just wasn’t the same)

Hope I helped and provided some info.

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