Broken bond, never bonded or just normal behaviour ?

[Kiki, Kaya & Simba]

Hi, I am new to bunny bonding, and I am stuck in a situation that I don’t know if it is normal or if they have lost the bond or had never bonded.

I have for more than a year two female rabbits: Kiki (2 years old and neutered) and Kaya (3 years old and neutered), they are mother and daughter. They came from the animal shelter together, eventually they humping each other, but nothing serious, no bites nor pulling fur.

More than a month ago, we adopted two male rabbits, Nick (3 years old, neutered) and Simba (3 years old, neutered), they were alone at the animal shelter, Nick because his brother was fighting with him (according to the shelter, he was the good boy) and Simba, because his owner died.
Unfortunately Nick was very aggressive when around other rabbits, attacking even people. But when alone, without the presence of rabbits, just people, he was very docile. His aggressiveness prevented Simba from eating and using the litter box. We decided that an environment with less rabbits would be less stressful for Nick and we kept only Simba. It was a hard decision 🙁

In the following days we continued the bonding process with Kiki, Kaya and Simba. With time, he learned that the girls were not aggressive and became more and more confident. They were eating and sleeping together, grooming each other, using the same litter box. We cleaned the space well with vinegar and let them live together. For more than two weeks, everything was perfect. No incidents occurred. Kaya is more independent, but accepted Simba’s presence well and Kiki and he spent a lot of time together. Kiki and Kaya’s relationship did not change.

But one day, unexpectedly, Simba attacked Kiki, for no apparent reason. Nothing had changed. I thought it was just a disagreement, and soon everything would be fine. I broke up the fight and petted them both, close to each other. Everything was normal again, they were grooming again, everything seemed fine. But an hour later, another attack by Simba. So I decided to separate him from the girls for one night. Kiki, through the separation fence, lay down close to him, tried to groom him, it seemed like a good sign. Then we had another meeting of the three, at first he let Kiki lick him, and briefly he also lick her, for about 2 seconds, and then demanded more licks from her. She accepted, but when she stopped, and he demanded more and more, he would bite her on the face or butt, when she did not do when he wanted and for as long as he wanted (it could go for hours). Soon he stopped licking her back, he stopped demanding grooming. He went straight to biting, tearing out a lot of her fur. Or chasing her until he could bite her. I read, that it was normal, so I allowed for a few moments, but interrupted when it was too much.
On one of these bites, Kaya got in the way and Simba and Kaya had a fight, that had never happened before.
Then we started the bonding process all over again. We separate them and make small encounters in neutral territory, but the girls get very anxious when they are out of their space, and he takes advantage by biting them non-stop. They do not react. But in the territory they know, Simba avoids Kaya, who now does not accept his presence around, always making him stay away from her and her daughter.

And with Kiki, he seems to prepare his attack, he looks for the best moment, to run after her until she is cornered, and he can bite. He avoids attacks when Kaya is around, but it doesn’t always work and they fight.
We tried stress bonding, but the girls get scared but he doesn’t, he keeps biting. Kiki seems very sad after the chasings. He won’t let her groom him, and whenever she tries to lie down next to him through the fence, he bites her until she leaves.
The attacks don’t seem sudden or violent when Kiki runs from him but they turn into fights when she does not, or when Kaya gets in the middle.
They can co-exist in the same space for hours and even days, with no problems, no fights, no chasing, no fur pulling. They also eat together. Simba just avoids them, but eventually it all starts again. He is getting less afraid of Kaya, avoinding her less and attacking her more.

Simba was peeing on the girls, when they were still friends, and he wags his tail before his attacks. Maybe this could mean something.

I don’t know why this unexpected fights, something happened that broke the bonding? or they never bonded? Or is it just normal behavior, and I should let it happen, even the fights? How can I bond them (again)?

Thank you!

 

P.S: They are all healthy, they have been recently checked by the vet.

[DanaNM]

This is very stressful, sorry you have gone through all of this! And thank you for the detailed info! This isn’t normal bonded behavior. As to whether it’s a broken bond or never fully bonded, I’m not sure. Trios are difficult, and sometimes may not work if the combination of personalities isn’t right. It sounds to me like Simba was more shy at first and once he came out of his shell he decided to assert dominance. It may be possible to work through this, but it may not be (or it may not be worth the stress).

I have a couple more clarifying questions. First, has any bunny been injured in the fighting (bites that have broken skin)? If so, then I recommend taking a full break of at least a few weeks to let all the bunnies calm down (with no bonding or pre-bonding sessions).

Next, how long have you been working on re-bonding them, and what is the bonding space like? In challenging bonds, I have had the best luck with a very large space in a very neutral territory. For a trio that could be at least 2 or 3 xpens linked up in a friend’s garage or kitchen. In cases where one bun is very shy but also dominant, it’s important to go very slowly in a setting where the bun behaves normally, so too much stress can create a false sense of peace.

. . . 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.  

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