Bunnies fighting

[Jet And Marble]

Hi,

I’m new to this forum.

I have two male bunnies, Jet and Marble, who have been together since they were weeks old. Marble is about 2/3 weeks older. They have always been really good friends, but now they’re over 16 weeks, and their balls have dropped they are fighting. We separated them until they get neutered (booked in on 6th August). So them being apart is fine until them, except while Jet is happy to be on his own, Marble is so so lonely. He just sits in one corner and he won’t eat much. He doesn’t seem happy at all. I’m at a loss about what to do. I tried to bring them together for 5 minutes and it just descended into chaos. Even if I spend time with Marble I just don’t have the same effect as his companionship with Jet. How can I make him happy while they’re apart?

We have considered that if they continue to fight after neutering, we will get Marble a female companion, and Jet can live alone. And maybe after some time, we can see if Jet will bond to Marble and his companion. Would this be a viable solution? 

Any advice would really be appreciated!!  

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome

Please don’t let them interact physically again until they are neutered, and then you will need to go through the proper bonding process. (check out the bunny info tab, there is a link on bonding that will give you a good crash course). Essentially once their hormones are settled, you will have supervised “dates” in neutral territory. The space you use is really important, it must be somewhere that neither bunny has ever been. During these dates your job will be to prevent fights and let them safely sort out their dominance hierarchy.

For now, you can have them live side by side, but unable to actually touch each other (usually this means a 4-6 inch gap between pens/cages). Marble may cheer up having a neighbor. Once they are neutered, you can start pre-bonding, which means swapping who is in which cage every day or so. This is usually done for about 4 weeks.

Are you certain that Marble isn’t sick or injured from the fight? Is he pooping OK? If his eating and pooping are slowing down he may be going into stasis and needs vet attention (they can give pain meds, fluids, motility meds to keep him moving).

In the meantime sure to give lots of extra attention to Marble. He might also like a stuffy (a stuffed bunny toy) to cuddle as long as he isn’t a chewer. Some people will give their buns stuffies when they lose their bonded mate and are depressed.

. . . 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.  

[Jet And Marble]

Posted By DanaNM on 7/24/2018 12:55 PM

Hi there, welcome

Please don’t let them interact physically again until they are neutered, and then you will need to go through the proper bonding process. (check out the bunny info tab, there is a link on bonding that will give you a good crash course). Essentially once their hormones are settled, you will have supervised “dates” in neutral territory. The space you use is really important, it must be somewhere that neither bunny has ever been. During these dates your job will be to prevent fights and let them safely sort out their dominance hierarchy.

For now, you can have them live side by side, but unable to actually touch each other (usually this means a 4-6 inch gap between pens/cages). Marble may cheer up having a neighbor. Once they are neutered, you can start pre-bonding, which means swapping who is in which cage every day or so. This is usually done for about 4 weeks.

Are you certain that Marble isn’t sick or injured from the fight? Is he pooping OK? If his eating and pooping are slowing down he may be going into stasis and needs vet attention (they can give pain meds, fluids, motility meds to keep him moving).

In the meantime sure to give lots of extra attention to Marble. He might also like a stuffy (a stuffed bunny toy) to cuddle as long as he isn’t a chewer. Some people will give their buns stuffies when they lose their bonded mate and are depressed.

— 

Hey thanks for the response. They are completely separate and haven’t had contact since their last fight. I will keep them apart until after neutering happens, and I hope after they have healed they will rebond. Thank you I will have a look there, since I have little experience bonding bunnies.

He seems to have cheered up a bit today with a lot of love and attention. I let them see each others cage doors, and they had a sniff so they know they are both still around. I was planning to switch which hutch they are in each day (we have two identical ones), so that they can keep each others smells around. Is this a bad idea?

Marble has a small scrape on his skin where some fluff got pulled out, but otherwise he is fine. He has improved a lot today, I’ve had him out and he doesn’t seem in pain and has no serious injuries. He is pooping fine, and now he is eating just a little less than usual. It is very hot where we are so I think he is also suffering in the heat. 

Awww that’s such a good idea! Will definitely do that! 

[DanaNM]

Glad he’s perked up!

You can start swap their cages now if you’d like, or you can give them a little time to forget the fight before you start swapping. Since no one was seriously hurt it’s your call (when injuries are bad it’s best to take a full break to let them forget their grudges).

If your set up will allow it, housing side by side can really help with the bonding process too. You’ll notice them start to sync up behaviors (eating at the same time, grooming at the same time, etc), and many buns will lay side by side on their opposite sides when they are starting to become friends.

. . . 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.  

[Jet And Marble]

Posted By DanaNM on 7/24/2018 9:37 PM

Glad he’s perked up!

You can start swap their cages now if you’d like, or you can give them a little time to forget the fight before you start swapping. Since no one was seriously hurt it’s your call (when injuries are bad it’s best to take a full break to let them forget their grudges).

If your set up will allow it, housing side by side can really help with the bonding process too. You’ll notice them start to sync up behaviors (eating at the same time, grooming at the same time, etc), and many buns will lay side by side on their opposite sides when they are starting to become friends.

—

I made them a stuffy each out of an old fleece of mine because it smelt like me, which I thought might help. They love them! Marble in particular has really come back to life with it. He sits and grooms it, and chins it a lot. 

I’ve started swapping immediately, and they’ve had some face to face interaction through the mesh. There’s been no aggression and their behaviour suggests they miss each other. I can’t risk having them fight and potentially hurt each other, so for now they can just interact with mesh between them. 

I spent today sorting the set up, so now we have two identically hutches inside the wendy house, facing each other, with a small gap between them big enough for the doors of the hutches to open. At the moment when one is out and the other is in, the one inside runs up and down the cage to stay close to the one out. And they do mirror each other with where they sit. So I think they can keep their bond intact but not come to any harm for now, until they’re neutered and we can start the rebonding process.

Your advice has really helped to bring them back to their normal happy selves thank you! There were so many binkys today  

[Nutmeg]

That all sounds awesome! Just a side note with the stuffy, my boy loved his a little “Too” much! And his little “man-hood” started to get red and a little sore – but he still kept going at it. I had to limit his time with it LOL.

[DanaNM]

Awww that’s really great! So glad to hear they are happy again! Swapping the stuffies often helps with pre-bonding too.

If they start seeming like they want to chew them, you’ll have to take them away and only give them supervised stuffy time, so hopefully they don’t start chewing them!

Hopefully all will go smoothly with rebonding them once they are neutered!

. . . 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.  

[Jet And Marble]

Posted By Nutmeg on 7/26/2018 11:18 AM

That all sounds awesome! Just a side note with the stuffy, my boy loved his a little “Too” much! And his little “man-hood” started to get red and a little sore – but he still kept going at it. I had to limit his time with it LOL.

Awww haha! So far I’ve only noticed licking, chinning and cuddling. Although who knows what they get up to when I’m sleeping 

[Jet And Marble]

Posted By DanaNM on 7/26/2018 12:44 PM

Awww that’s really great! So glad to hear they are happy again! Swapping the stuffies often helps with pre-bonding too.

If they start seeming like they want to chew them, you’ll have to take them away and only give them supervised stuffy time, so hopefully they don’t start chewing them!

Hopefully all will go smoothly with rebonding them once they are neutered!

Ooh I didn’t know that! I will start swapping the stuffies. I’ve been swapping cages, but giving them their own stuffies. I’ll try swapping them tonight. 

Thanks, I will look out for any chewing! So far there doesn’t seem to be any. 

[Jet And Marble]

Sorry for posting so many times in a row. A little update:

They’ve both become much happier now! They have a nose through the mesh of each others hutches, and they can always see each other. They are both energetic and doing binkies and running around when they’re out again, which they stopped doing when they were first separated. I was so worried about them being apart but they seem to be happy again.

[DanaNM]

Aww so glad they are doing better! Warms my heart!

. . . 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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