Cottons nose strange behavior

[bunnytowne]

My my my.  The nite b4 I come home and see Ruby’s hair here n there like Cotton pulled it out.  Last nite I get home and find Cotton has a surface bite on his nose. A little dried blood too.

I don’t know what to do.  I dont’ know if I should seperate them for a bit and reintroduce them.  Is Cotton doing this because he is jealous. They dont’ fight when I am home.

Well except for his mounting her once and had a mouthful of her hair. I heard the nails scratching the wall and went to see and found them like that.

I have no place to put her if I seperate them. I dont’ have an extra cage to put her in. I threw out the plastic bottom I made into a cage for her with NIC cubes. 

Should I seperate them?  Won’t they get depressed and lonely without each other’s company? Should I rebond them?

I just don’t want them to seriously hurt each other.  I remember the incident where a bun had to have her ear amputated due to a tiff.  I don’t want that to happen here or anything similar.

This is making me

Another thing I haven’t been home til late the last 2 nites. And on Fridays since we are going to the masjid again. This is all new to them. Could this be why they are doing this?  Or is it jealousy? 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Bunnytowne, I am all too familar with bunny tiffs of bonded pairs. There is any variety of reasons why this coudl be happening and it is possible it is because their schedule with you has changed. Do you notice him “herding” her around at all, keeping her out of a litterbox, hogging hay or the water dish? These are the main areas where it starts for my two. When I did separate them once, they were terribly sad without each other, however you cannot have them ripping each other apart either. I only separated my two when the fight was so bad, they had ripped chunks out of each other. Did you take a look at the spot where Cotton pulled out Ruby’s fur? Did the skin come with it and is it an open wound? It is really critical to check for injuries to the skin of rabbits because they can become infected easily. Rinse with a solution of 50/50 peroxide & water, and daub on the ointment. However I do recall here that you have a rabbit with a nose injury? That is not along the lines of a normal tiff and I feel that they should be separated then after the nose heals, try re-bonding to see if they are amicable to it.

[bunnytowne]

Thanks Scarlet Rose.  I am giong to place Ruby in the bathroom.  I know they will be lonesome without each other. Or I think they will. 

I was holding Ruby and groomed her last nite.  Cotton sat watching looking left out.  I have been holding him more lately.  HE is now letting me hold him and does tooth purrs.

But I am going to seperate them. I don’t want them getting seriously injured.  I didn’t see any skin with hair around on the floor. I dont’ see or feel any bites on Ruby.            Poor little Cotton.     That is the only wound I am aware of.

So you consider the nose bite serious? Serious enuf to seperate.   Well I will just have to seperate then.  I love them and don’t want any serious problems.  They are grooming each other right now.

I haven’t noticed any herding. But Cotton did pee on the rug by his litterbox and poops scattered poops all over it.  I am taking that as territorial poops and marking. I seldom see Ruby in that litterbox.  I have plenty extra to put in the bathroom for Ruby. 

I was real surprised that Cotton accepted Ruby and am glad he did. They are hanging out with each other all the time. Except when I am gone they are fighting.

I tried to get him on his back at the sink there to wash his wound out with povidone iodine and he would not stop wiggling. Finally I just wrapped him in a towel. Then I got it.  I am putting his Neosporin on now too.   It doesn’t look infected and I will be checking it twice a day when I put the neosporin on it after washing it first.

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