Does my bunny prefer being the only bunny??

[Kbun91]

I have a pair of bonded rabbits. One rabbit is a 1.5 yr old male neuter holland lop and the other is a 2.5 yr old mixed breed spayed female. I’ve had the holland lop for over a year and rescued the other rabbit 8 months ago.They have been officially bonded for 6 months now and get along well. They often cuddle and groom each other! They do stay in an x-pen when I am not home and at night as I cannot fully trust the female (she’s somewhat destructive). For the most part they free roam during the day – sometimes they cuddle and sleep together and other times they are separate. However, when they are in the x-pen together, the female with occasionally chase the male and sometimes will even “dig” at him. He does not retaliate in any way other than to run until she gives up the chase. 

The one behavior that I am most concerned with is that the male will often grunt and thump (very loudly!). It almost never happens when they are not in their pen, but at night it happens multiple times and sometimes happens after a chase. From what I can figure out, it seems to me that the male is angry or annoyed with the female and that hes showing his disapproval of her/her actions. Since they are in a pen together, he cannot get away from her and therefore thumps. 

It seems that the only way to stop this behavior is to get rid of whatever is causing him to be upset/angry which would be the other rabbit (I think). So I am wondering if my rabbit might prefer to be alone or if this is something else that I can address. 

Thanks for any advice/input!

[DarthVadar]

As a rule, rabbits are social animals. If they don’t see/interact with other animals or people, they may become withdrawn and unhappy. Just because rabbits are bonded does not mean they will always get along perfectly all the time. One of mine had her buddy die, and i had always thought she might like being a solo bunny because of how she acted (sort of like yours), but i ended up needing to get her a new friend because she was becoming lethargic. He may act like he does not like her now, but I’m sure he would not be happy if she left.

[FlemishDad]

Could you keep them in separate adjacent pens when unsupervised?

[Asriel and Bombur]

If they’re bonded they’re bonded. You can’t separate them. Either one of those bunnies could become depressed if that happens. If you’re having issues, it’s good to try some stress bonding, but simply getting ride of one isn’t the answer.

[Kbun91]

Thanks for the input! I think what is happening is that the male just wants to be able to get away from the female (like when she chases him), but can’t when they are in a pen together. When they have run of the house, a lot of times the male is downstairs and the female stays upstairs. I think they love each other but also need their own space/time apart lol I’m sure he also prefers to have free run of the room and to not be kept in a pen. I would love to let him have more freedom at night, but I can’t let the female as shes a trouble maker!

I’ll keep trying different things to see if I can figure out the reason behind the thumping. And if there’s nothing I can do about it, I might invest in a foam mat to place under their area rug, where they cant get to it to eat it, but hopefully it will cushion the sound of his thump!

His thumping, while annoying to me, actually gives my dog anxiety, which is not something I expected to be an issue. That’s the big reason I want it to stop or at least happen less often. 

[tobyluv]

Could you place a small hidey box in the pen for your male to retreat to if he is being chased? That may not work and your female may simply chase him out of the box, but it might be something for you to try. It’s best not to place a box right up against the side of the pen, as some rabbits get on top of the box and use it as a springboard to jump out of the pen.

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