Help!!!! Hammer attacked Rose!!

[BunnyLiz]

He just did it. I let him out for playtime for a while and he turned sour while out. He zoomed and scared Rose in front of her pen. He grunted and was plain ugly. I got in with Rose and comforted her, sparyed Hammer if he was mean, from the other side of the pen. He went back in his pen and i went downstrairs for a glass of milk and in mid pour i heard the fighting upstairs. I literaly drop the glass and ran upstairs, there is still milk all over my kitchen. I had to pour the water from the spray bottle on them to get them to stop and i cut my leg on a drn zip tie and pulled the pen down when i jumped into it. They stopped for 1 second and i grabbed Hammer. Someone bit me, i think it was Hammer. He is in his old cage now. He was the one that jumped over the pen and into her’s. For the looks of it Rose won. Its mostly Hammers hair, but its tons and tons of hair. I dont know what to do now. Im home alone tonight and i tend to get all worked up and cry over this sort of stuuf and i know im not helping them. What do i do now? How do i react and go on from here? Any help?!

[BunnyLiz]

Im gonna go ahead and give all three of us a dose of rescue remedy. Maybe ill be able to calm down and think clearly. Sorry if my post is confusing or something i tend to panic and ive not gathered myself together yet.

[Colin]

I’m in the same boat – Digby and Yoshi got into a fight tonight too.

Chances are good that they’re ok, but you do need to check each of them thoroughly. Hold them securely if you can, and look for spots where fur is missing. It helps to push their fur in the opposite direction to find any bite marks. If you do find any spot where the skin is broken, put triple antibiotic ointment on it (make sure it’s the kind without pain relievers – apparently those aren’t good for bunnies).

If you find that they’re bleeding at all, I think it would be best to take them to a vet.

How are the bunnies now? Have you tried offering them some veggies? Are they eating any hay?

Unfortunately I’m still pretty new at this too, but I’m sure some other members will post some advice for us shortly.

[BunnyLiz]

Im so glad I got my bunny first aid kit together. I havent found anything yet but its comforting to know i have what i might need all ready. Rose dug herself under her covers and Hammer is glaring from the top of his cage.

[jerseygirl]

Just give all three of you time for heartbeat to settle then check them over as mentioned ^^. Be careful as probably still fractious. Hopefully it’s just a bit of fluff loss. Maybe pen them in theirr individual quarters and put a sheet over the cages/condos/pens. Don’t over think about the “why” factor. There’s bound to be ssome adjusting to do on everyones parts. Hope you’re starting to feel better.

[BunnyLiz]

Now the bunnies are fine and im working on myself lol. Do you really think its safe to put something over the top and leave them alone tomorrow? Ill be gone for about 8 hours. Im brain storming a new set up now. I have a plan but we’ll see how that comes together. Should i wait a while before i put them back side by side? If so How long?

[Cassi&Charlie]

Ok deep breaths all round!

When this 1st happened to me I could not believe that my lovable, fluffy Charlie was capable of attempted murder…then I realised it wasn’t that bad, it was just some fur pulling and some nips.

Make sure you check really well, because I missed a bite on Charlie’s neck & felt really bad when I took him to the vet (unrelated matter) after & the vet found it & had to put antibiotic cream on it…ooops. It didn’t get infected but I uess it could have & that would have been bad.

Don’t think “Why” – it’s probably as simple as Rose is in Hammers territory & Hammer doesn’t like it. They reacted well to each other in neutral territoy and once you start bonding I’m sure they’ll get along really well

Jerseygirl – great suggestion, just make sure they can’t get to each other! IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT! ADEE had a really bad incident when Rain tore the other bun, Abbie’s ear – no-one’s fault, the ways of the bunny mind are mysterious…they’re great friends now & probably neither of them even remember the incident.

[BunnyLiz]

Hammer didnt have any problems until I switched their pens. Hammer in Rose’s and Rose in Hammer’s.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

WOW How stressful!! First advice, all take a break and a breather! {{CALM }}

[Beka27]

whoa. yes, this is actually not terribly uncommon. i think 99% of us go thru this when starting to bond. this is why it is so important to switch the pen sides every night, it will prevent them from becoming overly territoral of either side.

it’s probably too late now, you’re probably gone already, but i’d suggest you keep Hammer in his old cage until you can fix the pen. if you have not already, double the barrier wall on the pen with 2-3 inches in between them. if they can jump over the 2 grid pen, you’ll either need to make it 3 grids high, or construct a top that can be clipped on. make sure there is space in the pens where they cannot see each other, a cardboard box/house would work well for this.

keep switching pen sides every night. with the added protection of a covered top and a thicker barrier wall, there should not be more problems like that. maybe stay in the room for awhile after you switch their sides and see how they react to being in the other pen.

[Alicia Conklin]

Mine aren’t bonded yet but they do happily coexist from afar now..but their first few nights they were like this too.  Whenever they could see each other they’d scratch and claw to try to get at each other to fight.  I made sure there was NO way for them to get at each but but left it so that they could see each other.  Each of them had a space though where they could go and not have to see each other. 

Once they figured out they weren’t going to be able to get to each other to fight they decided they didn’t want to even SEE each other.  Tucker spent most of her time up on her shelf where he could not see her at all and he spent most of his time back in a corner on his main level where she could not see him. 

When I made their side by side cages they both really loved these cages.  There was no more sulking over who was in the preferred cage since they were so similiar they are BOTH preferred.  They started to not hide from each other and if they happened to both be on the same level then so be it. 

Now I find that even though they each have four levels and could easily go to a different one to NOT have to see each other they both most of the time will stay on the same level so that they CAN see each other.  Drue who is a big fan of wide spaces even sits up on his toppest shelf which is only a 1 x 2 shelf so that he can be right next to her because that’s the only space in the condos where they can lay right against each other.   And it’s not even in a territorial way anymore, they just enjoy each others company even if it is through the bars.  (I’m assuming anyway since they’re ears aren’t at alert and they look calm and don’t have that “stink eye” look about them)

It probably had something to do with Rose being in Hammer’s pen.  That has been his for so long so if he saw her in there I’m sure that made him angry.  Especially if her prefers that pen to her pen.  In our case before Drue came home with us Tucker had been up in his condo and she discovered she loved it up there.  So then when he got here and they were switching she didn’t seem to care when he was in her pen because that just meant she had the fun condo with many levels.  But if Hammer is a big fan of his area and now he sees Rose in it it might make him territorial for a little bit.  He’ll get used to it though.  I would just add a third level or a top or something for now since you know he can jump over it. 

Does Hammer not have his old house anymore?  The one that was made from the cabinets?  That was him right?

[BunnyLiz]

Yea tucker that was Hammer. We still have that cage but when i said Hammer in Roses pen and Rose in his i meant their new pens i had just built and they had had them for the day until i switched.
Hammer stayed in one of my dog’s cage last night and when i was at school. Im going to build two 3×2 nic pens tonight with a top and put them side by side again, with 3 inches of space between them. I know they wont be big, ill just have to let them out more but thats the biggest i can do now. Ill look into adding a little shelf later once they are all set and ready. Im taking them for a ride on the dryer tonight.. rescue remedy will be issued before hand lol. Ill have that up with pictures hopefully.

[Alicia Conklin]

2 x 3 will be ok for them..it’s only temporary!  And like you said they’ll get out time and everything.  Since they’ll have a top too you could always make a shelf which will give them some added space.  Even just a 1×2 grid one would give them a nice ledge to sit on   And then a litter box would fit nicely underneath and give them the other 2 x 2 of just play space down there.

I’m sure they’ll get used to each other sooN!!

[Beka27]

absolutely, 2×3 is fine for a temporary set-up! you’ve gotta work with what space you have!

how is Rose aside from that, she using her litterbox?

[bunnytowne]

Calm down now.   The buns have to adjust to the others new smell and seeing each other.  It can go slowly and thats ok too.  You are doing fine. Don’t get ovewrought it will work out in it’s own time.

Just keep trying.  Go ahead and go slow with it if that is what it takes. These things dont’ normally happen overnight. The date went good so they will be fine in time. Then they won’t be able to be without the other . 

You know they remind me of kids fighting and pulling each others hair like the girls tend to do.  Seems similar doesn’t it?  It looks scary while it is happening I know.  Hair all over and lots of it.

I never imagined Cotton would bond but doggone now he and Ruby can’t do without each other.  Sometimes I found some of their hair after a tiff when I was gone but that hasn’t happened in a good while.  And I just  got Ruby spayed.

I am slowly working on Cotton and HB too.  I noticed yesterday Cotton didn’t mark with urine. Nor did he go to the xpen seperating them to fight either.  Will take them some time too.

[BunnyLiz]

Yea now i realize it looked and sounded worse then it was. Hammer did good with his litter habits, until we switched and then it was a lot of poops and peeing on blankets. But he has stopped and his litter box is his friend now. Rose is doing really well with her litter box. Only a few stray poops once and all the pee in her box! I did just switch Hammer’s litter when that day too though so he may have been a little mad about that too. Now we are using horse pellets. So all in all they are better.

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