Help. Newly bonded suddenly started fighting

[MMmm]

I adopted a girl for my boy last Sunday. My boy is a very laidback chilled 6 month bun. The new girl is also 6 month old but was very shy and skittish at first. We started with neutral area in a2x2 pen. Surprisingly things went on very well. There wasn’t anything negative between them. That night we had them in a 2×4 pen. They didn’t groom each other but were able to lay next to each other. Then they moved on to 4×4 and had a hideout added in. They had been great for the past 4 days. They cuddled and groomed each other. The girl was still shy whenever someone got closer or there was a strange sound.

All of a sudden last night they started circling and pulling fur out. I immediately stopped them and decreased the size to 2×4 and took out the hideout. They had only litter box and a tiny space to lay down at. They settled down a bit until early morning. More circling and more fur. At that point I separated them into two pens side by side. To my surprise they still charged with the fence in between. If one created some movement the other rushed to the fence and charge. Even my mellow boy did this. He even peed next to her fence side.

Even in separate pens right now they are both stressed out still. I’m at a loss.

[Wick & Fable]

It is likely that they had a very short-lived ‘baby bond’, which is also known as the false bond. A baby bond involves at least one rabbit who is young and unfixed– in this state, rabbits do not yet have the territorial/dominance/mating urges. Once the rabbit reaches sexual maturity/puberty, hormones change how rabbits react to each other. Thus it is expected that baby bonds will dissolve. At this point, both of them need to stay separated until they are both spayed/neutered and one month post-recovery.

If this applies to your situation, please see here for bonding information you’ll need to know once you’re able to begin bonding: https://binkybunny.com/infocategory/bonding/

If both rabbits are not fixed, please note that you may have an accidental pregnancy. See here for information on this and what to expect: https://flashsplace.webs.com/accidentallitters.htm .. note that the discussion of intentional breeding is prohibited on this forum.

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.

[MMmm]

Oh I’m very sorry I forgot to fill out the background form. They are both around 6 months old and have been fixed for 1-2 months.
I think the new girl was shy and was following my boy since he knew the routine here better. Now that she is more comfortable she’s started to show dominance. I didn’t know this could happen overnight.

the girl was binkying next to the divider. My boy was dashing to her and angry. He didn’t really eat well today either because he was too busy watching what she was up to.

[Wick & Fable]

They both are pretty “fresh” out of their procedures, so some hormonal fluctuations are normal and likely to impact behavior as they get adjusted to their new post-fixed hormone levels.

I recommend reviewing the bonding link from my previous comment and start at the ”beginning’ after a week break of no bonding so they can “forget” the bad spat. Note that binkying is not exclusive to happiness — it’s simply an expression of energy, so it is also used by rabbits as an evasive maneuver to get away from something attacking them. Within that context, your girl may be binkying in reaction to the boy darting to her, rather than happiness.

In bonding, my rule of thumb is 24+ hours in a certain space before expanding the space/adding stuff/moving to a different space. Bonds rarely take less than a week — it typically takes a couple weeks or months to establish a stable, secure bond.

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.

[MMmm]

I am very scared now because they had been very well (cuddling and grooming) in the same setup with the same routine for the past 3 nights without any problems. On the 4th night they just broke up bad. I will take that they might be still freshly fixed since the girl was just spayed on 8/21. Another thought I have is that the new girl was skittish at first and didn’t know what to expect. She followed or learned from my male since he’s been very familiar with the daily routine (when to get fed veggies and expect treats etc). Now that she’s learned and become comfortable she actually is the dominant one. But my male does not agree.

im scared that as soon as they are back together they will fight as they both are still at nerve end with fence in between. I waited 24hr+ (overnight) with them in a small space in neutral territory before moving them to the setup that I mentioned earlier that they’d been fine in for 3 days.

[DanaNM]

I agree that things likely progressed a bit too fast, especially if the new girl was too shy to behave normally in her new space. I’m really sorry this happened though, sometimes things can go really smoothly at first and then it is so stressful when it goes downhill.

If the female was only spayed a month ago (not sure which was which), it’s possible she’s still having some hormonal fluctuations that set things off as well.

I think taking a break for a couple weeks or so to just let everyone calm down and let your new bun settle in is a good idea. If they are charging the fence, etc, you can hang a towel or blanket over the pen to create a visual barrier. Then I would do some “pre-bonding” side swaps for a few weeks and see how that goes. If everyone seems calm again, you can resume bonding sessions, but I would find a new area to do them in, as the old area isn’t really neutral anymore.

Keep us posted! Hopefully they calm down with a little break.

 

. . . 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.  

[MMmm]

I just typed up a reply to Wick&Fable and repeat myself a bit here.
yes it is the new girl who got spayed just over a month ago. My male was done in July. I also figured that things went so well starting from the beginning might be due to the new girl not showing her “true” self yet. My male was automatically in the lead since he’d known the routine so well. Now that the new girl is more comfortable she is trying to take control and hence the problem started. I am very scared now and regret to have started the bonding before she calmed down.

[DanaNM]

Was either bunny injured? If not, then hopefully things will be salvageable. I think it was very good that you were there to break up the fight.

I think it would be best to just let them cool off and take things one step at a time! Especially if hormones are at play, things could change a lot for the better with some time.

. . . 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.  

[MMmm]

There was fur all of the floor from their circling. But I don’t think either is injured. I have a camera that I’d been checking on them throughout the night since they were together. I happened to catch their fighting last night.

my goal for now is them being comfortable as neighbors.

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