Help, rabbit is being bullied!

[Buntrio]

Hello!

I have a trio of bunnies, consisting of mama bun and her twins (Dobby and Jigglypuff). The twins are 11 months and mama (Nana) is a few months older. They girls have only been seperated short amounts of times for spaying, and Dobby a little longer until he was old enough to be castrated so he could join the girls again. Nana has always been a bit of a bitch to be honest. She’s the boss of the pack no doubt and will boss us humans around too. Jiggly’s been pretty nervous since she was a baby and when they lived just the two of them Nana would mount jiggly but never otherwise be mad at her so we figured it was just hormones. Jiggly was the last one to be spayed and rejoin the pack and Nana has been chasing her ever since, but they’d still eat together and groom each other and sometimes sleep together so I thought it would stop once they got used to each other again. Which it did for a few months. But now it’s been getting worse the past few weeks. Nana will chase jiggly away from food or get angry if she gets too close. Dobby has even joined in and started chasing her too! Nana might get mad at Dobby when she’s in a mood but it rarely happens and he doesn’t really get scared, he might even fight back. But I’m really worried about Jiggly because she’s so sensitive. Dobby and Nana sleep under my bed all day whilst she sleeps alone in the cage. And in the evenings when the others go back to eat she might get banished out of the cage. I feel so bad and worried for her. Any suggestions what I can do? Or why the others have started treating her like this suddenly?

[Wick & Fable]

It’s possible that a stable hierarchy wasn’t yet established and things aren’t really showing up until now. The relationship rabbits have prior to spaying/neutering sometimes needs  work after the spaying/neutering, since the mindset of a rabbit before and after the procedure is so different.

If there is bullying, that is concerning.I do not have experience with trios, but doing some formal bonding work may give them time to work things out and figure out their dynamic. Are you able to create safe and large areas to separate the rabbits into subunits?

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.

[DanaNM]

It sounds like you need to properly bond them if you would like them all to live together peacefully. This means supervised “dates” in neutral territory so they can all properly establish their dominance hierarchy. Babies do not form true bonds, but are tolerated by adults usually. Now that the babies are grown ups, they are seen as intruding bunnies, not family.

For now I would separate the bunnies that are being chased, because it could escalate to injuries pretty quickly.

. . . 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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