My two bunnies are fighting but they used to love each other

[bugsy]

I was wondering if you can help me, bugsy (male) and charlie (female)have been together as house rabbits since October of last year with no real problems, both are neutered and used to often clean each other. 

On saturday night i had to take bugsy to the vets as he had not gone to the toilet or eaten since friday night, he had some injections and was told that he had a lot of gas in his stomach but his stools were soft so nothing to really really worry about they gave me some syrup to give him.  On sunday morning there was no change (by then we had him segregated from Charlie so we could see if he was using the toilet) so we took him back to the vets where they kept him in.  they were sringe feeding him and giving him pain relief its turns out he has a funny back tooth where a part of it was stabbing his cheek and a spur that was attacking his tongue, they clipped off the spur but they need to grind his back tooth but cant until he is better.  anyway he started pooing etc not a great deal but there was some! 

Anyway he came home on wednesday night and again we kept him segregated from Charlie but last night (thursday) we put them together they were okay at first but bugsy decided to use his litter tray but charlie wasnt having any of it and a fight started oh what fun fur flying everywhere (under the bed so we couldnt catch them) charlie ran out from under the bed and i caught her and put her in the segregated area where she has been ever since.

I know they can forget but surely not after 3 nights??  please help as i need a happy home!

[Lucy]

the same thing- but not as bad- happened to me when I took Fujoe to the vet when he had GI Stasis. We had to seperate the two bunnies, and when we put him and Patina together there was A LOT of humping. We had to rebond them. A little at at time.. have them spend time during the day together (supervised) and then apart at night until they were bonded again.

It’s just that bugsly came home smelling differently from the vet and that’s what might have started it

[bugsy]

Thanks for that info, i will try that later when i get home, will let you know how i get on!!

[MooBunnay]

I think that Fujoe is right about the bunny smelling different – I know that some bunnies get very jealous of other bunnies as well. My girl Juli has a HUGE jealous streak – if Kramer even LOOKS at a female bunny other than her she gives him a great whack in the head with his front paw which leads to a fight, so the fact that Bugsy smelled different could have also set off her jealous trigger A little re-bonding could definitely help – maybe a car ride with the two of them in the same carrier? You probably want to make sure Bugsy is feeling all better before working on the rebonding. Could you put them into cages right nex tto each other so they can see and smell each other but not fight?

[Lucy]

What I did was swap cages/litter boxes till their scents were all mingled. Once they started licking and got the mounting out of the way their bond was stronger than ever.

[jellyrose]

I have had a long bonding process with my two buns (still going well for now!), during which Edward our boy bunny has been suffering wih recurrent resp infections (still using antibiotics). The first time we took them to the vet together they were ok but when we took him back by himself it put thier bonding back at the begining again. We started completely over again once Edward was off meds and looking better. Daily sessions, car rides and all that good stuff! This time when he got sick again we took them both together.. our vet is very good and always gets Josephine out and has a cuddle with her too so that they both smell of the vets, plus they can compare notes when they get home about who was poked the hardest! We have had no problems with them this time around even though Edward is still having meds. I agree with fujoe.. I think swapping cages/litter trays works really well, also binkys stunt bunny (on the bonding tips page) seemed to work so well for my two when we re-introduced them. Good luck!

[Gravehearted]

bugsy – any update on how they’re doing?

[bugsy]

Dear all,

Many thanks for your suggestions, on saturday i put them together and they were fine playing, cleaning each other and lying together as if they have never been apart!  i am so glad that they are friends again as i was worried that Charlie might have gone territorial on us but it seems calm at the moment!!

Once again thanks, sam xx

[BinkyBunny]

I’m so glad things worked out in the end!

This is for anyone taking their bunny to the to vets in the future. A rabbit coming back from the vets offices may not smell the same and so his/her buddy will not recognize him. (Also some bunnies will pick on sick bunnies)

If you can bring their companion bunny with, that can help. And if one of the bunnies has to spend the night, when you go to pick him up, bring his companion for the car ride home.

Oh…oops, Jellyrose already covered this.  Ah well.  Then all I can say now is….ditto!

[Author]

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