Newly bonded bunnies had a fight!

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

Last night, my two bunnies had a fight overnight. They have been together for around 2 weeks with nothing but love, grooming, and cuddles. The only thing that has changed for them in this time is my mother-in-law drank too much last night and decided to sleep on the couch the guest bed wasn’t available). Could a somewhat unfamiliar person in their territory have been the cause of the fight? They are avoiding each other now. What do I do from here to repair the bond?

 It also appears that Jafar is favoring his front right leg, but he is moving around a lot and eating like normal. I can’t see anything wrong with it, but I think we’re going to have to take him to the vet to be safe. My mother in law woke during their fight and broke it up, but she said they were chasing each other, running super fast through the living room. I’m hoping Jafar just twisted it a little during the frenzy and didn’t do any real damage.

 This setback is such a bummer. We’d made such good progress and I don’t know where we went wrong.

[floppybunny123]

I really dom’t know what happened. but I’m pretty sure it was the new smell of your mother in law that they didn’t want in their territory.

[T-Bun]

Hi there… as (bad) luck would have it, I’m having some troub;e with bonded buns myself so I’ve been reading up a lot on bonding.  Yes, it could indeed be that your mother-in-law’s presence upset them to the point where they got aggressive with each other.  Depending on their behavior now, a mini-bonding schedule might be necessary to set things right.  And by all means get the injured one to a vet as soon as possible.

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

I feel so frustrated that my husband gave my MIL a whole bottle of wine, thus causing the bunny-MIL slumber party. Not his fault, really, so the frustration is completely misplaced. We made so much progress and it was so easy, but now we’re back to gates, separate sides, and lonely bunnies.

Jafar hates to be handled, but I just looked at his leg again and I found a bite wound at the bend in an area that is hard to access on the underside. I’m calling for a vet now to get him treated. I also cleaned in in the meantime with a first aid iodine solution (one I bought in the past for a previous bunny wound). There’s a flap of loose skin, poor little guy. The funny thing is, it’s Zero who was acting scared of Jafar. But she’s 50% heavier than he is, so I guess she can overpower him pretty easily.

Is this “smell” thing a problem for newly bonded bunnies, or could it happen even after they’ve been bonded for a long time? I’m worried about having company. I won’t have anyone sleep in the living room again, but I can’t keep their territory completely stranger-free forever.

[T-Bun]

I found some good into at this link:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/4-4/tough-bonding.html

Quoting from the above:

Sometimes bonded rabbits break out in a fight after years of happy companionship. We don’t always know the cause, but suspects are: new rabbit arriving in the household; trip to vet or other incident where rabbits are separated and/or pick up a strange smell; a health problem that makes the sick bunny irritable or the healthy one anxious. Once any health problems are addressed by your veterinarian, go back to bonding basics.

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

Thank you for posting that article! I had read it before, but it’s a great refresher now that this fight has happened. We’ve decided to separate them in the living room into smaller pens than they’re used to, but so they are side by side like before. Once Jafar finishes his round of anti/probiotics and heals, we will begin the bunny dates again. My only worry is I was able to do this bonding while on break from school, so they were never left alone the first week. Now, both my husband and I will be teaching everyday, so when they’re ready to live together again, we’ll have to trust them during the day. That scares me! I might just wait until March, during spring break. That’s assuming they get over this fight and still want to be with each other. I sure hope they do. It was so nice seeing them cuddle all over and Jafar became much friendlier with us as a result of the bond. It was a happier life for everyone in the house.

[T-Bun]

Believe me, I know just how you feel.  The two females in my bonded trio recently started fighting horribly (I have a thread with the details going now in this forum) and it’s scary stuff.  Especially because it makes you feel so helpless!   It’s a lot to process, but everybody says patience is the key.  Hang in there, and good luck with the re-bonding.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Unfortunately, you will have to re-start bonding sessions. Stressing might work to establish trust again,

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

Good luck with your re-bonding, T-Bun!

I’ll definitely be starting from scratch with my buns. They are trying to fight through the gates again, which hasn’t happened in such a long time. Hopefully they make fast progress once I start bonding.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good luck and keep us updated.

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