Now he bit her…

[KytKattin]

Okay, so my two love eachother when they are outside or even just out of their respective cages. They sit very close, groom eachother like crazy, and generally look like they are in love. When one hops away, the other will follow. I’ve been switching them back and forth between their cages, giving them plenty of together time out of their pens, and praising them for behaving so well. But whenever they are both in the same cage, the one it belongs to gets defensive! I honestly didn’t think that Hubble had it in him to rip out fur, but he obviously can in his own territory! Short of demolishing Nova’s cage and building a new one I don’t see them living together. Are my two doomed to date for the rest of their lives? Is their territorialness caused by their size/breeds?

[MimzMum]

I would think it would be lingering scent and the familiarity of the cage for whoever the owner is. I know that when I finally get Mimzy and Pip bonded, it means a whole new setup for them…since I think neutral territory is key.
Perhaps one of the forum leaders could advise how best to proceed from here?

[MooBunnay]

Generally, when a couple is completely bonded, you have to build them a new cage altogether for them to move into, so that the cage does not belong to one or the other. It would be very difficult to move both of them into one cage or the other, so I would recommend building a completely new cage for them to move into, and eventually disassemble their current cages.

[KytKattin]

Urgh, darn rabbits! I can’t really make a new cage in a different spot, nor do I have materials to make a new cage for Nova and Hubble. I can’t reconfigure it either, as it’s in a hard to fit place and the linoleum is already cut to fit anyways. I don’t have a spare cage in order to move Nova out for a little while and kill off all of her smells. Should I just take apart her cage, bomb it with vinegar, and put it back together again with both of them in it?

[MooBunnay]

Since you’ve only got one area – I’d recommend your option of taking it apart cleaning it with vinegar and putting it back together. If they are grooming each other all the time it sounds like they are pretty well bonded, but you may need to set up a temporary area for them to stay in while you are making sure they get along in the new cage.

In addition to cleaning the cage with vinegar, I think you should try to really clean the linoleum, and get some new cheap throw rugs (from Ikea, or Big Lots or some discount place) to throw on the floor so they don’t recognize the smell. Also, I’d really recommend new litterboxes. A cheap way to get a new litterbox is to go to Target in the area where they have all the rubbermaid bins and use on of those instead of an actual “litterbox.”

[Author]

Messages