Possibly broken bond

[LySt]

We adopted 2 very young male rabbits in March of 2009 (Cocoa and Midnight), brothers that already were bonded and up until a month ago they basically got along fine with only occasional skirmishes. This occurred despite having a female mini-lop for 4 years with another one adopted shortly after the first one went to the Rainbow Bridge last year. We keep the female away from the 2 brothers and, outside of an initial establishment of a “pecking order” back in May 2009 after we brought the first mini-lop home and it became obvious Cocoa was the dominate one, this arrangement has worked flawlessly. Cocoa would bully Midnight from time to time but Midnight “knew his place” and usually any power-plays were short-lived. The brothers have their own room and were given the run of the living room and dining room of our home during the night.

Things changed about 3 weeks ago after our female mini-lop loitered outside of the 2 baby-gates we have at Cocoa-Midnight’s room entrance. Usually Cocoa would be at the gate and chase off Midnight and we’d shoo our gal away ASAP and that was that but this time Cocoa and Midnight had a bad fight and fought again several times shortly afterwards. Cocoa, the bully, got some nasty gashes and had to take antibiotics for 2 weeks. During that time there were no fights and we figured things were back to normal but on the very night Cocoa was given his last dose of antibiotics (last Friday, the 11th) they fought. They fought again on Sunday evening and then again last night. All the fights occurred when they were in their room and their nightly jaunts were without incident, including last night.

We decided to keep them separated today and have them in 2 exercise pens in their room pending the construction of 2 cages this weekend. It’s obvious that their bond is in a very precarious state but we have no experience in this sort of thing. We are thinking of keeping them separated during the day and evening up until their overnight freedom and see if they continue to get along outside of their room.

My question is this:

Should we even have them interact at first? Both have groomed the other after the fights so the bond isn’t completely ruptured. If we let them out (and together) during the night they would still be separated for 17-some hours. Since the fighting began someone has slept on the living room couch so any potential fight wouldn’t last long.

We believe that the reason for the distressing change in events is Midnight is no longer willing to play second-fiddle to his “alpha” brother and we realize they may never get back to where they were…but we’d like to try. Any suggestions are most welcome!

[Sarita]

They’ve been together for such a long time…why would you think the reason is that Midnight is no longer willing to play second-fiddle? Just curious.

As for your question, I think what I would do is see how they do act when you put them back together – are they distrustful and fighting or are they okay with each other – I guess my answer is, you don’t know unless you try. If they are going after one another then I would try bonding again in a neutral territory if you have that.

[LySt]

Midnight’s “body-language” relative to Cocoa doesn’t appear to be the same as it was through the years. Midnight seems willing to fight rather than defer to the alpha Cocoa.

I’ll keep everyone posted on what happens tonight.

[LySt]

Yesterday during an early-evening trip to the vet (to double-check for injuries from their last fight) where both of them shared a carrier there was mutual grooming. As it turned out Midnight had a pretty nasty gash under his shoulder we missed that requires a week of antibiotics. When we returned both Cocoa and Midnight were put back in their respective pens until their overnight freedom.

We let both out around 11 PM and were pleased to see mutual grooming for 15 minutes or so in the dining room where we have a litter box . Both then laid beside each other and the night was blessedly uneventful.

Today both will remain in their pens again with the overnight freedom/mingling. I’m not sure how long we’ll do this but if they can continue to get along we’ll likely start to have them interact more often and keep our fingers crossed. 

[LySt]

Cocoa and Midnight fought last night during their nightly freedom in the living room/dining room so we will keep them apart for awhile (at least a week, maybe longer) and alternate letting them out solo to get some exercise. When we do have them interact, we will either try it in their bedroom (which a person from the Animal Rescue League said would be OK, she thinks the scent of the female mini-lop is the catalyst) or in a new place like our basement.

What makes this situation frustrating is both have laid beside one another and spent a lot of time grooming during the last several nights when together, so it’s not like they don’t get along at all. That makes a typical bonding protocol which deals with 2 buns just making their acquaintance less applicable here. We are not even sure of how long to keep both separate or whether to do their initial interactions after this separation period in their room or a truly “neutral” place where they haven’t been.

[JackRabbit]

I agree that your female is likely what set them off. If it were me, I would try going through the bonding process with them over again (more like speed bonding!) and do some stress bonding whenever you see any aggression during the process. Sometimes a girl can upset even the best of friends when it comes to guys!

[LySt]

Thanks for the reply JackRabbit. We knew that we going against conventional wisdom when we let Cocoa and Midnight out into our “main rooms” where the female mini-lop (Nilla) spends her day but it seemed to be working…until it didn’t.  We will try what you suggested regarding “speed-bonding” our two brothers. 

We will post updates as events occur. Once again, all input would be greatly appreciated while we deal with this heart-breaking situation. 

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