Potential Bullying

[Katie]

     So I’ve had my male rabbit Reggie for the past 4 years (I rescued him at a year old making him 5ish years old now). He’s about 7.5lbs and I don’t know his breed, the humane society said American but they say that for almost all their rabbits. Last year I had the funds to finally get him a companion and we went speed dating he chose a small lionhead-lop mix brownie. Brownie is the same age as him, which was awesome, though she is only about 4lbs, so much smaller then he is. She is very docile which was good because he has a very dominant personality. They have been bonded for almost a year, they were never “in love” bonded but more of a platonic friendship bonded, they don’t often sleep together but they do cuddle and groom each other…

     I’m starting to worry that Reggie is bullying his smaller friend. There hasn’t been any fighting (like I said Brownie is very docile). But whenever I let them out of the cage (XL dog crate with a shelf for a second level) Reggie comes out immediately and Brownie comes out for short periods of time, but then Reggie will approach her and follow her around and she’ll run back inside the cage. I hesitate to say chase because he doesn’t follow her at high speeds, but he does follow her. They eat together fine and relax around each other, but Brownie seems reluctant to spend time outside of the cage with him.. is this something I should be concerned about? how would I go about fixing this possible bullying behavior? I worry about Brownie because she’s so small and docile.

[DanaNM]

Hmmm, sometimes bonded pairs will go through some periods where they reestablish their dominance.

When he follows her, are his ears forward or back? Tail up or down? Ears forward and tail down means he wants to mount. Ears back and tail up is aggressive.

First I would rule out a medical problem with one of them. Sometimes one isn’t feeling well, and it affects their bond. With Bertha and Moose, when Moose was having dental problems, Bertha would chase and bully him a bit (sad, right?) because he wasn’t being as affectionate towards her.

Do they still cuddle and groom a lot? Has there been an uptick in marking outside their box?

Ruling out medical issues, the next thing I would do is “couples therapy”, which means doing some stress bonding sessions with them, and maybe even a marathon in a neutral space to re-cement them.

. . . 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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