PROBLEM in BunnyLand!! ATTACK

[Deleted User]

My husband and I were in the other room and we heard banging sounds in their cage and we came in and they were chasing eachother and rolling and biting and just generally freaking out. I think maybe the male tried to mount the female and she wouldnt have any of it and it started a fight. I am not sure though. We separated them immediately and got them calmed down, there was some fur flying literally.

Now I am wondering if after I get them both spayed if i will be able to reintroduce them or if now it is over for good.

PRior to this they were inseparable and couldnt be apart, they cuddled constantly and groomed eachother, so I dont know. I am hoping that If i take it slow they will become acquainted again adn be okay, but any advice????

 

THanks

[Sarita]

Yes, it does sound hormonal so altering this will help. There is still hope, don’t worry. You will just want to take it slow. Have you put them together (supervised of course) since their altercation to see how they are with each other?

[Deleted User]

Not since the tussle. We are keeping astrid in the kitchen and when my husband was holding Levi and astrid saw him she ran into her little shelter and hid. So we are going to wait until morning, it is Midnight here and my husband has to work in the morning and we wanted to both be able to be there when we put them together again in case we have to separate them. So tomorrow I think we are going to reintroduce them on neutral territory and see what happens. Plus if Levi is mounting her I am going to keep them separate till she is fixed and healed so we dont contribute to the bunny population.  Hopefully they will be friends again.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Wow I am so sorry to hear about the tussle. Bunnies, even if bonded can and do fight, althought in this case I think it is hormonally related. My two used to have an annual fight for no apparent reason, and now, with the NIC cage and different floors they have not (crossing my fingers) had a fight much like you mentioned with your two. What I had to do when it happened was separate them but swtich them between the cages every day so they didn’t get too territorial about their space and they would be open to another bunny being there. Otherwise, you run the risk of them becoming unbonded and have to start from square one. Are their any open wounds at all? If there are, keep them time apart until completely healed. Make sure you clean the wound with a diluted peroxide mixture (some places in europe will only sell it this way) and use some ointment like A & D or non-pain relief oinment like Neosporin. They can get infected quite easily so extra caution is needed with bunnies. It will also take a very close inspection, what I do is blow on their fur all over to see if there are wounds under all their dense fur. The prime spots are usually on the butt and sides like the shoulders and hips.

[Sarita]

Let us know how it goes tomorrow. Mounting is okay as long as Astrid doesn’t get upset. Just make sure that you leave the bonding on a positive note – maybe a treat or pet for both if they are being good. Astrid will need at least a week of cage healing time after her spay and really it’s good to limit exercise time for Levi after his neuter too – even though it’s not as invasive it is surgery.

[Deleted User]

Yeah, I checked them over as much as I could, my husband checked Levi, who has white fur and is not nearly as furry as astrid and he didnt see any open wounds just a spot of really red red skin that was a little less furry… Astrid we checked as much as we could but she has been really skittish since the fight and since I had to create a makeshift home for her I am trying to let her get calmed down, I picked her up and checked all around her tail and belly and didnt see any wounds but she is also molting -dont know if that is the right word…and so she has been shedding a lot of this wispy fur stuff, so I am hoping maybe that is why it seemed like a bit more of her fur than Levi’s was about. I appreciate the wound advice, if I see any I will def. use the peroxide water mixture but so far it looks ok. The reintroduction will begin tomorrow. I got a stuffed animal and put some of levi’s fur in it, and kind of let me touch it and stuff and put it in the kitchen with Astrid and she kind of threw it and then wouldn’t go near it…Tomorrow we will reintroduce them. Hopefully all goes well.

Maybe I can switch them from kitchen to cage and so they can share the cage for now or something. We were planning on building a new better enclosure for them, maybe with an x pen or with the NIC, so maybe that will make things better since they will both get to start on fresh turf after they are all spayed and adjusted.

[Scarlet_Rose]

You’re welcome! Regrettably I have experience in this area.  It sounds like you have a great plan! Good luck!

[Gravehearted]

attacks like that are very stressful on everyone. thank goodness they were no open wounds. my guess is it may be the start of their hormones going, I really would consider keeping them separated, since they can get pregnant as young as 3 months and only one time and you can have a litter of babies 31 days later.

[Deleted User]

Yeah I have them separated now, but i am afraid that it could be too late and I am worried now. I hope she is not pregnant…I did not intend to add to the bunny population. I am looking at the calendar and we got them on the 27th of september and the pet store lady said that he was 5 weeks and she was like 8 weeks but they were not positve on her age….so looking at a calendar the boy should only be like 8 weeks this week, so I am hoping that he is not quire sexually mature and I have them separated now. WIll the vet be ableto tell if she is pregnant or do they do like sonograms.. Gosh I feel so silly i have no concept on bunny pregnancy though I hear they are quite common sadly.

[BinkyBunny]

oye gosh, sure hope she’s not prego. Let us know. If you find out they are the same sex or, either way, you plan on getting them spayed/neutered, then when you are ready to start having the meet up again, then start with a full bonding process. Check out the bonding section here and also in the links section on this site and check out the Bonding section for even more tips.

[MsBinky]

I was actually going to ask about pregnancy.

My Wiggles got really irritated with Bam-Bam and would really fight him bad if he tried anything. It took a few days before I caught on. (He was neutered but I didn’t wait long enough to reintroduce him to her) Anyway, she lunged at me after I startled her. That’s when I knew. Wiggles never ever once lunged at me before. Never.  So yeah, sorry to say it, but you will need to keep that in mind. I don’t suggest people even attempt bonding two of the opposite sex before they are altered. Too often it results in pregnancy. Plus, did you get your boy from the pet shop? Cause sometimes they are off by a few weeks. Either way, them being separated but close to each other won’t hurt anyone. Have them altered and then you can bond them properly. I re-bonded mine after the whole ordeal.

[hockeygurly17]

I’d say that after they are fixed, you should be able to reintroduce them. I would give it a try and just keep an eye on them.

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