Random Fighting?

[Moo <3]

Hi all,

I have two rabbits, both male, both neutered, both happy and healthy at the moment. When we rescued Ewok, the rescue had told us that bonding him to Moo would be harder based on their date. But, we took Ewok home anyway, as we had all fell in love. The bonding had surprisingly taken a total time of 2 weeks until they were both running free roam in their room together. A little while after being completely bonded, the two got into a disagreement one night, as I found tuffs of fur on the ground the next morning. For awhile, I thought Moo had been especially sensitive to smell, in a way that whenever he would smell another bunny, they soon got into a fight. (I volunteer at a rabbit rescue, so I have to be extra careful to discard any clothes and shower before interacting with the buns. They had been madly in love for months, snuggles and kisses, before yesterday, I came home to yet again another disagreement that ended in lots of fur-pulling. 

I’m wondering if anyone has any insight on these mishaps, and if/how I can prevent it the best way I can. In the past, Moo has had several GI related issues, and I’d hate for the disagreements to stress him out too much. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

[Mikey]

How long was Ewok in your house before you bonded him? Likewise, how long did you do prebonding? If you went right into bonding without letting him relax and without prebonding, he had no time to relax and adjust to his surroundings which caused a false bond. He faked it until he made it so to speak. Once he started to feel comfortable in his new home, fighting broke out as they have not properly been bonded. They continue to fight on and off because theyre still not properly bonded.

If you did go through letting him have two weeks to adjust and then atleast one month of prebonding after before starting actual bonding sessions, I would assume that bonding sessions were not cemented. They fight because they still struggle with who is alpha over the other.

[Moo <3]

Ewok came home, and we waited 2 weeks before beginning the bonding sessions. They have been bonded for close to a year, and every time they get into a disagreement, I continue with several bonding sessions with no trouble from either of them, so I do not believe the problem is how they were bonded.

[Mikey]

It means their bond is not cemented How did you bond them?

[Moo <3]

I started out having sessions in the bathtub. After many successful sessions, we moved to the bathroom floor. I would sit in the bathroom with them for hours, and they would groom and relax by one another. I then moved to a pen and gradually expanded the pen size until they were free roam in an entire room.

I talked to the founder of the rescue where we got Ewok from, and she agrees that smell plays a role in these disagreements. I will look into other options, thank you.

[Author]

Messages