reposted – bonded bunnies fighting

[Gravehearted]

Heather  Charlotte NC  Posts: 1

04/20/2008 7:06 PM [script removed]Alert  Hi all – I’m new and have really enjoyed the great info on the site.  We did research before getting our two buns, Favre and Lola.  They have bonded (I thought)   Both spayed and have lived happily together for the last few months.  Today while we were out they had an all our hissy fit fight.  When we returned home there was fur everywhere!  They even crashed pen the door into the bunny proof room and were on the loose – more fur everywhere.  Is this normal?  Added info – their cage was too small.  We had started a new cube condo yesterday, and finished it today.  (Loved te galley for ideas)  Was their space too small?  They were given a bit too much kale over the last few days.  Could that make them cranky?  Lola lowers her head to Favre as if to say – “Groom me – and I mean NOW”.  From what I can tell she is more dominant.  We can’t tell who lost the most fur, but Favre has a small mark on his ipper lip.  Any help you can offer would be appreciated. As long as I’m here…what is a safe cover to use on the shelves in the condo?  I dont want their feet t slide up there, but want to be sure they are safe.  PS – i know I keep saying “he” for Favre and I stated they were both females.  We were told he was a male, but were surprised by the true bun vet to learn he was a female when we took them in for spay/neuter.  We were in the habit of treating Favre as a “he”, and it stuck.        Be the change you want to see in the world.

[Gravehearted]

hi Heather – for some reason your post was showing up twice and when i went in to delete it – it was gone 🙁 So – i have reposted it for you – sorry about that!

Hmm – well some bonds do break and it sounds like if there was a bunny brawl today it would be best to separate them and work with them to re-bond them. You are likely going to have to start over from square one – there’s a helpful bonding section here on the site too.

It’s not really clear why bonds break – but it can be from taking one bunny into the vet and leaving the other home, a health issue or other stressors. I would recommend getting them both checked out to make sure they are healthy too, since illness can cause once harmonious bunnies to break up.

I personally have coroplast on the floor of my NIC condo. you can buy it at sign shops or on ebay and it’s great since it’s easy to clean up with some vinegar water spay.

[Gravehearted]

bumped up to get some more responses

[MarkBun]

It is possible that they just had an off day. Sometimes a bun takes an insult to what another does, and then that one doesn’t back down when the other gets a little aggressive. are they still going at it regularly or was this an once in a time chance? If you have seperated them, you should immediately put them back together again. Seperation is the quickest way to begin to dissolve a bond. If they are hopping immediately to one another to begin fighting, then you’ll need to start the bonding process over again.

[Heather Pahl]

I have a lot to tell you, but every time I post – it posts twice   ….uhgggg  When I delete the extra post I lose both of them??!!!!

[rabbitsmba]

Have there been any recent changes in your place? Company visiting, another animal around? It’s not uncommon for a bonded pair to turn on each other during times of stress.

I have two bonded pairs that need to live separately because the females from each bond HATE each other. When I lived in my small one-bedroom condo, there were times where I would have a barrier at the bedroom door and the two girls would square off and try to get at each other. Then, when their repective mates came by, they would turn and attack them, out of pure frustration.

Another time I had an unspayed foster in the bathroom for a few days and one of my little girls went BALLISTIC over her scent and actually ended up breaking up with her boyfirend. Once the foaster was gone, it took a week of living separately before she would accept him again.

So any sort of change or stress can cause a riff between a bonded pair. From what you describe, it sounds like they still have some dominance issues to sort out so maybe that is it? Is the fighting constant or was it a one-time thing?

[Heather Pahl]

It was a one time event – and they have been together in their new condo since Sunday night.  I think their little cage was just too small for two growing buns.  Now they have space to stretch out – two levels even.

[Neph]

Hey Heather!

It seems you already have the problem solved, but I just wanted to let you know that the same thing happened to me before with my two boys. They were perfectly boned too but sometimes all of the sudden there was WAR! And I mean war, there was fur flying and a few times they nipped each other (and me trying to seperate them) pretty badly. I never knew what caused this, but it was so bad that I had to seperate them for up to a few weeks. But after that time they would always get back to being best buddies, I just had to give them some time. This happened about 3 or 4 times during the 8 years they lived together but they always came back around. So if this ever happens again, don’t give up hope ok? I had been told by people that they would never bond again after this but they always proofed them wrong

[Heather Pahl]

They have been fine together, but today I noticed Lola has a rather large skin sore where Favre pulled out a chunk of fur during the fight.  In anyone’s experience, does it just clse up and fur grows back, or will t need a bit of bunny ointment to heal? 

[Gravehearted]

well – is there a boo-boo like red or irritated?

[Heather Pahl]

I check her every day and it isn’t red or weeping, so now it’s just a large bald spot with a fairly big scab.  I check it a few times every day – but I think she’ll be okay.  Favre licks it a bit, but it seems to be healing.  My husband laughs and says I’m really into this rabbit thing…  I never thought I would get so attached, or build a three story condo, or read so much about fiber in hay, or bunny junk food, or hunt for the perfect pine cone…  I love those silly rabbits.  Every day when we play Lola licks my nose   it’s love….

[BinkyBunny]

Just keep an eye on the scap and make sure it doesn’t become infected. If it raises up or you can feel a swelling underneath then it could be turning into an abscess. So just keep an eye on it to make sure it is healing properly. The hair usually does grow back – can take a few weeks.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

You can put polysporin or neosporin on minor cuts like that. Also diluted peroxide if you have that on hand.

My girls are the best of friends. They bonded in literally an instant. When Kokanee was sick with poopy bum for a while (she is always the dominant one) Kahlua started humping her all the time! (I was soooo mad at her) and Kokanee was really really upset, she was growling and boxing but couldn’t get away from Kahlua. It was upsetting. As soon as Kokanee was better, she reasserted herself and Kahlua got it back ten fold. I don’t observe fighting from them other then that (luckily) but that was hard to go through. Kokanee getting well again, and Kahlua getting spayed cleared it up!

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