Returned home to a bunny war zone!

[3buncc]

I have 3 house rabbits – Stella (5, female), George (4, male) and Moss (3 1/2, male). Both Stella & George are heavily bonded with Moss but they’ve never really liked each other, they were in separate cages for most or all of the time for about 9 months after we brought George home from the rescue place.

We tolerated their slight scuffles up until now, we went away for the weekend and had friends popping in to feed them twice a day. Their last visit was 11am on Sunday, and when we returned at 7pm on Sunday it was literally a war zone. 

It look as though half of Stella’s fur had been torn out and was all over the floor. After inspection, we found George with a slightly bloody nose and Stella with a bite mark on her butt, a couple of scratches and a very bloody nose. Moss was totally fine. They’ve been separated ever since (Stella in the cage, George free range and Moss gets half a day with each) but we now have to start the bonding process again.

Does anyone have any tips? I feel like we’ve tried everything but it’s getting really stressful, we can’t bear the thought of giving either bun up as they’re both rescues in the first place!

We were going to pop all three in the cat box over night with food and water, and keep them next to the bed. The other issue is that George doesn’t really react to loud noises or the squirt bottle so it’s hard to get him to stop winding her up!

Please help!

[Bam]

That must’ve been a chock to come home to!
I personally have no good experience with bonding, but from what I’ve read, the cat-crate sounds good provided you keep them so close to you that you can’t miss it if they start to fight. I do have some personal experience with fighting bunnies and that can get pretty nasty..

I hope other members will see this and offer advice. We have had stories of difficult bondings here that have been successful in the end. Please look around in the bonding section for storys and info.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

How big is their home/cage? I feel like loosely bonded rabbits could do well free range, but in a small area- if they get into it and feel trapped it could really escalate.

I wouldn’t recommend rattling or spray bottles-never used them successfully. A cup of water might shock them into stopping a scuffle but a spray is mildly annoying and they could easily associate the annoyance with the buddy you are trying to bond them with.

I can understand wanting to keep them close, but can they be free range in the bedroom? A small crate and hurt feelings seems like a recipe for a fight.

Use a blowdrier on cool to check for wounds-their fur is thick and it’s hard to see. If fur is missing you could have wounds to treat. I wouldn’t do anything bonding wise until you’re sure they are all ok

I’m not the most experienced bonder, but if it were me, I would seperate all three for a week or so, to let hurt feelings mend, then start from scratch at bonding use stress methods (car, bathtub, drier) and then reconnect them in a bigger space, with lots of hidey holes, tunnels etc, -really rearrange their home. (I’d do that to make sure they can run/hide if they are getting upset, but also to make sure no one has a favorite corner, or a scuffle over a good view that they laid claim to before-rearranging means they need to sort out how they move around the home again). Does that make sense? No pressure to follow what I said-just what I would try.

[3buncc]

Thanks for your replies. We always leave the flat open for the buns but they rarely leave the living room, it’s probably about 5m x 5m. We also have an indoor cage (170cm I think) which is normally always open but closed at the moment to house the murderous Stella!

I’ve read quite a few blogs that say to keep them in a small space to force them to interact, we didn’t do the cat basket in the end (in had been left in the rain ) but I did spend about an hour with all 3 in the bath. When they are close together there’s hardly any trouble at all. We kept them apart for 3 days apart from feeding time as they seem to share the nugget bowl quite well.

Today I tried leaving the cage open again and it was back to boxing almost straight away. I don’t think that there is one particular culprit, they are as bad as each other!

[vanessa]

I’d first separate them and allow them to heal completely. As long as George and Moss are still fine with eachother, I’d leave them together. But Stella and George need to heal. They also need a time out from eachother their feelings to heal. At least a week. Maybe two. I’d keep up the dates between Stella and Moss so none of the existing bonds are broken. Then I’d try some stress bonding, and small areas. I used car rides in a cat carrier, and vacuum cleaners int he bedroom. Some bunnies though – are not scared of car rides or vacuums. There are various options for stress bonding. A box on the spin cycle of a washer, being carried around in a crate. That sounds like a really huge fight. The other option – is to keep Stella as a single bunny. Although that would suck for Stella and Moss.

[3buncc]

Thanks again for the advice. George and Stella have been on holiday from each other for nearly 2 weeks now, with Moss swapping custody for dawn & dusk! We’re going to try and introduce them again on Sunday but we’ve been working with substitutes, I think it’s been going very well as they’ve been reacting strongly to the cuddly toys, each time they are switched over we get lots of claiming and grooming.

I’ll let you know how it goes, I am feeling positive for the first time in months

[vanessa]

Holding thumbs for you.

[Author]

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