Posted By Talkal on 9/02/2018 11:14 PM
I really need some support right now. I’ve had a 2 year old neutered male rex named Gizmo since last October. About 6 weeks ago, I brought home an unspayed female rabbit as a companion for him since I’m out of the house more and more. Pepper was about 4 months when I got her, so I didn’t expect them to bond before her surgery. I did a few bonding sessions that went about as well as expected but over time, they got more comfortable with each other. I moved Pepper’s cage to the living room and eventually she went free roam as their bond grew naturally and she had good litter habits. They were grooming and cuddling Gizmo seemed genuinely happier and more energetic. I knew I would probably have to start rebonding after her surgery (which is in about 2 weeks) but I was happy to see them enjoying each other’s company until then.
Well, when I went to get Pepper at the pet store, there was an adorable netherland dwarf named Loki who had been twice returned by owners who claimed she was aggressive. In reality, she’s a young unspayed doe, and so was exhibiting typical behaviours, such as biting and lunging. The second owners also let their 2 year old play with her and, of course, the child got bit. The parents returned her to the store. I was so shocked because I went to visit the store a few more times to get supplies and would pick her up and pet her and she was so sweet and affectionate. I fell in love with her and wanted to take her home. I asked the store if they could hold her until Pepper’s surgery was over, as I knew having two unspayed young females in one space would be difficult. They said the surgery date was too far and they couldn’t keep her for me. So last week I went ahead and brought her home. I planned on keeping her away from the other two until Pepper’s surgery. When Loki came home, neither bun really seemed to notice. They were relaxing in the living room as usual.
I don’t know why, but I decided to bring Loki down to their level and let them sniff each other, just to get used to her smell. BIG MISTAKE! HUGE! I feel like such a dummy. I held Loki in my arms and as Pepper was approaching, Gizmo jumped down from a box and accidentally grazed Pepper. Normally, this would’ve been fine, but I guess the timing was bad as Pepper completely flipped out and attacked Gizmo. I quickly stashed Loki in her cage in my room and split the two. Things calmed down after that and they were back to cuddling so I just chalked it up to bad timing. However, Pepper immediately began spraying and pooping everywhere! Marking her territory. I tried to retrain her, clean up her mess, spray everything down…nothing worked. She’s now in an x-pen in the living room. I figured I could let her out for a few hours a day to get some exercise and cuddle with Gizmo and I would just deal with the mess. However, for about 2 days now, Pepper and Gizmo have been viciously fighting. I think Gizmo misses her, because he keeps going up to her pen and trying to groom her through the bars. But as soon as she’s out, she gets scared and runs away from him or turns around and attacks. They’ll be moments of peace, but as soon as I leave the room, Gizmo starts chasing her and they fight. I’m not sure if Pepper was just too nippy and he had enough, or if they’re trying to mount each other. And the thing is, they have the option of being in different rooms but they choose to stay together, even when they fight. I can tell Pepper is more relaxed in the x-pen, and Gizmo is hanging out right next to her but I want her to be able to go out and get some exercise. And I’m afraid all this fighting is going to lead them to hating each other and ruin any potential for a bond.
I’m really stressed and heartbroken about this. I just wanted Gizmo to have friends and give Pepper and Loki a happy home, but I feel like I messed it up by making bad decisions. And now Pepper and Loki are both going to be spayed in 2 weeks and I’m hoping that fixes things. I dunno, I just need to know that someone else has gone through something like this, or what to do in the next few weeks.
There’s a few things you’ve done wrong here. Not trying to shame you, just inform you so you know what to avoid next time. First things first, you must always let rabbits settle before beginning bonding. As A&B said, if bunny isn’t comfortable in his or her surroundings, they are not going to act themselves. A lot of people make the mistake of bonding immediately and then once the new bun has gained comfort and confidence, they act out/strive for dominance which can be dangerous and a scuffle (or worse) ensues. So, do make sure you let everybun settle away from each other (separate rooms if poss) for at least a month.
You definitely mustn’t bond a neutered bun with an unspayed bun (or vice versa) This is because once the youngest reaches sexual maturity, there is a strong urge to mate and defend their territory. A neutered bun can react to the presence of hormones in the other and will basically act as though he hasn’t been neutered. Hormonal rabbits can be verrry dangerous and unpredictable too!
When you introduce bunnies, it must be after careful pre bonding for at least a month and must always be in neutral territory. So no more bringing one bun into the other’s territory.
What I would suggest is splitting up everybun, in separate rooms so that they can all settle in and forget that they’ve fought. I would keep them like this for a month at least. Get the 2 newest buns spayed and neutered. You can move them all in to the same room at this point and start pre bonding. You should pre bond for at least a month but you also need to wait for their hormones to disipate. Once you’ve sufficiently pre bonded, you can do a physical introduction but it must be somewhere that no bun has been. We can help advise further once you get to that point but as you see, you’ve got a while yet.
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