Switch in dominance…? What to do?

[supertaylor16]

I have two spayed, female rabbits that I adopted as a bonded pair from the San Diego Humane Society about two and a half years ago.  They’re almost 3 years old, and they’re Californian sisters named Matilda and Collette.  For the most part, they’ve lived a happy, spoiled, and harmonious life together.  Matilda established herself as dominant bunny soon after I adopted them and they’ve been fine with that arrangement up until now.  The only problems they ever had with each other was last spring when Matilda got sick, and in my ignorance I took her to the vet without her sister.  They had quite a spat when Matilda got home but after numerous car rides, a complete re-arrangement of their living quarters, and de-scenting everything (including each other), I was able to get them re-bonded with Matilda being dominant bunny once again. 

Alas, the harmony has been disturbed.

 

Collette has decided she wants a turn at top bunny.  About 5 days ago, they were out playing and I saw Collette mount Matilda.  This wound up in a short-lived chase around the apartment with Matilda doing the chasing.  Obviously she didn’t want to be challenged for her rank and I thought the chase put an end to Collette being weird.  I was very, very wrong.  Collette has stopped trying to mount Matilda, but she’s been doing everything else in the book regarding dominance behavior and I’m pretty sure the flip in hierarchy has been achieved.  I don’t mind Collette being dominant, but she’s exhibiting behavior that I never saw Matilda do as top bunny and it’s getting pretty annoying.

Collette is on a serious power trip.  When Matilda wants to eat hay, Collette follows her into the litterbox that the hay rack is under and nips her on the sides/butt until Matilda gets out, all the while circling and spraying Matilda.  She does the same thing when Matilda wants to get a drink.  When the’yre out playing, Collette is glued to Matilda, demanding attention by circling and spraying Matilda.  I’ve given up on worrying about pee on the carpet and I just clean it up once they’re back in their x-pen for the night.  Matilda can’t do anything without Collette pestering her for attention.  I’ve actually begun getting Collette out of their x-pen when I see Matilda going for the hay or water and sticking her up on the couch with me.

I know that’s all part of determining hierarchy so I’ve tried to stay out of it and let them work it out.  What I’m worried about is Collette being so territorial about the hay/water.  I’m thinking about doing the same thing I did last spring, where I completely re-arranged their living quarters and de-scented everything that they might have marked.  Yet I don’t know if this will make the problem worse because I feel like Collette might be inclined to over-mark the new, “neutral” territory.  They still seem completely bonded because there’s grooming on both their parts and I haven’t seen any aggression whatsoever.

Any advice/suggestions/comments would be MUCH appreciated.  I am a very confused bunny mom.

 

 

[Beka27]

wow. i don’t have any experience with broken bonds. i think a rearrangement in living space might be worth a shot. can you put another litterbox and hay in their area so they each can have their own?

[MarkBun]

A second litter box might help. If you can be close enough so that when Collette begins her dominance act, you push her head down onto the floor and say “No” – try to become the dominate one yourself.

[supertaylor16]

They have 3 litterboxes in their x-pen, one of which is used only as a bed (they don’t use it as a bathroom).  I’ve been washing the litterboxes with dish soap every few days and I’ve been “dominating” Collette by pushing her head to the ground whenever she starts being super-tyrranical.  I’ve noticed that the behavior isn’t quite as out of hand as it was a few days ago, but the rug under their x-pen is completely splattered with pee due to Collette’s spraying.  Yuck.

I’ve been in contact with the San Diego House Rabbit Society.  We’ve been emailing back and forth and I guess I did everything they could suggest before I even presented the problem to them.  The woman that I’ve been in contact with specifically is the president of the San Diego House Rabbit Society chapter, and she said that she would discuss this with her educators and see if they might have any ideas.  She did mention one thing, though – she said that Matilda might be ill and Collette is sensing it, hence her overwhelming “need” to dominate. 

Matilda seems perfectly healthy… eating, drinking, running around, and trying to go about normal life even though Collette is being such a nut.  I made both of them a vet appointment for Monday afternoon, so we’ll see what happens.  Thanks for the advice!

[Beka27]

oooh. i did not think about that. that could make sense tho. rabbits, as prey animals, need to hide illness, so us humans don’t always see there is something wrong until it’s very wrong… keep us updated please.

[supertaylor16]

I will definitely update after their doctor’s appointment.  Matilda is getting pretty fed up with Collette’s antics and there’s a lot of loud chasing late at night.  There’s a couple of things that I’ve noticed in this very strange situation. 

1. Collette is expressing dominance in every way except mounting Matilda.  Any time she looks like she’s getting ready to mount, Matilda grunts at her and chases her away.

2. Collette used to be pretty shy and kind of aloof – very skeptical of everything and everyone.  Now it’s like she’s got tunnel vision, where all she sees is Matilda and nothing can get in her way.  Collette even came over to me and chinned my toe last night.

3. When Collette is after Matilda, Matilda will wag her tail at Collette.  I did some research on the tail-wagging last night and it’s supposed to be like back-talk, kind of like Matilda is saying, “So? I don’t care. You can’t make me.”

What’s really weird is that I’m still seeing some signs of dominance from Matilda, like nipping Collette in the sides/butt and chasing her away if she’s getting too crazy.  Collette will completely exhaust herself with this severely overwhelming need to dominate, so I’ve been making her go on “time-out” sessions when they’re out running around.  They both must be utterly pooped.  I get tired just watching them like a hawk when they’re out.

Since the rug under their x-pen is so covered in urine, I’m going to get a new one today along with a bunch of cheap towels that I can put over it and change out every night.  Their current rug is getting trashed.  Gross.

I will update soon.

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