Two Young Sisters Fighting After Spay

[M&R]

Hi everyone! I just joined because I find this site & the forums to be very informative and I’ve recently run into a problem with the rabbits I adopted about 3 months ago.
They are lionhead mixes, sisters. I adopted them when they were about 2 months old and on May 22 they will be 5 months old. They have always been together, living in the same hutch which is very large as I built it myself. They were spayed almost 3 weeks ago (on April 17). They both had really rocky recoveries. Both opened their incisions twice and ended up having to wear both a medi shirt and a cone. This morning I finally was able to take the cone off of Meadow (much more submissive rabbit) but I had to leave the cone on Rain (dominant rabbit) as she still had a scab that hadn’t come off yet.
I had never once seen them fight before this so I was shocked when I came home after work and saw fur chunks EVERYWHERE in the hutch. Rain was happily hopping around on the bottom level of the hutch without her cone and Meadow was on the upper level of the hutch hiding in their little castle. I immediately checked Rain’s spay incision and saw she had ripped off the scab and there was a little bit of an open wound where her spay incision was. I set her down then ran upstairs to get the carrier so I could separate them. By the time I got back downstairs Meadow had come down to greet me and as soon as she got close to the door, Rain went at her and they were circling until I said “stop” in a loud stern voice. I quickly took Rain out and put her in the carrier and then inspected both for injuries. Both were fine, just missing a couple patches of fur.
After this happened and I got their initial cage they lived in before the hutch set up to put Rain in so they could be separated, I read a lot and it seems it’s common for rabbits that have always been together to become suddenly unbounded once spayed. So for now Meadow is residing in the big hutch and Rain is residing in the cage with her cone back on so her incision wound can heal. The hutch and the cage are side by side. The vet never suggested separating them to heal so I didn’t do that. This is the first time they have ever been separated. I am going on vacation in two days for one week and my mom (who isn’t super animal-savvy) is caring for them. I figured I’d probably have to wait a week, or until Rain is at least fully healed, to start a rebonding process with them anyway but I’m shocked because they’re still so young.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me or reassurance that I’m doing the right thing? I feel awful that this is such bad timing and I won’t be here for an entire week right after this has happened.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read!

[OnyxMoon]

Before rabbits hit puberty, they don’t really have much of an opinion and they’re personalities haven’t “developed” fully. So most of the time kits (baby buns) don’t fight. But when hormones become a thing, their territorial instincts kick in and they will fight to the death.

Separating them is the best thing to do, and should have been done before the spay. But this is a common thing that happens with new owners who buy pairs.

After spaying/neutering, hormones remain in the body for about a month after (sometimes longer). So separating after the surgery is also best, as you probably found out with their scuffle.

After you come back from your trip, begin the pre-bonding process. Every two or so days, switch them around. Put Meadow in Rains cage, and put Rain in Meadows cage. Then after another couple days, switch back. Keep doing this for about a month.

This technique gets both bunnies used to each others scents, so they become less territorial and less likely to fight each other because they feel less threatened.

After a month of cage swapping, begin introductions. Put both in a neutral space, set out maybe some hay or veggies or treats, and let them sit for about 5-10 minutes at first. If you see any signs of aggression, aka thumping, circling, grunting/growling, and full blown fighting, separate and do another week of cage swapping.

If there is no aggression, go ahead and do the 5 minute sessions for a week and slowly increase (i recommend 5 minutes at a time) the following week.

Having their cages side by side is a great idea as well, so great job on putting them next to each other!

Best of luck and keep us updated!

[M&R]

Thank you SO much. Very reassuring and informative. Will definitely keep everyone updated!

[Deleted User]

Seconding everything Onyxmoon has said Well said!

[M&R]

UPDATE:

So I came back from my trip and started swapping cages. All was good and last week so I started putting them together in a neutral space (walk in shower). They did so great so I started increasing the time day by day. This week on Monday I started letting them run around together again while I cleaned their cages every night and they were fantastic! Last night I had them out running around together for an hour. Both of their cages were open during this time so they each went into each other’s cages to sniff around and then kept on investigating the room and running around (not chasing each other or showing any signs of aggression).
Today I brought them outside for the first time together in their carrier. They went in a closed in pen for about a half hour while I watched them and they were great so I decided to put them in the same cage together (the big cage) when I brought them back in. I left them for only a half hour to fold my laundry and I came back downstairs to them fighting .
I thought it was going so great and now I’m feeling a little defeated and stupid for trusting them and leaving them unsupervised.
My plan is to go back to swapping cages but Meadow’s teeth are overgrown again and the vet has suggested just removing them so that will happen in about a week. This is making me even more cautious for future interactions between the two because Meadow won’t really have anything to protect herself with.
Any advice as to what to do?

[Sirius&Luna]

You really shouldn’t let them in their existing territory while they’re bonding, and you definitely shouldn’t move them into an existing cage. It sounds like you’re really rushing the process. It should be as follows:

– pre bond for a month
– introduce on neutral territory for 5 minutes
– slowly increase their time spent in neutral territory over the course of a few weeks, until they can spend 8 hours plus together
– monitor them for an entire night in neutral territory
– move them into semi neutral territory, and monitor again until they can spend a night together
– move them into their permanent home, which should be completely neutral (if it’s an existing hutch it should be thoroughly cleaned with vinegar, and rearranged if possible), and monitor them for 48 hours. do not leave them alone for a minute. After 48 hours of only positive behaviour you can call them bonded.

As for having no teeth and not being able to defend herself, rabbits should never be allowed to bite or fight during bonding anyway, so it shouldn’t affect bonding.

My worry is now that they’ve been allowed to fight many times, and have sustained injuries, meaning they may well not trust each other and will be very tricky to bond.

[M&R]

Thanks for your input. I am completely new to this so I appreciate you laying it all out. Do you have suggestions for neutral territory??
When I got them I built a very large hutch myself for the both of them so I don’t really have a “neutral” space unless I spend another $400 and about two months worth of time building another huge hutch which I don’t have space for. Letting them run around the house is not an option right now as they are only 5 months old and still not completely litter trained. I also have a large dog who we are very slowly working on getting used to the rabbits. The hutch is made of wood so I feel like I can only clean it so much. I do spray the floor everyday with a vinegar mixture. It would be a shame to have to throw out the hutch I made, which honestly I’m not willing to do.
I also worry because they obviously need exercise so they run around the basement separately while I hang out and clean their living spaces everyday so there are definitely a lot of factors involved – I wish it was as easy as you’ve written!

Obviously I know there is no easy fix and I know it does take time. So for now I guess I’m looking for suggestions as to what I can use as neutral space? And when they are okay in this neutral space for 48 hours, can I move them back to the original hutch I built?

Also I do want to note that they’ve only fought for a total of two times without any injury.

[OnyxMoon]

I agree with S&L, very good points.

No need to throw out the hutch you already have, neutralizing the territory with Vinegar and Water is good. I personally, (you of course don’t have to) would also make everything in the hutch new or at least clean them really good, just to make it more neutral. But first they need to be bonded. 

Bonding is a process which takes a lot of patience, time, and effort. It can be stressful for us, and especially them, but it will be so worth it in the end when you have two bonded bunnies.  Trust me, there’s nothing cuter than watching a pair of bunnies take turns grooming each other.

Neutral territory can really be anywhere neither of them have been before, or any surface they haven’t been on before. Some people use a coffee table, I’ve read that some people have even done introductions outside in a pen (weather permitting) because they didn’t have anywhere inside that’s neutral enough. Some people recommend smaller spaces and then expanding, others suggest just starting with a large space. (i think starting smaller is the better approach though)

I would recommend going back to pre-bonding for another couple weeks or even another month though, especially if they are still fighting. One thing that could help is getting them each a stuffed toy or item (i used a fluffy sock from the dollar store when i was trying to bond a trio), putting it in their cage/hutch/area with them and after a few days switch them. So Meadow has Rain’s and Rain has Meadow’s. Just make sure that they don’t have any glass/plastic pieces or eyes and aren’t made of anything toxic or anything like that. 

As for exercise; You could get them a pen each, and put the pens next to each other with a couple inches in between. That way they can both have exercise and still be near each other. I would neutralize the territory in the basement as well if you decide to put them each in pens for exercise, though. It could be a good way for them to see and smell each other, and still both get exercise. 

[Sirius&Luna]

Neutral space doesn’t need to be a brand new hutch. In fact, it’s better if it’s not an enclosed space like a hutch, so you can easily dive in and grab one if needed. Lots of people use the bathtub or bathroom floor as the neutral space. I used my kitchen table top. If you have a garden then a pen outside can work well. You can ‘neutralise’ a space, by using pen walls with a clean blanket on the floor and draped over the sides so they can’t see where they are. Or you can buy a cheap pop up pen online. The idea of ‘neutral’ is that neither has been in the space before, so neither feels possessive over it, meaning there’s one less thing for them to fight over. It also puts them both on the backfoot a bit, as they’re discovering it together.

I’m not saying you can’t move them back to the original hutch eventually, but while they’re in the bonding process, they should not be moved into non-neutral space. You can move them back to the original hutch once they’re bonded, but it needs to be thoroughly cleaned. Perhaps you could leave it outside to air as well after, so it picks up some different scents! New litter trays are a good idea too.

I would go back and do some more prebonding though, especially since Meadow has to have an op in a week. So do at least another two weeks of swapping to give her time to recover.

[M&R]

Thank you all so much. I really appreciate the support and advice!!

[M&R]

Update:

Today is the second day I put them together for 5 minutes in neutral territory, after keeping them separate but switching hutches every two days. The best neutral territory I came up with is on the spare bed in a room they’ve never been in before. Yesterday was fine, they didn’t really pay attention to each other. Today they paid more attention to each other and it lookec like Meadow was about to try to fight Rain. She put her two front feet on top of Rain and looked like she was about to started digging. Of course as soon as this happened I interfered just by putting my phone between them and then Meadow focused on something else immediately.
They keep sticking their faces right up underneath each other’s bottoms.. is this normal affiliative behaviour or is this “I’m showing my dominance” behaviour?

[Author]

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