What to do with bunnies in a tiff?

[Bobtail_Bunnies]

Ok so my pair of rabbits have been bonded for over a year now and they’ve lived together since that time. There hasn’t been any significant changes recently, we haven’t moved or changed any of their food etc. The only change I have made a few weeks ago is that I haven’t been allowing them to free roam. The destruction to my home has become costly and unbearable despite my attempts to bunny proof. So I’ve built them a pen that they have space in with all their toys to exercise and play. They still have plenty of room to zip around and binky. I close the pen off at bedtime so they will be limited to their sleeping area which gives me peace of mind. They seemed happy with this to start with but now they seem to be ‘bickering’ a lot. The male was usually the one who displayed mounting behaviour and demanded all the grooming but the female doesn’t seem to be entertaining it anymore. It was usually something they’d sort out but I worry they’re damaging their relationship. It’s now at the point where everyday involves the female chasing the male. She will dig on his back, bite him, mount him, chase him if he runs away, corners him and doesn’t give up easily. I try to discourage it and soon after they’ll be cuddling and grooming each other? Then it might start again later. The male is a very fluffy boy and when I come through in the morning I find myself picking up clumps of fluff that don’t coincide with his usual cast. They’re both spayed and neutered before being bonded so why is this happening a year later? I don’t want to separate them but it’s not fair for them to be stressed around each other either. Can anyone give me advice on what do do or if this is normal? Or could it be the amount of time they’re spending together is too much?.. Also please let me know if I’m going in the right direction with the pen idea because I don’t even know if it’s a bunny way of saying ‘why are we not allowed there anymore’ behaviour, bunnies are so complex

[Bunny House]

Hi!
I would say they are bored and annoyed that they don’t have the room to move around as much, they get bored fast and love a large place to run and when you make it smaller, they get mad. Thats what my buns do haha, they definitely know what they want. Is there a way you can line you place in NIC grids where they like to destroy stuff? And then after a while they might loose interest in those areas and you can start to remove the grids.

[Bobtail_Bunnies]

That makes sense, I have very recently bought them correx sheets and those diy grid things to make an even larger area as Marble (the bigger bun) scaled the height of the large pen!.. I could order an extra set of grids to put around the furniture (the new couch comes today and I can’t cope with the buns eating this one ?) so I can let them roam again. When those arrive I should be able to give them back all the space they had and hopefully get back in their good books I just don’t understand how they can be bored with all the toys they have plus the pen is mahoosive haha! Never mind they’re obviously not happy so I’m trying out more tactics. Thanks a bunch for the advice bunny house, at least now I know it’s human that has it wrong, I’m just glad they don’t hate each other!

[sarahthegemini]

“She will dig on his back, bite him, mount him, chase him if he runs away, corners him and doesn’t give up easily.”

Bonded bunnies do not do this because they are bored or miffed at their human. It sounds like your female wants to be top bun. I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them together unsupervised right now. Changing up the hierarchy happens sometimes but seeing as your female is quite determined and your male isn’t accepting yet, it can be a disaster waiting to happen.

Are you able to supervise them for a few days?

[Sirius&Luna]

I agree, sounds like more than boredom, and sounds like their bond needs re-cementing. It could easily turn into a full blown fight if there’s chasing, biting and cornering. If your boy feels stressed by being cornered, he could easily lash out and turn it into a bunny tornado. Perhaps the smaller space has exacerbated issues as they can’t get away from each other as easily.

I would suggest some bonding sessions in a neutral space, and if the behaviour continues, then more constant supervision.

[Bobtail_Bunnies]

Do you think it’s my fault for limiting their space? Crikey I hope I haven’t jeopardized their bond! I have been very watchful of their playtime now and discouraging persistent hostility but I think what you guys are suggesting would be worth a shot. I have plenty of room and spare fence to make a divider in their pen so I could have supervised bonding/play time and separate sleep areas for now. I’ll monitor them for a few days and hopefully they can work it out. Thanks guys!

[Sirius&Luna]

I don’t think it’s your fault! It’s very hard to know what will set bunnies off, and it doesn’t sound like you’ve crammed them into a tiny space. If they have adequate space, which it sounds like they do, then it’s not really something that you could have predicted. I just think perhaps they may have always had smaller tiffs, and you didn’t notice because they had more space to get away from each other, but now they’re in a smaller space it’s more obvious and has perhaps escalated

[sarahthegemini]

In a stable bond, cutting down their space a bit wouldn’t cause these issues so it’s very likely that they were having problems before but it’s more noticeable now (As Sirius said) or it could be that your female has decided she wants to be top bun and it’s just coincided with the space limitation (meaning, it was going to happen and the space issue wasn’t the cause)

[Bobtail_Bunnies]

So it’s not me causing a stir then phew ? great advice, it’s helped ease my mind a bit! I was worried about having to separate them but looks like they just need a little more bonding. Thanks again guys I’m more confident on what to do to help them!

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