Bonded Buns Now Fighting?

[RabbitLegion]

New(ish) bunny owner here! I have two bonded rabbits, each a little over a year old. One is male and one is female, both were ‘fixed’ about 6 months ago.

They bonded very easily, never even fought once during bonding. Upon their first meeting there was some humping, then just grooming.

They have lived together with no fighting for four months. The only issue was sometimes Fiona, the female, tried to hump Hugo, the male. He is a very chill rabbit and never nipped, just ran away to hide. Then he’d hop out and usually they were good, grooming etc.

But a few weeks ago I noticed Fiona humping him constantly, and he kept running away. Yesterday, I heard scuffling in the cage and saw Fiona leaping in a weird way on and off Hugo, and fur flying everywhere! I threw a blanket over her, which stopped it. Neither rabbit was bleeding, but there were big clumps of fur from Hugo, and some from Fiona, littering the cage. 

To see if they were ok together, I then let them both out of their cage to hop around the living room. They were fine and shared some hay. I thought maybe it was just a little scuffle, and let them back into their cage (while watching them). They lay side by side, Hugo groomed Fiona’s ears for a bit. Then Hugo got up to go to the bathroom, and they started fighting again!

I now have them separated by a wire grid down the middle of the cage (which is sad, since it’s not really enough room for either but I have a really small apartment and can’t fit a larger cage). I was afraid of more fighting. They seemed fine with this, until today Fiona started lunging at the gate, trying to ‘box’ Hugo. He didn’t seemed bothered, I think he is a little slow on the uptake.

I’m really upset about this…does anyone know why this kind of thing happens, or what to do about it? Both bunnies have a good appetite and seem healthy, and nothing major happened with their home situation or anything. Does anyone have any advice? I am moving house soon, is there a possibility that in a new, ‘neutral’ territory they may get along again?

Thanks in advance!

[Silwerkitty]

Hi! This actually happened to my two girls recently in my bonded quartet. For some reason, maybe some stressor that you’re unaware of, or some new smell that reached them, your buns had a disagreement which then turned into a fight. In my case, as in yours, it was mostly one-sided hatred, lol. Either way, it seems that they’re now unbonded and it would be wise to keep them seperated for a week or two, allow enough time to pass so that Fiona and Hugo forget their fight.

It would be better if you could seperate them to different rooms during this time, because even the smell of each other can trigger their memories of the fight, this might be why your Fiona is lunging at poor Hugo’s gate. However, space is an issue, so try it like this for a while and see if she cools down, maybe you can seperate them to different romes for a week after moving house and then start rebonding. I’m a big believer in the moving house bonding bunnies thing. It really works. But remember, you will have to rebond them from scratch, and only once Fiona has forgotten her anger at Hugo. Stress bonding may be necessary if she stays violent.

Also remember that even in the new house, their cage will still smell of them, so do your bonding in the bathtub or bathroom floor and scrub their entire cage with white vinegar before putting them back in it. Rearranging their furniture would also be a good idea.

[Silwerkitty]

Aah, i forgot to mention that if Fiona maybe has a sore tooth or something making her feel yucky, this could definitely have triggered her attack. Having her checked out by your good rabbit savvy vet would be step one on the road towards healing their bond.

[RabbitLegion]

Thanks so much for the advice! Unfortunately Fiona is still lunging at Hugo through the gate, through which she could nip him. Hugo seems to be a bit of a dumb bunny as he just stands as close to the gate as possible when she is lunging and boxing, and doesn’t seem to realize that if he just takes a step back he won’t get nipped!

So once I move house, you think it might work if I move them to different rooms for a week so that they can’t see each other (only a small apartment, so they will be abel to smell each other), then put them together in a neutral location, and then when they are getting along, move them back into a (washed) cage in another neutral location where (hopefully) they will be happy together again?

How long did it take you to re-bond your rabbits? I’m so surprised that they are fighting, even un-bonded, as they never fought during the bonding process before.

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