Roland is pulling Ralphies fur out

[RowlyAndRalphie]

Hey everyone,

I have recently become the mummy of two adorable 4 month old male lop bunnies. Ralphie and Rolland came as a pair so were already bonded when they came and were best buddies 🙂 They are indoor rabbits too so I get to spend a lot of time with them, particularly as I work from home 🙂 they’re very loving bunnies and often come sit with me on the sofa!

Anyway, last weekend, Ralphie got really unwell and had lost a lot of weight so I took him to the vets where they did a lot of bloods from his jugular vein. They gave me antibiotics to give to him and also critical care formula which I’ve been giving him every day the last week. All this medication and formula being given to little Ralphie via syringe has made his fur under his chin and over his neck quite sticky and crunchy as it dries. He does his best to clean it himself but doesn’t seem to manage to get it all off. I’ve also tried to clean it off with a damp cloth but it won’t budge. So Rolland has decided to take it upon himself to clean up his little buddy!

Rolland is constantly at Ralphie trying to clean up his chin and neck!! He licks him and nibbles him and sometimes pulls the fur out. Ralphie seems to just sit there and take it and doesn’t seem distressed at all so it isn’t fighting? Ralphie often goes to rolland and puts his head on the floor in front of him to be groomed! But I’m a little worried because Ralphie has scars from the bloods being taken and I don’t want Rolland to make them sore so that they don’t heel.

I’ve been separating them when I’m not around but I don’t want them to lose their special bond by being separated too much 🙁 does anyone have any advice? Have anyone else’s rabbits lost their bond from being separated for a few days?

X

[sarahthegemini]

Are they neutered? If not you’ll need to separate them and re-bond after they’ve healed anyway, and when their hormones have settled.

If they are neutered and properly bonded, you could always separate them but allow them to see and smell each other and then do some intense bonding when Ralphie has recovered.

[RowlyAndRalphie]

Hey thanks for your post. No they haven’t been neutered yet but he vet said they aren’t matured enough and won’t be for a while. I don’t really want to keep them unbonded for that length of time?

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By RowlyAndRalphie on 2/18/2017 8:59 AM

Hey thanks for your post. No they haven’t been neutered yet but he vet said they aren’t matured enough and won’t be for a while. I don’t really want to keep them unbonded for that length of time?

Their testicles can descend at 4 months and as soon as they have, they can be neutered. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to keep them apart for that long, you need to separate them so they don’t fight. They might not fight but is that a risk worth taking? Rabbits can fight to the death. Or seriously injure one another and then you’ll have difficulty bonding them anyway. 

Babies are not truly bonded. Babies tend to get on with any rabbit, but once hormones kick in, that can all change.

[RowlyAndRalphie]

How much experience do you have with rabbits?

The vet said thier testicles haven’t decended yet. Not all rabbits are mature by four months so i was told to bring them back for pre op check in April.

[Azerane]

No, not all rabbits mature by four months, some mature earlier, others later. But just because their testicles haven’t dropped, doesn’t mean that hormones can’t cause fighting as they go through puberty. Even if they are mature at 4 months, for whatever reason, some vets won’t neuter until 6 months of age, others will neuter as soon as the testicles drop.

It is true that babies get along with most rabbits and in almost all cases with two young unneutered males, as they go through puberty they will start to fight and can cause serious injury to one another. While you may get lucky, it is highly recommended that you separate them now (though house them close to each other so they can still hang out near each other) and a month after their surgery you can reintroduce them.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By RowlyAndRalphie on 2/18/2017 6:28 PM

How much experience do you have with rabbits?

The vet said thier testicles haven’t decended yet. Not all rabbits are mature by four months so i was told to bring them back for pre op check in April.

I was saying they can descend at 4 months, so I don’t necessarily agree with your vet that the boys won’t be mature enough for a while. It could happen any day now.

[Author]

Messages