Bonded for a month and then fighting!

[Rosie]

Hi, I have a male and female bun, both neutered. We had the male first for nearly a year before getting him a friend. We adopted the female and had her neutered, which was quite stressful as she kept pulling her stitches out! She remained inside until completely healed. The male living outside did introduce himself a few times by popping inside when we weren’t looking. We then put them separated but in the same hutch, female at the top, male at the bottom with the run. Then they started meeting each other outside, one in the garden one in the run. Then we had them in the garden together for quite a few sessions before putting them both in the same hutch. They have never fought, the only aggression has been a few nips and grunts from the male.

They have been together for just over a month. Seemingly happily, female grooming the male, no issues at all. Then out of the blue they had a massive fight in the garden. After a little time apart (a couple of hours) They went back together for the rest of the day and we’re fine until the morning when they had another fight in the run attached to the hutch. We separated them as before, female at the top and male at the bottom. Later that day I let them out in the garden where they were fine and playing like usual, until the female started going after the male. Seemed to get her face really close to his. I should mention that the male has remained the dominant bunny from the beginning, she has been very submissive. This ended in another massive scrap although I was watching them it happened so quickly! It’s really quite a frightening thing to witness!

They are now living apart but in the same hutch. When the female has her turn in the garden she is still biting the male through the bars of the run. Is she trying to become the dominant bunny?! What could have triggered this? Can I ever trust them again?! I am happy to try bonding again but have read that they need to be completely separated for a few months to forget the drama of he last few days. The problem is that I don’t have anywhere else for one of them to go. I am also going away for two weeks in three weeks time. Even if I do get them back together, I’m not sure I can leave them together while I’m away with friends and family doing feeding/petting duties.

Can they ever be bonded? Is it stressing them out more? Also, how long would they fight for? To the death?!! I can’t risk one of them being seriously injured or worse, I have two little girls that would be devastated!!

Wisdom and advice very welcome please.

Sorry for the long post.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Rosie on 7/17/2017 2:48 PM

Hi, I have a male and female bun, both neutered. We had the male first for nearly a year before getting him a friend. We adopted the female and had her neutered, which was quite stressful as she kept pulling her stitches out! She remained inside until completely healed. The male living outside did introduce himself a few times by popping inside when we weren’t looking. We then put them separated but in the same hutch, female at the top, male at the bottom with the run. Then they started meeting each other outside, one in the garden one in the run. Then we had them in the garden together for quite a few sessions before putting them both in the same hutch. They have never fought, the only aggression has been a few nips and grunts from the male.

They have been together for just over a month. Seemingly happily, female grooming the male, no issues at all. Then out of the blue they had a massive fight in the garden. After a little time apart (a couple of hours) They went back together for the rest of the day and we’re fine until the morning when they had another fight in the run attached to the hutch. We separated them as before, female at the top and male at the bottom. Later that day I let them out in the garden where they were fine and playing like usual, until the female started going after the male. Seemed to get her face really close to his. I should mention that the male has remained the dominant bunny from the beginning, she has been very submissive. This ended in another massive scrap although I was watching them it happened so quickly! It’s really quite a frightening thing to witness!

They are now living apart but in the same hutch. When the female has her turn in the garden she is still biting the male through the bars of the run. Is she trying to become the dominant bunny?! What could have triggered this? Can I ever trust them again?! I am happy to try bonding again but have read that they need to be completely separated for a few months to forget the drama of he last few days. The problem is that I don’t have anywhere else for one of them to go. I am also going away for two weeks in three weeks time. Even if I do get them back together, I’m not sure I can leave them together while I’m away with friends and family doing feeding/petting duties.

Can they ever be bonded? Is it stressing them out more? Also, how long would they fight for? To the death?!! I can’t risk one of them being seriously injured or worse, I have two little girls that would be devastated!!

Wisdom and advice very welcome please.

Sorry for the long post.

It doesn’t sound like you went through a full bonding process. You  do need to seperate them completely. They need to be unable to see or smell one another so seperate enclosures. They need to forget the fights. And yes, they can fight to the death so seperation is key. 

Also, how big is the hutch?
 

[Rosie]

The hutch is 6ft, top sleeping area ladder down to under part of the hutch and 6 ft run attached to the outside.
I wonder if she should go and live with my sister for a few months. We don’t have anywhere to keep her that they wouldn’t see/smell each other, especially as they have free reign of the garden when we are at home.

[Rosie]

The hutch is 6ft, top sleeping area ladder down to under part of the hutch and 6 ft run attached to the outside.
I wonder if she should go and live with my sister for a few months. We don’t have anywhere to keep her that they wouldn’t see/smell each other, especially as they have free reign of the garden when we are at home.

[Vienna Blue in France]

In any completed bonding pair you should always see positive grooming from BOTH bunnies not just one, from both.
it sounds as if you got “lucky” for the first month and then they started deciding who was going to be top bun, something that hadn’t been done previously.

Sarah is right, they need to be separated and for you to start the bonding process again. (A second bonding attempt may sometimes go quicker than the first, you just have to go through the right steps in the right order again )
Depending on which country you are in there are people that do this for you if you are going on holiday you could leave the buns with a bonder?…

Don’t risk it.
They are capable of causing HORRIFIC injuries to each other, leading to death.

Let us know how you get on

[Author]

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