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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A What to do after a fight?

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    • Deleted User
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        LONG POST, SORRY, PLEASE READ! I’M INEXPERIENCED AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

        Ok so I got my first bun about 5 months ago. Female, spayed about 3 weeks ago, her name is Ophelia. We got a new bun, male named Quincy but he is not old enough to be neutered yet. I am keeping him in my room, he has a cage but I leave the cage door open so he can roam the room while I am at work. My plan was keep them separate until he’s had the neuter and recovered and then start bonding. Ophelia isn’t allowed in my room so she doesn’t normally try to get in there, so I thought yeah I’ll just have him in there and they will be separated. When I go in and out of the room I open it the MINIMUM I need to squeeze through real quick. I have been switching out their stuffie and she seemed to be less interested in trying to get in the room.

        Well, let me tell you, I feel like a complete idiot for getting this second bun. My rationale was that I would get him early, bond with him so he was comfortable with me, get him neutered and then start to bond with other bun. I thought that if he was comfortable with us, then the bonding would be less stressful and *possibly* go a little smoother?

        This morning I gave Ophelia some fresh oat hay (her favorite treat hay) and she jumped into her litter box and started to gobble it up. With her distracted, I went to get in the room. My apartment is small. I had no idea she was even coming, she DARTED from around the dining room corner and flew into the room in seconds. I immediately panicked. She went under the bed where she found a free roaming Quincy. I couldn’t reach either of them and I yelled for my husband to get the broom so I could try to at least separate them. Qunicy is super super sweet, and he’s only 9 weeks so he isn’t matured yet. He hopped over to Ophelia (all the while I am frantically calling and trying to offer pellets) they sniffed each other briefly then Ophelia started a fight. She nipped him and from there it all became a blur of her chasing him around under the bed, fur is being pulled out and it’s all happening under the bed where I can’t really get to them. After what seemed like eternity (in reality probably 10 seconds) Quincy runs out from under the bed and my husband cupped a laundry basket over him while I threw a blanket over Ophelia. We separated them and I sent my husband out of the room with Ophelia to check for any breaks in the skin and I stayed in and checked Quincy. No skin was broken, but there were several tufts of fur under the bed. Once both buns were separated, they seemed completely indifferent to what had just happened.

        Ophelia doesn’t have a cage. She’s a very good free roam bun and so I took her cage, cleaned it well, and prepared it for Quincy to use. I am going to go in the closet when I get home and dig out the baby gates and try to figure out ANY way that I can blockade some space around the door so she can’t make a run for it. But what do I do for each bun after a fight like this? I feel so defeated, and honestly disgusted with myself because both buns are SOOOO sweet and I just can’t stomach the fact that they had hurt each other. I’m so stressed by this and I just want each bun to be happy and comfortable, and not form a real mistrust of each other.


      • Rookie
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          sounds like it was an honest mistake/accident that Ophelia got in there. From what you describe both bunnies escaped relatively unharmed from the incident. I only have on bun so I cannot offer any insight into bonding…but as long as there are no injuries I think the panic and possibly semi emotional injuries can all be healed by some cuddles and of course treats. I think you just need to shower them with care for a bit to make them forget all about the incident. I’m sure they will be quick to forgive. at least my Rookie was always quick to forgive any sort of (what I deemed to be world ending severe trauma lol) incident, and now little Sprocket seems to be the same but he is still very young.

          I have read on here that swapping toys between bunnies intended for bonding is a good start and possibly a sort of indicator to see if they are recipient to one another. But again this is just from what I read from advice here from others.


        • Deleted User
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            Thanks for the reply! Yes I switched out their stuffies and Ophelia just chins it ton, she has not shown any aggression toward the stuffie or the bun actually until today. When we first brought him home a friend left my bedroom door open after visiting Quincy, and Ophelia ran into the room to check it out. At that point, he was still in his cage because it was only day 2 or 3 so I was letting him get settled with the cage and litter box before I allowed him to roam. She went in an sniffed around but then darted around the room in a frenzy once she actually SAW him. Once more she ran into the room during the first week because she had planted herself at the door and when I woke up and went to leave the room she bolted in. Luckily he was still in the cage, but I did have a litter tray outside of his cage since I give him floor time and she went over and chinned all over the litter box and got in it and left some poops lol. Then she went over to his cage and they sniffed each other from a short distance. I allowed her to sniff until he stuck his nose out, at which point I covered his nose with my hand and shooed her away before she got the idea to nip his nose. They both got pets after the fight, and I am actually surprised by how calm they seemed to be for what had just happened and honestly I almost had a panic attack. I hope that they won’t be hard to bond because of this scuffle. They have another 2-3 months before we begin bonding so they have time to forget about it…but I was hoping that switching out toys and blankies for a prolonged time would help.

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        Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A What to do after a fight?